Nonprofit Organizations Take on the Presidential Contenders
Shortly before her win yesterday in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton "promised to work to allow people who don’t itemize their taxes to get deductions for charitable donations, to help nonprofit groups compete for government contracts, and to highlight the work nonprofit groups do."
In other meetings, the authors of
Nonprofit Leaders Question Political Leaders detail encounters with Barak Obama and Mike Huckabee. Obama says that nonprofit organizations will have a roll in his White House administration, and Huckabee was surprised that New Hampshire's nonprofit sector was the 2nd largest employer in the states.
Given these candidates' interest in the nonprofit sector, its a shame that more questions aren't asked to the candidates about nonprofit issues, especially in light of recent scandals and calls for increased government insight. Instead, it seems that most of the political campaigning involving nonprofits will continue to be pointless stops at different places where candidates will arrange photo opportunities to show that they are "good people" sort of like Huckabee's donation of soccer balls to children in Iraq.
In other meetings, the authors of
Nonprofit Leaders Question Political Leaders detail encounters with Barak Obama and Mike Huckabee. Obama says that nonprofit organizations will have a roll in his White House administration, and Huckabee was surprised that New Hampshire's nonprofit sector was the 2nd largest employer in the states.
Given these candidates' interest in the nonprofit sector, its a shame that more questions aren't asked to the candidates about nonprofit issues, especially in light of recent scandals and calls for increased government insight. Instead, it seems that most of the political campaigning involving nonprofits will continue to be pointless stops at different places where candidates will arrange photo opportunities to show that they are "good people" sort of like Huckabee's donation of soccer balls to children in Iraq.
posted by Richard @ 2:20 PM
3 Comments:
At 3:40 PM, January 11, 2008,
Anonymous said…
Other than candidates just trying to make themselves appear heartfelt, I dont see the political clout non-profits have with candidates. Candidates want the vote of the businessman because he/she pays corporate taxes, and citizens because they pay income taxes and minorities because they vote together . . . what do non-profits provide candidates?
Not that I have anything against non-profits and I do feel like they should have a voice in politics, especially since most of them are doing public service work anyway, but they don't pay taxes, other than payroll and sometimes property.
Non-profits gain from candidates not the other way around. Nonprofits earn money through government grants and still get a voice to lobby, although sometimes limited.
The only pro I see is PAC money, in which case non-profits lose their tax-exempt status.
I certainly don't wish candidates to make an ethical or regulatory issue out of nonprofits, but nor do I expect them to create a platform on nonprofits either.
At 9:48 AM, January 14, 2008,
Jon Weiner said…
I think anmc481's comment that, "Non-profits gain from candidates not the other way around," hits the nail right on the head.
Given their limited ability to lobby and to come up with the same level of campiagn contributions candidates can expect out of other sectors, non-profits as a whole are neither sexy nor politically smart for front-running candidates to spend a lot of time with.
In economic terms, by weighing the opportunity costs and deciding where to focus their limited resources - the numbers probably dictate that the best thing to do with non-profits is to pay them some lip service and stop by for a publicity photo.
Regardless of the public service work, non-profits just don't carry the political clout needed to make too much of an impact on a presidential race barring some sort of nationally-reported crisis or breaking news that puts their issue into the spotlight.
At 9:28 PM, January 14, 2008,
Jon Pharr said…
In doing some reading on Non-profits and campaigns, I discovered that thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision, corporations (including non-profits) can now advertise on issues they support concerning an upcoming election. They are now allowed to advertise 30 days within the date of a primary and 60 days from a general election where they previously could not do so. This has allowed such non-profits as: The Foundation for a Secure and Prosperous America, to support their candidate and provide unlimited advertising for their candidate. This group was set up and financed by John McCain supporters in South Carolina and created ads with pictures of McCain and focused on the issues he supports. The non-profit is also allowed to spend unlimited funds as long as they can argue their commercial or advertising campaign is more concerned with the issues, rather than electing a candidate.
When I think of non-profit organizations I previously did not consider or imagine a group such as this. However, they are able to support who they want in Washington by throwing unlimited funds to an advertising campaigns. As a result, candidates have a lot to gain from such non-profit supporters.
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