Community Letter in Support of Nonpartisanship
April 5, 2017
The Honorable Joe Crowley
1035 Longworth House Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Crowley:
The undersigned organizations strongly oppose proposals that would politicize the charitable
nonprofit and philanthropic community by repealing or weakening current federal tax law protections
that prohibit 501(c)(3) organizations from endorsing, opposing, or contributing to political
candidates.
Nonpartisanship is a cornerstone principle that has strengthened the public’s trust of the charitable
community. In exchange for enjoying tax-exempt status and the ability to receive tax-deductible
contributions, 501(c)(3) organizations – charitable nonprofits, including religious congregations, and
foundations – agree to not engage in “any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any
candidate for public office.”
That provision of law protects the integrity and independence of charitable nonprofits and
foundations. It shields the entire 501(c)(3) community against the rancor of partisan politics so the
charitable community can be a safe haven where individuals of all beliefs come together to solve
community problems free from partisan divisions. It screens out doubts and suspicions regarding
ulterior partisan motives of charitable organizations, as undoubtedly would occur if even just a few
charitable organizations engaged in partisan politics. Nonpartisan credibility is critical to the ability of
501(c)(3) organizations to work with elected officials of all parties at the local, state, and federal
levels to address community needs.
Charitable nonprofits, including religious congregations, are free to speak on important matters of
the day and advocate on public policy issues and legislation. Private foundations, while barred from
most lobbying activities, are free to engage in public debates, promote public education efforts, and
fund a wide range of issue-focused activities. The relevant language in Section 501(c)(3) merely
prohibits partisan campaign intervention, defined to include endorsing or opposing candidates for
public office, publishing or distributing statements for or against candidates, or using tax-deductible
and other resources to support partisan campaign activities.
We are united in opposing any and all efforts to weaken or repeal this longstanding protection in the
federal tax code (sometimes called the Johnson Amendment) that President Eisenhower signed into
law in 1954. Weakening the law by allowing leaders of individual 501(c)(3) entities to endorse
candidates for public office and engage in some partisan electioneering activities would damage the
integrity and effectiveness of all charitable organizations and spawn litigation as innovative partisans
seek to expand gray areas in the proposed legislation. Repealing the Johnson Amendment, an
approach promoted by the President and some in Congress, would damage the federal Treasury as
people take tax deductions for political contributions they could then funnel through charitable
nonprofits, undercut fair elections by providing a loophole to avoid campaign contribution disclosure
laws, and empower politicians to exert pressure for access to foundation assets and charitable funds
for their own partisan campaigns rather than for the public good.
Community Letter in Support of Nonpartisanship
April 5, 2017
Page 2
New York
We urge you to join us in opposing efforts to weaken and/or repeal the current law that for six
decades has successfully protected the integrity and effectiveness of charitable nonprofits and
foundations by keeping them apart from partisan politics.
Respectfully,
New York Organizations
4 Real Women International, Inc.
4heads, Inc.
826NYC, Inc.
Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives
Accreditation Council for
Psychoanalytic Education, Inc.
Adirondack Foundation
Adirondack Lakes Center for the
Arts
Adolph and Esther Gottlieb
Foundation
Aging in New York Fund, Inc.
Agricultural Stewardship
Association
AIGA
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
American Brass Chamber Music
Association
Ancramdale Neighbors Helping
Neighbors Association, Inc.
Angels Unaware, Inc.
Annabella Gonzalez Dance
Theater, Inc.
Anti-Defamation League
Art School of Columbia County
Arts on the Lake
Artsmith, Inc.
Asian American Arts Alliance
Association for Vision
Rehabilitation and Employment,
Inc.
Association of Art Museum
Directors
Association of Research and
Enlightenment of New York, Inc.
Association of Teaching Artists
Astoria Performing Arts Center
Astraea Lesbian Foundation for
Justice
AutismUp
Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps
Ballet Tech Foundation, Inc.
New York City
Brooklyn
Brooklyn
New York City
New York City
Lake Placid
Blue Mountain
Lake
New York City
New York City
Greenwich
New York City
New York City
New York City
Ancramdale
Bronx
New York City
New York City
Ghent
Kent
Bronx
Brooklyn
Binghamton
New York City
New York City
Fairport
Webster
New York City
New York City
BeaconArts
Beatrix Farrand Garden
Association
Big Reuse
Bond Street Theatre
Braata Productions
Bronx Arts Ensemble
Bronx Children's Museum
Bronxville Women's Club
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Arts Council
Brooklyn Bar Association
Volunteer Lawyers Project
Brooklyn Heights Association
Buddhist Global Relief
Buffalo Fine Arts Academy d/b/a
Albright-Knox Art Gallery
Calling All Poets
Camp Stella Maris
CancerCare
Capital District Humanist Society
Carroll Gardens Association, Inc.
CASA of Rochester/Monroe
County
Catholic Charities - Archdiocese
of New York
Cause Effective
Cause Strategy Partners, LLC
Cayuga Museum of History and
Art
Cazenovia Recovery Systems, Inc.
