Foundation Leaders Visit Lawmakers on Capitol Hill

More than 260 foundation leaders came to Washington this week to meet with members of Congress — and their timing could not have been better.

Nonprofit issues were a hot topic all week. Lawmakers debated whether to expand national-service programs; President Obama on national television defended his controversial plan to reduce tax breaks for charitable deductions for wealthy people; and several senators introduced legislation that would change the way grant makers pay taxes on their net investment income.

As one foundation official put it, the stars were aligned.

Indeed, for members of Philanthropy Northwest, a regional association of grant makers based in Seattle, the annual “Foundations on the Hill” event was an exhausting, but productive, day.

In previous years, members of Congress had asked mostly about abuses in the nonprofit world, wondering whether foundations were elaborate tax dodges, said Carol Lewis, chief executive of Philanthropy Northwest. Now the government officials have a better understanding of the positive role foundations play in society, she said.

An aide for Rep. Jim McDermott, a Democrat from Washington, said that Americans don’t fully understand the amount of good that philanthropic dollars do in their neighborhoods and cities, she said.

“I was like, cha-ching. He gets it,” Ms. Lewis said

Christopher (Kit) J. Gillem, program director at the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, a foundation based in Vancouver, Wash. and a member of the association, agreed that the tone of the conversations had changed.

“They are asking, How can we help you?” he said about lawmakers.

For the foundation officials, their day started with morning meetings with members of the House of Representatives, then after a quick lunch, it was time to woo the Senate. They hustled from meeting to meeting in the sometimes maze-like Hart and Dirksen Senate office buildings, discussing who would lead conversations and what themes to hit.

In several afternoon meetings with senators from northwestern states or their aides, the discussions focused on finding ways for government to partner with philanthropy during the recession. Policy makers seemed pleased that Murdock and other grant makers have helped charities seek out money made available by the recent economic-stimulus package.

During the meetings, Philanthropy Northwest members kept their pitches short and sweet, often telling success stories about grantees.

“We don’t do the heavy lifting; the nonprofits do. We’re the fuel,” Mr. Gillem told the deputy chief of staff of Sen. Mark Begich, a Democrat from Alaska.

While Mr. Gillem and his colleagues stressed they take a soft-sell approach with lawmakers, they did ask for support on some philanthropic issues.

For example, they asked members of Congress to join the new Philanthropy Caucus. Several lawmakers and their aides were unaware of the caucus, but expressed interest in it. “We need Western representation” in the caucus, Mr. Gillem said in more than one meeting.

The high point of the day was sitting down with Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana, who as head of the Senate Finance Committee, oversees tax-exempt organizations.

While the meeting was quick — about 10 minutes or so — the Philanthropy Northwest group said any face time with such a prominent senator is important and demonstrated Mr. Baucus’s commitment to philanthropy.

As if on cue, only a few hours after the meeting, the Senate approved a proposal co-sponsored by Mr. Baucus to provide $25-million to improve accounting and management skills at small and medium-sized charities. (The measure is part of the Serve America Act.)

It seems lucky stars really did shine down on foundations that day.