Community Foundation Public Awareness Initiative

As part of the  Community Foundation Public Awareness Initiative (CFPAI), an alliance of 115 community foundations of varying sizes in 45 states, the Hartford Foundation signed onto a letter to members of Congress to express any attempts to weaken or repeal the Johnson Amendment in the FY2018 omnibus Appropriations bill. 

The letter highlights the fact that the Johnson Amendment protects the impartiality of 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations, including community foundations, by ensuring they do not endorse or oppose candidates. Weakening current law would allow politicians and others seeking political power to pressure charitable entities for endorsements, dividing the community and opening charities up to the flow of secret money. It would also create the likely possibility that Americans will be able to take charitable tax deductions for what are effectively political contributions. This would harm the integrity of the tax system and weaken public support for the charitable tax deduction. Fortunately the proposed repeal of the Johnson Amendment was not included in the most recent spending bill approved by Congress and signed by President Trump. The Foundation will continue to work with its Community Foundations to monitor any future efforts to ensure that this important amendment continues to be in place.  

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March 19, 2018

Dear Member,

Community foundations (CFs) are tax-exempt public charities serving people who share a common interest in improving the quality of life in their geographic area. The simplest way to think about a CF is as a local community’s charitable endowment, and just about every community or Congressional district has an active, engaged community foundation. CF endowments vary significantly, from less than $1 million to about 20 nationwide that have over $1 billion in assets.  The undersigned foundations participate in the Community Foundation Public Awareness Initiative (CFPAI), an alliance of 115 community foundations of varying sizes in 45 states.

As public charities, CFs often engage with Congress on issues affecting charities and public foundations, such as charitable deductions, donor-advised funds, estate taxes, and gifts of appreciated property. We are writing to you today to strongly oppose any attempts to weaken or repeal the Johnson Amendment in the FY2018 omnibus appropriations bill. 

CFs are not only nonprofit organizations themselves, but they also bring together the financial resources of individuals, families, and businesses to connect and support the nonprofits in their communities.  We know first-hand how any efforts to repeal or weaken the Johnson Amendment would have a devastating impact on the charitable community and the public’s trust in our work. 

The Johnson Amendment protects the impartiality of 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations, including CFs, by ensuring they do not endorse or oppose candidates. Weakening current law would allow politicians and others seeking political power to pressure charitable entities for endorsements, dividing the community and opening charities up to the flow of secret money. It would also create the likely possibility that Americans will be able to take charitable tax deductions for what are effectively political contributions. This would harm the integrity of the tax system and weaken public support for the charitable tax deduction.

Americans do not want foundations and charities, whose mission is to make a difference in their community, to be torn apart by partisan campaign politics. The Johnson Amendment must be in place – it is a valuable safeguard insulating charitable organizations from the political process.

Under current law, which has been in place for the last six decades, charitable organizations have maintained robust free speech rights. They simply cannot endorse or oppose candidates for public office. We believe current policy is the bedrock of a vibrant nonprofit sector, and is the wise and responsible approach. When our political climate is already so polarized, we stand firmly against any measure that would further bring politics into our organizations and reduce our effectiveness.

Community foundations forego profits and politics because it allows us to focus exclusively on improving the lives of your constituents.  We ask that you protect the integrity of our work, our good name, and the health of our democracy by opposing any efforts to undermine the Johnson Amendment.