August 20, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
The financial crisis has wreaked havoc with the assets of donor-advised funds, but it has probably put off one challenge for organizations that run them: Congress seems unlikely to impose new regulations that would affect people who create donor-advised funds.
Officials who oversee the funds fear that Congress might require donor-advised funds to spend 5 percent of their assets each year, in the same way that private foundations are required to make an annual payout.
Congress and leaders of donor-advised-fund organizations have been waiting for three years for the Treasury Department to issue a report on the funds. Congress asked for the report after it learned of potential abuses in the way that money was kept in the funds.
Once that report is released, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, who has questioned why donor-advised funds are not subject to the same rules as private foundations, intends to “follow up as soon as possible,” says Jill Gerber, his press secretary.