Center for Democratic Values
Center for Elder Law & Justice
Center for Family Representation
Center for Health, Media & Policy
Central Adirondack Partnership
(CAP-21)
Charles Settlement House
Chenango River Theatre
Cherry Valley Artworks, Inc.
Clemens Center
Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public
Library
CNY Fair Housing
Hyde Park
New York City
Bronx
Bronxville
Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Buffalo
Wallkill
Livonia
New York City
Albany
Brooklyn
Rochester
Ulster Park
New York City
New York City
Auburn
Buffalo
Walden
Buffalo
New York City
Old Forge
Rochester
Greene
Elmira
Clifton Park
Syracuse
Community Letter in Support of Nonpartisanship
April 5, 2017
Page 3
CodeEd
Community Foundation of
Tompkins County
Community Resource Exchange
Constance Saltonstall Foundation
for the Arts
Cooperstown Graduate
Association (for the
Cooperstown Graduate
Program in Museum Studies)
Council Services Plus
Crime Victims Assistance Center,
Inc.
Dance Theatre Etcetera
Danielle House, Inc.
Depot Theatre
Development Counsel
Directions for Our Youth, Inc.
Divine Anointing Touch Ministries
DOROT, Inc.
Dutchess Outreach, Inc.
Elsie K. Powell House
Engineering Conferences
International
Erie Canalway Heritage Fund, Inc.
Esopus Foundation Ltd.
Essentials First Foundation
Family of Woodstock, Inc.
Feel the Music!
Finger Lakes Independence
Center Board of Directors
Finger Lakes ReUse, Inc.
First Presbyterian Church
Food Bank of Central New York
Food Bank of the Southern Tier
Ford Foundation
Fordham Street Foundation
Fort Greene Strategic
Neighborhood Action
Partnership
Four Way Books
Franciscan Friars-Holy Name
Province
Friends of Five Rivers
Friends of the Upper Delaware
River
Friends of Tilonia, Inc.
Friends of UNFPA
GHS Philanthropy Management
Global Justice
Institute, Metropolitan
Community Churches
Brooklyn
Ithaca
New York City
Ithaca
Cooperstown
Albany
Binghamton
Brooklyn
Binghamton
Westport
New York City
Bronx
Brooklyn
New York City
Poughkeepsie
Old Chatham
New York City
Waterford
Brooklyn
Chicago
Kingston
New York City
Ithaca
Ithaca
Rome
Syracuse
Elmira
New York City
New York City
Brooklyn
New York City
Delmar
Hancock
Brooklyn
New York City
New York City
New York City
New York
GLSEN
GO ART!
God's Love We Deliver
GOH Productions
Governance Matters, Inc.
Green City Challenge
Green:Inspired:Art
Greenwich House, Inc.
GrowNYC
Habitat for Humanity of Greater
Newburgh
Habitat for Humanity of NYS
Habitat for Humanity of Tompkins
and Cortland Counties
Harmonie Ensemble/New York
Head Start Sponsoring Board
Council
HeARTs Speak, Inc.
Her Justice
Holy Apostles Soup
Kitchen/Church of Holy
Apostles
Homeless Services United
Hope 7 Community Center
Hour Children, Inc.
Howland Chamber Music Circle
Hudson Highlands Land Trust
Human Services Council of New
York
Innovative Charitable Initiatives,
Inc. (ICI)
Interfaith Council for Action, Inc.
JCC of Binghamton
Jeevan Jyoti Inc. Senior Support
Group
Jezebel Productions
jGirls Magazine
Junior League of Long Island
Katonah Museum of Art
Kavelman Group Philanthropic
Advisors
Keoni Movement Arts
Kinesis Project dance theatre
Kitchen Theatre Company, Inc.
Lar Lubovitch Dance Company
L'Arche Syracuse, Inc.
Lawyers For Children
League of American Orchestras
LeAp
Let's Get Ready
LifeWay Network
Lifting Lives
New York City
New York City
New York City
Bronx
New York City
New York City
New York City
Newburgh
Nichols
Ithaca
New York City
Poughkeepsie
New York City
New York City
New York City
Troy
Long Island City
New Hamburg
Garrison
New York City
Albany
Ossining
Vestal
New York City
Southold
New York City
Katonah
New York City
New York City
New York City
Ithaca
New York City
Syracuse
New York City
New York City
New York City
New York City
Rego Park
Bronx
Community Letter in Support of Nonpartisanship
April 5, 2017
Page 4
Literacy New York, Inc.
LiteracyCNY
Livingston Arts Center
Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg
Foundation
Local Learning: The National
Network for Folk Arts in
Education
Long Island Cat Kitten Solution,
Inc.
Long Island Center for
Independent Living, Inc. (LICIL)
Long Island Traditions
Madison Square Park
Conservancy
MADRE
Maloto
Manhattan Land Trust
Margert Community Corporation
Marketing EDGE
Massachusetts Avenue Project
Marxe School of Public and
International Affairs, Baruch
College
Maysles Institute (dba Maysles
Documentary Center)
Mediation Center of Dutchess
County
MERCAZ USA
MFY Legal Services, Inc.
