Nonprofit Groups Press Congress for Continued Giving by Mortgage Giants

Nonprofit organizations in Washington are continuing their efforts to make sure that lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can sustain their levels of charitable giving.

The two mortgage companies, which were taken over by the federal government this fall, donated $47-million to charities last year, according to the Center for Nonprofit Advancement, an association of tax-exempt groups. The association is coordinating its second campaign to press Congress to ensure that donations from the lenders don’t dry up in the current economic downturn.

Tomorrow, association members are being asked to e-mail their Congressional representatives about the matter. A similar effort was made in October, which resulted in a letter from six members of Congress to James B. Lockhart II, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Mr. Lockhart is the conservator placed in charge of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after the U.S. Treasury Department bailed-out the troubled lenders in September. — Eric Kelderman