John,

As families and communities struggle mightily with the healthcare crisis and economic collapse brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and by the Trump administration’s gross mismanagement of it, Mitch McConnell’s Senate and the White House are stalling on further assistance to alleviate the suffering.

Meanwhile, some $1.2 trillion in wealth is warehoused in private foundations and donor-advised funds (DAFs), which are special charitable accounts set up by the wealthy.[1] It’s time to stop the hoarding and put that money toward people and communities in need.

Now there’s a new initiative—called the Emergency Charity Stimulus plan—that would require private foundations and donor-advised funds to spend 10% of their assets for each of the next three years—double the current 5% requirement for private foundations (there is no current minimum requirement for DAFs).

This simple change would leverage $200 billion for non-profit groups, with funds going directly into hard-hit communities.  

Sign the petition and tell Congress to pass legislation to stop the charity hoarding and free up $200 billion for pandemic relief.

America’s millionaires and billionaires have taken substantial tax breaks to create private foundations that are sitting on over $1 trillion in wealth. Amazingly, they’re only required to pay out 5% of their assets each year. An additional $120 billion is parked in donor-advised funds, which wealthy and affluent families set up with even greater tax breaks—these have no payout requirements ever.[2]

In this time of unprecedented crisis, hoarding these assets is unconscionable. If Congress requires these foundations and funds to spend just 10% a year for the next three years out of these stockpiles, $200 billion in additional funds would be moved to non-profit groups that desperately need money to meet the current crisis.

This won’t cost taxpayers an additional penny. The donors already got big tax breaks when they made their contributions. But instead of that money going to non-profit groups right away, the lion’s share of it went into the foundations and wealthy DAFs that store it up for future use.

That would be like a big food bank during a time of famine only giving out 5% of its food stocks in order to save 95% for some future famine. Is it really in the interest of taxpayers, those of us who have subsidized the creation of these private foundations and DAFs, to encourage perpetual private institutions controlled by the wealthy?

Tell Congress to take this simple step to move this money out of the warehouses to the front lines—support the Emergency Charity Stimulus proposal and unlock at least $200 billion for non-profits on the frontlines.

Most Americans agree. Over 70% support the emergency charity stimulus. And over 90% think it’s unacceptable that donor advised funds are under no obligation to disburse any funds to non-profit groups aiding families and communities.[3]

Thanks for your assistance with this important effort.

Frank Clemente
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness

[1] Candid.org, "Key Facts on U.S. Nonprofits and Foundations."

[2] National Philanthropic Trust, "2019 Donor-Advised Fund Report."

[3] Instituteute for Policy Studies, "Americans' Understanding and Opinions about Charitable Foundations and Donor-Advised Funds."