National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy

National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
Name	National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
Formation	1976
Type	Nonprofit advocacy organization
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Region served	United States
Leader title	President

National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy is an advocacy and research organization founded in 1976 that focuses on charitable giving, philanthropic accountability, and social justice philanthropy. It engages with grantmakers, foundations, nonprofit coalitions, and policy forums such as Congress of the United States, United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, Internal Revenue Service, and Philanthropy Roundtable. The organization participates in debates involving actors like Ford Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and Kresge Foundation while interacting with coalitions such as Independent Sector, Council on Foundations, Alliance for Justice, and Center for American Progress.

History

Founded in 1976 amid debates following actions by entities including Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, American Red Cross, National Endowment for the Arts, and advocacy networks like National Welfare Rights Organization and National Association of Social Workers, the organization emerged during a period marked by policy changes after the Watergate scandal, the 1973 oil crisis, and shifts within philanthropy exemplified by the growth of Annenberg Foundation and Lilly Endowment. Early engagement involved correspondences with figures and institutions such as Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator Jacob Javits, and regulatory discussions with the Internal Revenue Service and the Senate Finance Committee. Over subsequent decades it addressed grantmaking practices at foundations including Carnegie Corporation of New York, Gates Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and W. K. Kellogg Foundation, while connecting with movements like Civil Rights Movement, Environmental Movement, Labor Movement (United States), and organizations such as ACLU, NAACP, Sierra Club, and United Farm Workers.

Mission and Activities

The group's stated mission emphasizes increased accountability and progressive grantmaking through partnerships with actors such as Nonprofit Quarterly, Charity Navigator, GuideStar (organization), Tides Center, and The Philanthropy Roundtable while advocating for funding priorities aligned with movements represented by Black Lives Matter, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Families USA, and Center for Community Change. Activities include grantmaker engagement with entities like Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Common Cause, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Oxfam International as well as convenings in venues such as Library of Congress, National Press Club, and meetings with committees like the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Committee on Finance.

Research and Publications

It produces reports, scorecards, and analyses that reference foundations such as Carnegie Corporation of New York, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Gates Foundation, and MacArthur Foundation; these publications often cite data sources including Internal Revenue Service, National Center for Charitable Statistics, Urban Institute, Nonprofit Finance Fund, and Foundation Center (now Candid). Research outputs have been discussed by media outlets and institutions such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, ProPublica, NPR, PBS, and Bloomberg News and have informed academic work at universities like Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University, University of Chicago, and Stanford University.

Advocacy and Policy Influence

Advocacy efforts engage lawmakers and policy advisers including figures from Senate Finance Committee, House Ways and Means Committee, Office of Management and Budget, and staff from congressional offices such as those of Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Susan Collins. The organization has submitted testimony to bodies including the United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, Treasury Department, and Federal Election Commission and has collaborated with coalitions like Alliance for Justice, Brennan Center for Justice, Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, and Public Citizen on issues touching on regulations affecting foundations such as Tax Reform Act debates and enforcement actions involving the Internal Revenue Service.

Funding and Organizational Structure

Funding sources have included grants and contributions from foundations and donors linked to institutions such as Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Carolyn Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Schwab Charitable, and Tides Foundation, and it operates alongside nonprofits like Americans for Financial Reform, Working Families Party, Demos (US think tank), and Center for Responsible Lending. Organizational governance features a board and staff network drawn from advocacy, philanthropy, and nonprofit sectors with connections to leaders from Independent Sector, Council on Foundations, Center for American Progress, Aspen Institute, and academic collaborators at Georgetown University, George Washington University, and American University.

Criticisms and Controversies

Critics from organizations such as Philanthropy Roundtable, DonorsTrust, Institute for Justice, and commentators in outlets like The Wall Street Journal, National Review, and Forbes have accused the organization of partisan advocacy and selective analysis when evaluating foundations like Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and Ford Foundation. Debates have intersected with litigation and regulatory scrutiny involving entities represented by American Civil Liberties Union, Alliance Defending Freedom, and disputes discussed during hearings before the United States Senate Committee on Finance and in investigative reporting by ProPublica and The New York Times.

Category:Nonprofit organizations based in Washington, D.C.