What We Talk About When We Talk About Giving

The dog days of summer used to be slow ones for charitable donors. Usually, they're even slower for the rulemakers who govern giving. Charitable deductions? Most of us only worry about those at the end of the calendar year or at tax time (if then). Political activity by nonprofits? With few elections on this month's calendar (NJ's special election primary is the only one that comes to mind), only true insiders are worrying about nonprofit donor disclosure rules.

So why are The New York Times and Wall Street Journal running stories on charitable tax deductions and donor disclosure? Slow news days or signs that, while most of us are watching the waves roll in, the political realities of nonprofits really are shifting? Discussion and debate about tax rules and donor disclosure have waxed and waned over the last several years, heating up during campaign season and dying down during the rest of the year. But there's something different going on right now. When it seems policymakers should be preoccupied with county fairs and other seasonal issues the regulatory structures that guide nonprofits are front page news. The wonkiest of policy issues – taxes, disclosure, corporate governance – are hotter topics than the weather.

In real discussions of tax reform and as acts of political brinksmanship, real concern about IRS rule enforcement and expedient Congressional indignation, real efforts at solving city budget shortfalls and in headline grabbing efforts by local taxpayers one thing is becoming clear about how we talk about nonprofits – what was once sacrosanct is now open for discussion.

That these discussions, negotiations, and news stories are happening on the last beach days makes them more meaningful, not less. And while it's notable that we're having these discussions in the doldrums of summer, what really matters is what we're saying in those conversations. By my measure, what we're saying is "let's revisit the rules that shape how we give." No matter when that happens, that's news.