August 21, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
A debate over charities and politics between Robert Egger, founder of D.C. Central Kitchen, and Pablo Eisenberg, a senior fellow at Georgetown University — which began in The Chronicle‘s opinion pages — is now continuing on Tactical Philanthropy.
Both Mr. Egger, author of Charities Must Change Politicians, and Pablo Eisenberg, author of Charities Should Remain Nonpolitical, have now weighed in on the blog.
This follows a live debate between the two earlier this month.
Mr. Egger writes that charities must get more involved in partisan politics to help influence public policy. “Our economic strength, our share of the work force in every community, and the number of voters who volunteer with the nonprofit sector are tremendous assets that we could use to promote a dialogue that politicians and businesspeople are not currently interested in having,” he says.
But Mr. Eisenberg counters that laws that permit charities to undertake a certain amount of lobbying, but bar them from partisan political activity should not be changed. “Taxpayers don’t want it, Congress doesn’t want it, and people like me don’t want to corrupt nonprofits by dealing in politics.”
Earlier, William Schambra, director of the Hudson Institute’s Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal, gave his take on the debate for the blog’s readers.
The author of Tactical Philanthropy, Sean Stannard-Stockton, who works for an investment-management company in Burlingame, Calif., has put out a plea for someone to edit the video of the live debate to a length “that lots of people will take the time to watch.” The Hudson Institute has posted the video (part 1 and part 2).
What do you think about charities getting involved in partisan politics? Share your thoughts by clicking on the comment link below.
