Philanthropy Roundtable

Visit the Alliance for Charitable Reform's website at www.acreform.com.

About Us

The Philanthropy Roundtable works with legislators, policymakers, and interest groups in support of philanthropic freedom. Through its Alliance for Charitable Reform (ACR), The Roundtable educates policymakers on the contributions of American private philanthropy, its longstanding tradition and the role it plays in their communities. It also works to help ACR members communicate their message effectively to policymakers, and to encourage thought, discussion, and debate on issues related to charity and public policy.

ACR was formed in 2005 to address potentially damaging legislative proposals on Capitol Hill, and has since played a leading role in protecting grantmaking foundations and other philanthropic organizations from unnecessary and sometimes harmful federal and state legislation.

To date, ACR has been successful in promoting and defending philanthropic freedom, but the current economic and political climate means that it has much more work to do.

Our Beliefs

Philanthropy exemplifies the American ideal of private action in the public interest, demonstrating our faith in the capacity of individual citizens not only to create wealth, but also—voluntarily—to care for their country, their communities, and their fellow citizens without undue reliance on government.

Philanthropy serves as an indispensable laboratory of innovation in addressing many of society’s greatest challenges. The independence of thought and diversity of interests and perspective produced by having so many committed private actors is the wellspring of this sector’s vitality, and must therefore be protected.

Philanthropy shows our commitment to the wellbeing of our neighbors—and of strangers in need. For many Americans, philanthropy also reflects deep faith and a determination to live by the Golden Rule. Philanthropy is about receiving as well as giving, and a free and vibrant civil society summons its members to create and lead organizations, programs and institutions out of a sense of higher purpose that transcends their own interests and base motives.

We believe that, in carrying out this role, it is incumbent upon government to treat all charitable activities with similar acclaim. We insist that government’s most important role vis-à-vis the charitable sector is to vouchsafe its millions of honorable members the freedom and encouragement they need to do their best. This vital and diverse element of civil society should be honored as one of America’s finest achievements and as evidence of people’s capacity for individual initiative and self-governance, not burdened with costly and potentially crippling constraints on its important work.

Our Objectives

To strengthen foundations and other philanthropic organizations;

To ensure and promote the highest standards of integrity, efficiency and effectiveness across the philanthropic sector;

To preserve the distinctive contributions of all foundations, including small, operating, and family foundations, to American life;

To safeguard the freedom of the sector to carry out diverse charitable goals and missions;

To protect the creativity and variety of the philanthropic sector;

To promote common-sense laws and regulations that impose strict penalties on wrongdoers without trapping the innocent or wasting charitable assets;

To encourage individuals and families to engage in philanthropy; and

To expand and celebrate America’s leadership as the most generous and charitable nation on earth.

Our Principles

Philanthropy exemplifies the American ideal of private action in the public interest, demonstrating our faith in the capacity of individual citizens not only to create wealth, but also—voluntarily—to care for their country, their communities, and their fellows without undue reliance on government.
Philanthropy shows our commitment to the well-being of our neighbors—and of strangers in need. For many Americans, philanthropy also reflects deep religious faith and a determination to live by the Golden Rule. Philanthropy is about receiving as well as giving, and a free and vibrant civil society summons its members to create and lead organizations, programs and institutions out of a sense of higher purpose that transcends their own interests and base motives.
Philanthropy rests upon the premise that both recipients and donors have the capacity for self-government and wise choices. We reject the view that participants in philanthropy should be viewed with automatic suspicion: not as citizens capable of successful, public-minded self-rule, but rather as wrongdoers in need of policing.
Philanthropy serves as an indispensable laboratory of innovation in addressing many of society’s greatest challenges. The independence of thought and diversity of interests and perspective produced by having so many committed private actors is the wellspring of this sector’s vitality, and must therefore be protected.
We deplore the transgressions of a tiny minority within our community and urge that the laws they have violated be conscientiously and vigorously enforced. Yet we also insist that government’s most important role vis-à-vis the philanthropic sector is to vouchsafe its millions of honorable members the freedom and encouragement they need to do their best. This vital and diverse element of civil society should be honored as one of America's finest achievements and as evidence of people’s capacity for individual initiative and self-governance, not burdened with costly and potentially crippling constraints on its important work.