Donor-advised funds have been of debate within state and federal politics for many years, with various attempts to regulate donor-advised funds (DAFs) to increase their transparency, accountability, and spend down policy. A new attempt to change the policy around DAFs is currently being routed through the United States Senate. Under the proposed Accelerating Charitable Investments (ACE) Act, DAFs would either be allowed to be maintained for 15-years or 50-years. Presently, DAFs can be passed from generation to generation with no requirement that they are spent out over a period of time, or even that a percentage of funds be distributed—unlike the requirement for private foundations to distribute 5% annually.
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Under this proposed Act, community foundations would be exempt from certain provisions which would allow them to continue funding their work in their service regions; however, the Community Foundation Public Awareness Initiative recently issued a statement mentioning “proposals to place restrictions on DAFs – including the latest legislation proposed by Sen. Angus King and Sen. Charles Grassley – are solutions in search of problems.”

COVID-19 was a pandemic that had policymakers assure us that “We are all in this together,” but the recent legislative debate in Texas around Critical Race Theory has signaled that unity appears to only be a means to ends in a public health crisis, but not a priority in other aspects of society. Preventing the discussion of these important topics may lead to many nonprofits having to consider how they pick up the slack in light of the proposed censure on teachers.

The nonprofit sector has a longstanding history of educational involvement including fighting against educational inequality, advocating for special education services, protesting to desegregate schools, and often serving as guardrails to work alongside educational institutions to provide basic needs, supplement educational support, and aiding to ensure that no one falls through the cracks. From tutoring programs, scholarship initiatives, or fostering the love of reading — education nonprofits have often helped to supplement the education of young people through various programs and services.