The Accelerating Charitable Efforts Act

Over the summer Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Angus King (I-ME) sponsored a bill in the US Congress that would revamp current legislation defining and regulating donor-advised funds, S. 1981 the Accelerating Charitable Efforts (or ACE) Act. Billionaire philanthropist John Arnold is behind the push that would establish new timelines and increase payout rates to move money more quickly from DAFs to community organizations in need.

A variety of options are on the table, with timing of tax deductibility, size of funds, and payout rates among the key issues. There is also language in the proposed bill that changes some existing rules governing private foundations.

Stonewall welcomes any discussion that furthers our goal of putting resources directly into the hands of the LGBTQ organizations at the heart of our community. Our fund partners, collectively, disburse far more than any minimum payout rates being discussed and are extraordinarily generous when new opportunities are presented. In fact, as the pandemic took hold in 2020, our funds had a payout rate of more than 100%: meaning the funds paid out more in grants to the community than was added to them in new gifts. This is one of the differences between Stonewall Community Foundation and any number of larger, more commercially branded Fund Partner Programs: heart.

Stonewall is closely following these developments and will keep Fund Partners apprised of any changes to our programs. To follow the progress of this bill yourself, follow this page at congress.gov. For more information on the ACE Act, please this article in the Philanthropy News Digest.