Nonprofits aim to educate policymakers

December 16, 2008

Foundations, charities and elected officials have formed a new group with the goal of educating state and federal policymakers about the value of the nonprofit sector to the U.S. economy.

Central to that will be efforts to protect the sector from any new federal economic policies that may come about in response to the current recession.

The Philanthropic Collaborative will work to prevent any changes to the tax code or other existing policies that could impede foundations' efforts to support the charitable sector.

"In difficult times, we have to resist the temptation of short-term thinking," says David Cicilline, president of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors and a foundation member of the collaborative. "It will cost us much more tomorrow if we undercut our investments in the foundations that support our communities today."

As part of its launch, the group released finding from a new report by economist Robert Shapiro that says more than $8 in economic benefit is generated by every $1 American foundations spend.

Additional information about the collaborative is available online.

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