New Philanthropy Caucus Ensures Funders Have Friends on the Hill

Philanthropy has been at the heart of some big debates and changes in Congress over the past few years, but unlike a slew of other issues, it has lacked its own group of lawmakers dedicated to understanding and advocating for policies affecting the sector. Now that has changed. After nearly a half-decade hiatus, two representatives have resuscitated the Congressional Philanthropy Caucus on Capitol Hill.

The caucus will be co-chaired by Rep. Danny Davis, an Illinois Democrat, and Blake Moore, a Utah Republican, both of whom sit on the House Ways and Means Committee, where tax legislation affecting the nonprofit sector originates.

The caucus might be able to help members of both parties coalesce around ideas that help nonprofits have more impact in every congressional district — if they learn about how philanthropy works, said Representative Moore. He understands philanthropy more than many members thanks to his private sector experience. Moore previously served as a social sector and impact investing consultant with Utah-based Cicero Group.

“There’s a dearth of information about what good is being done by not just nonprofits but on the investment side as well, with private foundations and donor-advised funds,” he said.

A predecessor of the caucus fizzled during the pandemic, when groups were visiting the Capitol to meet with legislators less frequently, and then ceased entirely in 2022 when one of its co-chairs, Republican Rep. Jackie Walorski of Indiana, died in a car crash.

Davis and Moore helped advance key philanthropy priorities earlier this Congress, said Matthew L. Evans, vice president of advocacy and external relations at the United Philanthropy Forum, a membership organization of philanthropy-supporting groups that pushed to put the group back together. They successfully inserted the Charitable Act, which allows largely midrange donors to deduct some of their charitable gifts from their tax taxable income, into the broader tax and spending legislation that was signed into law this summer. Evans said they also helped stifle a proposal to increase the foundation excise tax, which grant makers pay on their market gains.

“Re-establishing the caucus now helps us make sure that lawmakers understand philanthropy’s role before decisions are made and not afterward,” Evans said.

A Caucus in a Time of Crisis

The creation of the caucus, which anticipates announcing membership in the new year, comes as the Trump administration has launched a series of salvos against large swaths of the nonprofit sector. 

Since entering the White House for his second term, President Trump has attempted to tie progressive foundations to political violence and created a law enforcement task force to root out what he views as extremism. He has also warned that nonprofits that pursue an agenda counter to his could lose their tax-exempt status. 

Trump’s Internal Revenue Service has taken steps to dismantle the Johnson Amendment, a decades-long part of the tax code that prohibits politicking by members of the clergy. Many nonprofit leaders fear that will erode the trust enjoyed by charities across political divides. Meanwhile, the GOP-led Congress has undertaken a series of investigations into progressive philanthropies’ role in politics and policy development.

For Sway or Show?

Evans said the caucus would not likely delve into those touchy issues.

“This is more about educating members of Congress about what philanthropy is doing in communities,” he said.

But whether philanthropy will have more sway in Congress with the re-formed group remains to be seen, said Sara Barba, managing partner at lobbying group Integer LLC. 

After all, there is a caucus for just about everything. There’s the Wildfire Caucus and the Public Shipyard Caucus, the Zoo and Aquarium Caucus, and even the Congressional Coffee Caucus.

“A caucus itself is just kind of a line item on a bio for a member until they do something with it,” she said. “It really just depends on how committed the chairs are to building out the membership and then using it as a platform to educate.”