ED Forum with Jonathan Spack

In the ED Forum, TSNE’s Executive Director Jonathan Spack reflects on issues facing non-profit organizations. He invites your ideas and insights in response to his columns. This month’s column discusses groundbreaking legislation that would raise the visibility of the non-profit sector with federal policy makers and provide hard data about the economic impact of U.S. nonprofits..

Nonprofit Sector and Community Solutions Act

Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., has been putting the finishing touches on a groundbreaking piece of legislation she’s calling the Nonprofit Sector and Community Solutions Act. She introduced the bill in mid-June and plans to build a bipartisan coalition around its primary goals of improving the government’s understanding of the sector and strengthening the relationship between nonprofits and the federal government.

Both Independent Sector, whose membership is comprised mainly of foundations and large nonprofits, and the National Council of Nonprofits, representing smaller organizations, are strongly supportive of the bill and have announced their intentions to assist in the coalition-building.

Ms. McCollum, in a recent Chronicle of Philanthropy interview, summarized her purpose this way, “Nonprofits, as a sector of the economy, are largely absent today from the federal policymaking process. That needs to change.”

Bringing a Non-profit Voice to the Federal Government

The key provisions of the draft legislation include:

Creating a multi-stakeholder U.S. Council on the Nonprofit Sector to advise the President and Congress on policy issues and provide an annual report
Creating an Interagency Working Group on Nonprofits and the Federal Government to receive the council’s recommendations and coordinate policies impacting nonprofits
Creating a Nonprofit Research Fund to begin to address the federal government’s institutional ignorance about the sector

Legislation Long Overdue

So is this a good idea, or will it just bring unwanted attention to a sector that has historically done a very poor job of telling its story and always seems to end up on the defensive? In a recent teleconference, Peter Forsch, Ms. McCollum’s legislative director, made a passionate and compelling case for a proactive approach to addressing non-profit policy at the federal level, in essence a take-the-bull-by-the-horns strategy.

I couldn’t agree more. This kind of legislation is decades (perhaps centuries) overdue. The United States has long had the largest, most robust non-profit sector in the world. Yet, the federal bureaucracy and our elected representatives in Congress are woefully uninformed, individually and institutionally, about the economic and social impact of nonprofits. The Obama Administration’s Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, with a primary focus on voluntarism, is a small step in the right direction. It’s a far cry, however, from the kind of comprehensive policy initiative that the sector needs – and deserves.

Why Didn't We Think of This?

In the United Kingdom there has long been a cabinet-level office devoted to supporting non-profit activities. The U.K.’s Minister for Civil Society recently announced these 3 policy priorities:

Making it easier to run a charity, social enterprise or voluntary organization
Getting more resources into the sector: strengthening its independence and resilience
Making it easier for sector organizations to work with the state

Can you imagine a federal agency in this country with similar priorities? Wouldn't that be a breath of fresh air?

Well, that’s just what Ms. McCollum has in mind – and I wouldn’t bet against her.