Many media pros have missed a mega-money source backing some big Christian causes
“…Georgia-based National Christian Foundation (NCF), www.ncfgiving.com/ which to date has quietly given $14 billion to 71,000 non-profit groups, $1.3 billion of that last year, in both tiny and huge grants. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution piece recently noted that ‘mysterious’ operation is ‘one of the most influential charities you’ve never heard of.’” - GetReligion
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All it is a Donor Advised Fund vehicle
NCF typifies the rising importance of “donor-advised funds” in U.S. philanthropy. The basic idea has existed for a century and was devised as a vehicle for Christian donors in 1982 by pioneering Atlanta tax attorney Terry Parker, still a board member, along with evangelical financial gurus Ron Blue and Larry Burkett. The concept really took off for secular investors in 1991 when Fidelity launched such a fund. The industry is regulated by Congress’s 2006 Pension Protection Act and section 4966(d)(2) of the IRS tax code.
Instead of doling out individual contributions, a donor gives tax-exempt gifts to such a fund, which then sooner or later will support causes in line with donor’s interests. This streamlines the process, maintains tax exemption and provides donors useful anonymity so they’re not pestered by groups seeking money and avoids backlash from funding controversial causes.
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