美国政府和NGO 界的关系

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燕山大讲坛2 月 19 日 2011 年

美国政府和 NGO界的关系

I. 美国 NGO/ 非盈利界的历史和背景

II. 美国税法和非盈利组织的免税待遇

III. 政府和 NGO 互相监督

IV. 政府和 NGO 的合作

Benjamin Franklin: NGO Entrepreneur

• Library Company of Philadelphia (1731)

• Union Fire Company (1736)

• “The good men may do separately is small compared with what they may do collectively.”

Source: Walter Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, p. 102-103

19th Century “NGOs”

• American Anti-Slavery Society (1833)

• Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (1874)

• Sierra Club (1892)

NGO’s, Civil Society, Non-Profits

• NGO = 非政府组织

• Civil Society = 公民社会

• Non-Profit Sector = 非盈利界

The Growing Non-Profit Sector

• 1.1 million non-profits in 1995, 1.4 million in 2005

• 530,000 non-profits in 2005 had income over $25,000

• Number of public charities increased 53% 1995-2005– 573,000 in 1995– 876,000 in 2005

• Non-profit assets increasing faster than GDP– $1.5 trillion in 1995, $3.4 trillion in 2005– Non-profit assets increased 77% 1995-05, GDP rose 35%

• Non-profits account for 10% of all jobs in U.S.

Source: Urban Institute, Non-Profit Almanac 2008

501(c)(3)• Organizations organized and

operated exclusively for religious, charitable, educational, and other specified purposes

• Limits on political activity, prohibited from helping any candidate for public office

• 301(c)(3) groups pay no federal income tax and donations are tax-deductible

501(c)(4)

• Civic leagues, social welfare organizations, or certain local associations of employees

• Can participate in lobbying and political campaigns

• 501(c)(4) groups pay no income tax but donations NOT tax deductible

Case Study: American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)

• AARP Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization

• AARP 501(c)(4) organization with 35 million members

Largest 301(c)(3) Organizations (by total assets)

Name Assets US$

1) Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Seattle, WA) 29,889,702,125

2) Bill & Melinda Gates Foun. Trust (Seattle, WA) 29,673,548,843

3) SW Louisiana Business Dev. Center (Jennings, LA) 24,000,073,495

4) Yale University (New Haven, CT) 23,692,662,518

5) Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA) 22,671,549,045

6) Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (Portland, OR) 19,586,670,905

7) Trustees of Princeton University (Princeton, NJ) 16,259,824,000

8) Howard Hughes Medical Inst. (Chevy Chase, MD) 16,013,481,782

9) Mass. Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA) 12,898,453,000

10) Trustees of Columbia University (New York, NY) 10,348,518,213

Source: Non-Profit Almanac 2008, Urban Institute, National Center for Charitable Statistics

Many Kinds of Non-Profit Groups

• 501(c)(7) Social and recreation clubs

• 501(c)(10) Domestic fraternal societies operating under the lodge system ， e.g. Free Masons

• 501(c)(13) Nonprofit cemetery companies and crematoria

• 501(c)(6) business associations, chambers of commerce

• 501(c)(19) Veterans organizations

• 501 (c) (5) Labor unions and farm bureaus

Registering an NGO(the attraction of Delaware)

• Non-profit organizations file articles of incorporation with a state government

• Many file in Delaware because….

– Very cheap ($89 to register, $75 per year)

– Allows one-person board of directors

– No requirement to live in Delaware

– Non-profits also exempt from state taxes

Who Regulates Non-Profits?• Treasury Dept., Internal Revenue Service

– Investigates “excessive compensation” of non-profit executives

– Monitors political activities of charity groups– Ensures compliance with tax-exempt status– Monitors illegal activity, e.g. support for terrorism– Makes Form 990 tax filings public

• Federal Election Commission

Case Study: Sierra Club

• Originally 301(c)(3) environmental organization

• June 1966 purchased advertisements in New York Times and Washington Post to oppose a dam in the Grand Canyon

• IRS revoked tax-exempt status, became 301(c)(4)

Case Study: Church at Pierce Creek

• Church organized as 301(c)(3) organization

• Purchased full page advertisement in October 30, 1992 USA Today urging Christians to vote against Bill Clinton

• “Bill Clinton is promoting policies that are in rebellion to God’s laws”

• IRS revoked church’s tax exempt status for violating prohibition on political expenditures

Government Oversight By Non-Profits

Self-Monitoring By Non-Profitswww.charitynavigator.org

Public Charity Revenue (2005)

Source: Non-Profit Almanac 2008, Urban Institute, National Center for Charitable Statistics

fees for ser-vices and

goods from private sources

50%

fees for ser-vices and

goods from government

20%

government grants 9%

private con-tributions

12%

investment income 5%other 3%

Case Study: Mercy Corps• Mercy Corps works to

alleviate “suffering, poverty and oppression” in 40 countries

• 3,600 employees

• USAID provided $47 million to Mercy Corps in 2008 to support humanitarian projects

Source: USAID, 2010 Report of Voluntary Agencies

Case Study: Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service

• Founded in 1939 by National Lutheran Council

• Provides housing, employment, and other services to refugees arriving in United States

• Federal Government provided 94% ($30 million) of LIRS 2009 funding

Source: www.lirs.org

White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

• Founded by President George W. Bush in 2001

• “forms partnerships between government at all levels and non-profit organizations, both secular and faith-based, to more effectively serve Americans in need”*

• Faith-based NGOs can use federal funds to provide social services…

•…but cannot use federal funds for “inherently religious activities”

•…cannot discriminate when providing services

*source: www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ofbnp/about

Case Study: Americans United for Separation of Church & State vs. Prison Fellowship Ministries

• Prison Fellowship founded in 1976 by former White House counsel Chuck Colson

• Mission: “to seek the transformation of prisoners and their reconciliation to God, family, and community through the power and truth of Jesus Christ.”*

• In 2006, Federal Court found Prison Fellowship Program in Iowa prison unconstitutional.

* Source: Prison Fellowship website (www.prisonfellowship.org)

Case Study: Islamic Charities

• Holy Land Foundation leaders convicted in 2009 of sending money to Hamas

• Some Muslim-American groups say anti-terrorism laws have harmed legitimate charities