May 31, 2001 | Read Time: 4 minutes
By LAURA HRUBY
President Bush has accused corporate America of discriminating against faith-based groups by refusing to make charitable awards to their programs “regardless of their effectiveness.”
Mr. Bush, speaking at the University of Notre Dame’s commencement, urged corporations and foundations to step up their giving to help the poor, especially by helping religious organizations. He said that he would gather philanthropic leaders at the White House in the fall to discuss ways to attract more donations to local groups that help the poor. He said he knew that charities would never replace the role of government in helping low-income people, but added that nonprofit groups could achieve more if they were better financed.
Mr. Bush specifically called on foundations to “consider ways they may devote more of their money to our nation’s neighborhoods and their helpers and their healers.” But he saved his most stinging words for big business, saying “if we hope to substantially reduce poverty and suffering in our country, corporate America needs to give more — and to give better.”
“Faith-based organizations receive only a tiny percentage of overall corporate giving,” Mr. Bush added. “Currently, six of the 10 largest corporate givers in America explicitly rule out or restrict donations to faith-based groups, regardless of their effectiveness. The federal government will not discriminate against faith-based organizations, and neither should corporate America.”
Giving by Businesses
Representatives of some of America’s biggest companies said President Bush was wrong to suggest that corporate America discriminated against religious charities.
Joyce Hergenhan, president of the GE Fund, in Fairfield, Conn., said her organization — which last year distributed almost $40-million — has long supported religious groups. “Many faith-based organizations run wonderful community programs that serve all members of the community regardless of their religious faith, and because these programs fill such a need — especially in inner cities — we enthusiastically support them.”
The Prudential Insurance Company of America, in Newark, N.J., evaluates faith-based groups “the same way we evaluate other programs,” said Gabriella Morris, president of the Prudential Foundation and vice president of community resources for the company. She said that Prudential requires its grant recipients not to discriminate, including on the basis of religion.
Like many other corporations, Prudential draws the line at giving support to religious groups to proselytize or for activities that exclude participants based on their religious faith. “It’s not the role of corporate America to support religion — that’s the role of private individuals,” she said. The Prudential Foundation last year awarded grants totaling $25.3-million, and the company gave away an additional $26.1-million in corporate contributions.
Other corporate grant makers said that they steered away from supporting religious activities that exclude participants based on faith because they felt their companies’ commitment to diversity would be compromised by promoting activities that only benefit members of a specific religion.
“Our customers and our employees represent a broad cross-section of society,” said Timothy J. McClimon, executive director of the AT&T Foundation, in New York, “and we feel that we should be supporting activities that are open to all segments of society.” The foundation — which last year gave $42.5-million in grants — supports programs run by faith-based groups as long as the programs are open to everyone, regardless of faith.
Defending a Plan
In his speech, Mr. Bush took the opportunity to defend his efforts to help religious groups garner more government funds against criticism that church and state must be completely separate. “Medicaid and Medicare money currently goes to religious hospitals,” he said. “Should this practice be ended? Child-care vouchers for low-income families are redeemed every day at houses of worship across America. Should this be prevented? Government loans send countless students to religious colleges. Should that be banned? Of course not.”
In most cases, churches, synagogues, and mosques must set up separate religious charitable organizations to receive federal funds. However, current law permits houses of worship to receive government funds for a few types of services, including job training and drug-abuse treatment, without setting up a separate nonprofit group. The Bush administration has pushed to allow houses of worship to compete directly for government funds in additional areas, creating an office at the White House to promote the idea.
President Bush said that in fiscal 2003 he would propose a tripling of the funds that go to organizations like Habitat for Humanity that help the poor obtain housing. He also urged $1.6-billion in new spending on drug-treatment programs. He said religious groups should be eligible to compete for those new funds on an equal basis with secular organizations.
Speaking to Hispanic religious leaders in Washington last week, President Bush said he hoped Congress wouldn’t “get caught up in the stale, old process argument” about whether the proposal breaches the separation between church and state. “Let us focus on the results,” he said.
