Issues and Positions

About our Advocacy and Policy Work

Building and renewing meaningful connections with policymakers is an essential component of our work. We work with our own members, our Colorado partners and with our many colleagues in our national network, United Philanthropy Forum, to collaborate in our advocacy activities. Our long-time involvement in the Forum’s PolicyWorks continues to strengthen our ability to:
  • Educate policymakers about the work, value and impact of Colorado philanthropy
  • Advise policymakers about potential legislation or regulation that could harm the sector and decrease much needed philanthropic dollars
  • Gain policymakers’ support for legislation that could support the growth and effectiveness of philanthropy and increase charitable giving; and
  • Build partnerships with policymakers to achieve policy reforms that improve the quality of life for the nonprofits and communities that our grantmakers serve.

Public Policy Priorities

Philanthropy Colorado’s Public Policy Committee reviews and recommends policy priorities for board approval.
Read more about our advocacy efforts and policy positions below and learn how you can get involved in setting policy priorities and in our key advocacy activities.
For support and questions, contact info@philanthropycolorado.org. ​

Policy Issues and Positions 

Our mission is to strengthen communities by bringing people, information and resources together. We can only achieve our goals if state and federal policies advance the work of our sector. This includes tax policy that encourages charitable giving to nonprofit organizations that support communities across our state, but we also take positions on other matters of importance to the sector. Some of our key positions and legislative proposals are listed below.

Federal

Universal Charitable Deduction

A Universal Charitable Deduction encourages greater generosity and building philanthropic giving is critical at a time when government services and funding are shrinking. 
Yet only 12% of Colorado taxpayers itemize their deductions, leaving 88% of Coloradans without a tax incentive to give.
Philanthropy Colorado advocates for restoring the Universal Charitable Deduction to drive more donations, strengthening nonprofits and the communities they serve across the state.
 

Donor-Advised Funds

Philanthropy Colorado opposes proposed Department of Treasury rules that could particularly hurt Colorado’s community foundations. The proposed rules would much more broadly define what is a donor-advised fund and impose limitations on stewardship of DAF funds by financial advisors.

Nonpartisan Nonprofit Advocacy

Philanthropy Colorado supports the right of nonprofits to advocate, while opposing their ability to engage in partisan politics.  We favor current rules and regulations that allow charitable organizations to be involved in policy debates and lobbying. We oppose attempts to weaken or repeal the 60-year law known as the Johnson Amendment which bars nonprofits from endorsing or financially supporting political candidates.

 

Nonprofit Strength & Partnership Act

Join Philanthropy Colorado in supporting H.R.3245 – Nonprofit Stakeholders Engaging and Advancing Together (Nonprofit SEAT) Act ,  which would elevate collaboration between the federal government and nonprofits in several ways. These include:
  • Creating an Office on Nonprofit Sector Partnerships in the President’s Office;
  • Establishing an Interagency Council on Nonprofit Sector Partnerships;
  • Requiring that the impact of legislation on the charitable sector and charitable giving be considered in Dept. of Treasury reviews; and
  • Mandating that the Bureau of Labor Statistics to report on charitable sector employment and economic impact, as they do with other sectors of the economy.

State of Colorado

Nonpartisan Nonprofit Advocacy

Philanthropy Colorado supports the right of nonprofits to advocate at both the federal and state level, while opposing their ability to engage in partisan politics or candidate elections. We support HB25-1170 Lobbying by Nonprofit Entities introduced in the Colorado 2025 Regular Session. Colorado law allows nonprofits to conduct nonpartisan issue advocacy with elected officials or policymakers only if they have a registered professional lobbyist or a volunteer lobbyist.
 
This bill, crafted by the Colorado Nonprofit Association with the support of the Colorado Secretary of State,  creates a new category of nonprofit lobbyist that exempts them from the registration and disclosure requirements for professional lobbyists if the nonprofit conducts only limited lobbying. Registered nonprofit lobbyists would limit their activities to 30 days each year, only 20 of which could be during the legislative session. Nonprofit lobbyists would still need to maintain transparency by filing a public form each day in which they lobby. 
 

Tax Credits for Contributions via Intermediaries

Philanthropy Colorado supported SB24-016 Tax Credits for Contributions via Intermediaries, which was signed into law June 2024. The bill allows taxpayers to claim a state income tax credit when making a contribution to a charitable recipient organization through a qualified intermediary.

 

Endowment Contribution Tax Credit

Working in partnership with the Colorado Nonprofit Association, Philanthropy Colorado supported legislation that would have created a state tax credit for gifts to endowments held by nonprofits and community foundations. The purpose of the tax credit would be to support long-term community and economic development throughout Colorado. With the forthcoming transfer of wealth, the credit would create an opportunity to encourage donations of considerable assets to nonprofits and community foundations. Such donations would provide sustainable funding to support community services provided by nonprofits including education, health and social services and cultural and civic engagement.