This year, Philanthropy Roundtable continued its work to protect donor privacy, preserve donor intent and defend charitable freedom from proposals that would have created new burdens and disclosure requirements for nonprofits and donors. Several bills would have required donor disclosure, expanded government oversight or imposed new restrictions on charitable organizations. Through direct engagement with lawmakers, coalition partners and regulators, we helped stop or amend these proposals before they could move forward.
The following states introduced proposals that would have had a negative consequence for the charitable sector:
- Iowa H.F. 2475 would have forced nonprofits to publicly disclose their donors and grant information, raising serious donor privacy concerns.
- Iowa H.F. 2240 would have created an endowment tax on regent universities, raising donor intent concerns. We worked with the chairman to amend the bill so it applied only to unrestricted gifts. While the bill advanced out of committee, it died when session adjourned.
- Indiana S.B. 0267 would have required broad donor reporting by groups engaged in “influence campaigns.” Although the bill was widely described as targeting “paid protestors,” the language was overly broad and could have applied to ordinary citizens meeting with elected officials, raising concerns about donor privacy. Working with Indiana Philanthropy Alliance, we provided suggested amendment language and helped stop the bill from advancing.
- Oklahoma S.B. 1535 would have amended the state’s 2020 donor privacy law by creating new agency exemptions and giving the attorney general broad investigatory powers. Because the proposal would have undermined the purpose of the original law, along with other groups, we worked to prevent the bill from advancing to the second chamber.
- Oklahoma Ethics Commission Amendatory Ethics Rule 2.79 would have expanded the definition of “political action committee” to include organizations involved in ballot initiatives or political activities. This change could have effectively turned many organizations into PACs. Alongside other groups, we engaged with the Ethics Commission and submitted a comment letter urging them not to move forward with the rule. The proposal has been tabled for now.
- South Carolina S.B. 0203 would have required the optional collection of demographic information for certain nonprofit leadership positions, including executive director, COO, president and founder. The bill died at the end of session.
- South Carolina S.B. 960 would have made any nonprofit that participated in ballot measure activity an “independent expenditure committee” and required disclosure of donors over a $1,000 threshold. The bill sponsor was unable to secure a hearing in the final days of session and the bill died.
Philanthropy Roundtable also introduced two model bills in the states this year:
- The Safeguarding Endowment Gifts Act which gives donors legal standing in the event of a restricted gift violation; and
- The Charity Protection Act prohibits state agency officials from unilaterally imposing filing and reporting requirements on nonprofit organizations.
Florida (S.B. 1338/H.B. 1475), Oklahoma (S.B. 844) and South Carolina (H.B. 5251/H.B. 5250) all introduced model bills during the legislative session. All three states introduced a version of the Safeguarding Endowment Gifts Act and Florida and South Carolina also introduced the Charity Protection Act. The latter bill is already law in Oklahoma.
Largely due to time constraints, the bills in Florida, Oklahoma and South Carolina did not become law this year. In Florida, after advancing unanimously out of all three committees, session came to an end and the legislation died on the Senate floor.
In Oklahoma, the Safeguarding Endowment Gifts Act was carried over from the 2025 legislative session. Rather than advance the bill out of committee, we made the decision to hold it over and participate in an interim study committee on donor intent violations in the state.
Lastly, in South Carolina, the bills did not advance beyond the committee due to legislator priorities and session timing.
Although these model bills did not become law in 2026, the introduction of each was significant. It demonstrates that state lawmakers support the principles each bill protects while setting up the multi-year legislative strategy that is often the norm when working across states.
Aziza Diallo is a rising sophomore at Wellesley College and a Daniels Scholar Junior Fellow at Philanthropy Roundtable. Founded by cable pioneer Bill Daniels, the Daniels Fund supports individuals and communities across Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming through charitable grants and scholarships that create life-changing opportunities, including the Roundtable’s Junior Fellowship program.
