Bill Proposes Creation of Agency to Establish More Effective Partnerships Between Philanthropy and Government
The Nonprofit Sector and Community Solutions Act of 2010 (H.R. 5533) was introduced on June 16th, 2010 by Congresswoman Betty McCollum of Minnesota, and intends to strengthen America’s communities by making the federal government a more productive partner with nonprofit organizations.
Despite the importance of the nonprofit sector to the U.S. economy and to the success of many federal, state and local policy initiatives, no federal agency or congressional committee has responsibility for evaluating, building or maintaining the capacity of the nonprofit sector, and government does not collect the data necessary to make sound policy decisions that have measurable impacts in communities. This Act proposes to:
- Establish the U.S. Council on Nonprofit Organizations and Community Solutions consisting of 16 leading voices from across the sector. The council would produce a report and convene an annual summit on improving the relationship between government and our sector.
- Create an Interagency Working Group on Nonprofit Organizations and the Federal Government composed of cabinet members and other leaders from agencies such as the IRS, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Corporation for National and Community Service. This body would help coordinate efforts between the two sectors.
- Require federal agencies to increase collection of data on nonprofits, with $5 million going to the National Science Foundation for research grants to our sector. The bill spells out a number of proposals such as more accurate counts of employees and better tracking of government funding to nonprofits.
This bill could establish more effective partnerships between philanthropy and government at the federal level, as there would be an opportunity for foundations to share program-area expertise and best practices in supporting community-based organizations and those that they serve.
Read more about H.R. 5533 at Independent Sector and in a recently published article from the Nonprofit Times.
About the author
Northern California Grantmakers is an association of foundations, corporate contributions programs and other private grantmakers. Its mission is to promote the well-being of people and their communities in balance with a healthy environment by the thoughtful and creative use of private wealth and resources for public benefit. To this end, NCG works to enhance the effectiveness of philanthropy, and to strengthen the ties between philanthropy and its many stakeholders; including nonprofit organizations, government, business, media, academia, and the public at large.
- More at
Tags: Betty McCollum, communications, federal government, government, grantmaker, Independent Sector, legislation, partnerships, philanthropy, Public Policy