Philanthropic Regulation Opinion Survey

The Forum has been intently following ongoing discussions on legislative payout mandates regarding donor-advised funds (DAFs) and private foundations playing out at the national level. Over the past couple of months, there have been efforts focused on bringing that discussion to Members of Congress and their staff, in hopes of getting legislation introduced.

As a result of the discussion, the Forum has created this survey to gather data and gauge the temperature of the sector on various payout legislative proposals. Thank you for taking a few moments to complete this survey that will inform the Forum's public policy agenda as we continue to work to serve the philanthropic sector.

CEOs and foundation leaders are encouraged to complete this survey.

1. What type of philanthropic entity do you represent? *This question is required.

Please enter an 'other' value for this selection.

2. What is the size of your foundation's assets? *This question is required.

Please enter an 'other' value for this selection.

3. What is your average annual payout rate? *This question is required.

4. Which Philanthropy Serving Organization (PSO) sent you this survey?

5. Check all proposals with which you are familiar. *This question is required.

Patriotic Millionaires who are proposing a temporary three-year emergency mandate where private foundations would be required to double their payout from 5% to 10% and that the requirement also applies to donor-advised-funds as well (the current requirement for foundations is 5%, there is no requirement for donor-advised funds) as a response to the needs created by the Pandemic.
Efforts in California that would have required organizations that manage DAFs to report how much each fund receives in contributions and directs out to charity. Currently, donor-advised-fund sponsors report such information in the aggregate, across all the funds they manage, but not on a fund-by-fund basis. As a result, proponents of the bill say it is impossible to know how many accounts sit inactive.
The Arnold-Madoff proposal that would require DAF owners to choose between two new categories of donor-advised funds, one that would allow donors to keep the current tax benefits if they distribute all the money within 15 years of creating their DAF, versus a longer-lived DAF, but giving up the charitable deduction until the assets are ultimately received by a charity. It also would encourage foundations to distribute a bigger share of their assets with a tax sweetener. Currently, foundations must direct at least 5 percent of their endowments to charitable activities each year. The plan would waive a 2 percent excise tax on their investment gains in years that they distributed at least 7 percent. Foundations that promise to close their doors within 25 years of opening would also be exempt from the tax each year. The proposal would also end the practice of letting gifts to donor-advised funds count as part of a foundation’s payout, and it would disallow family foundations from counting the travel and salary expenses of family members as charitable payments.
None of the above

6. What is your opinion on proposed legislation regarding private foundations? Check all that apply. *This question is required.

I do not support legislation requiring an increased payout rate for private foundation above the current 5%.
I support legislation requiring a temporary increase in payout rate of private foundations to respond to needs caused by the pandemic.
I support encouraging foundations to voluntarily increase payout in response to pandemic.
I support legislation exempting private foundations from paying the current excise tax of 1.39%, if they payout 7% annually.
I support a legislative waiver of the excise tax for private foundations that spend down within 25 years.
I support legislation that would exclude gifts to a donor-advised-fund being part of mandated 5% payout for private foundations.
I support legislation that would increase tax benefits for private foundations that payout more than the mandated 5%.
I support private foundations using their discretion to increase their grantmaking based on the needs in their communities and fulfilling their missions.
Other - Write In Please enter an 'other' value for this selection.

7. When DAFs are created and funded and the tax benefit is received by the donor, the funds are no longer the donor's resources. They are in the custody of the sponsoring organization to be used for charitable purposes to serve the common good as designated by the IRS. The sponsoring organization has control of the funds to release for charitable purposes according to law, the donor may advise on the dispersement of funds but the sponsoring organization has variance power over dispersements to ensure the recipient organization meets all legal requirements and in some case any other requirements outlined in the donor contract.

What is you opinion on proposed legislation for donor-advised-funds? Check all that apply. *This question is required.

8. We welcome any other thoughts or comments you have about changes to regulations of foundations and/or DAFs .

9. We welcome you to add your name, email and the name of your foundation.

Name of Respondant
Email
Name of Foundation