Mid-Hudson Association for
Persons with Disabilities Inc.
Migraine Research Foundation
Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts
Mohonk Preserve, Inc.
Museum Association of New York
Music Conservatory of
Westchester
National Bottle Museum
National Susan B. Anthony
Museum & House
New Destiny Housing Corporation
New Federal Theatre
New Genesis Productions
New York City Community Chorus
New York Common Pantry
New York Council of Nonprofits,
Inc. (NYCON)
New York Lawyers for the Public
Interest
Lancaster
Syracuse
New York City
New York City
Levittown
New York City
New York City
New York City
Far Rockaway
New York City
Buffalo
Long Island City
New York City
Poughkeepsie
New York City
New York City
Poughkeepsie
Little Falls
New Paltz
Huntington
White Plains
Ballston Spa
Rochester
New York City
New York City
West Shokan
New York City
Albany
New York City
New York
New York State Council for
Community Behavioral
Healthcare
New York State Network for Youth
Success
New Yorkers for Parks
Nonprofit & Philanthropic
Management
Nonprofit Coordinating
Committee of New York
North Country Library System
North Country Underground
Railroad Historical Association
Northern Regional Center for
Independent Living
NYARC
NYC Housing Partnership
Development Corp.
NYC Outward Bound Schools
One Spirit Learning Alliance
Oneida Improvement Committee,
Inc.
OPERA America
Opportunities for Otsego, Inc.
Orange County NY Arts Council
Otsego 2000, Inc.
PathStone Corporation
Peggy Ogden LLC
Performing Arts Of Woodstock
Philanthropy New York
Priory of St. Benedict, Inc.
Prison Communities
International, Inc.
Pro Bono Partnership
Red Hook Initiative
Red Rooster Group
Relationships and Dyads, Inc.
Rensselaer County Historical
Society
Reproductive Health Access
Project
ReThink Local
Rhinebeck Aerodrome Museum
Robert Strell Real Estate
Consulting
Rochester Education Foundation
Rochester NY Chapter Americans
United for Separation of Church
and State
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Albany
Troy
New York City
New York City
New York City
Watertown
New York City
Watertown
Buffalo
Brooklyn
Long Island City
New York City
Oneida
New York City
Oneonta
Sugar Loaf
Cooperstown
Rochester
Syracuse
New York City
Katonah
White Plains
Brooklyn
New York City
Brooklyn
Troy
New York City
Gardiner
Rhinebeck
Williamsville
Rochester
Rochester
New York City
Nyack
Community Letter in Support of Nonpartisanship
April 5, 2017
Page 5
Rockland County Pride Center
Room for All, Inc.
Roxbury Arts Group
Sabater Foundation
Safe Haven 4 Animals
Saratoga Chamber Players
SC Group
Schenectady Inner City Ministry
Schoharie Mohawk Initiative for
Science and Technology
Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center
Serious Fun After School, Inc.
Service Program for Older People
Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance
SHARE: Self-help for Women with
Breast or Ovarian Cancer
Southern Hills Preservation
Corporation
Springville Center for the Arts
St. Luke's School
St. Paul's Center
Starflower Experiences
Step Up
Stetwin Consulting
Stonewall Community Foundation
Strategic Fundraising
Sullivan County Child Care
Council, Inc.
Support Center for Nonprofit
Management, Inc.
Susan J Ragusa, Consultant
Sweetbriar Nature Center
Sylvan Winds, Inc.
Syracuse Northeast Community
Center
Talking Brains Initiative, Inc.
Tamer Center for Social
Enterprise, Columbia University
Tanenbaum Center for
Interreligious Understanding
Tanglewood Nature Center &
Museum
The Bandera Family And
Community Alliance, Inc.
The Catalog for Giving of NYC
The Century Foundation
The Chocolate Factory Theater
The Clark Foundation
The Commonwealth Fund
The Dyson Foundation
The Educational Foundation of
America
Albany
Roxbury
New York City
Stormville
Stony Creek
Schenectady
Duanesburg
Auburn
New York City
New York City
Brooklyn
New York City
LaFayette
Springville
New York City
Rensselaer
New York City
New York City
New York City
Ferndale
New York City
Rhinebeck
Smithtown
New York City
Syracuse
Montgomery
New York City
New York City
Elmira
Binghamton
New York City
New York City
New York City
New York City
New York City
Millbrook
New York
The Fortune Society
The Giving Circle, Inc.
The Institute for Human Services
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual &
Transgender Community Center
The McCarthy Charities
The New York Community Trust
The Pen and Rush, Inc.
The Picture House Regional Film
Center
The Public Theater
The Raoul Wallenberg Committee
of the United States
The Richards Library
The Riding With Us Foundation,
Inc.
The Scherman Foundation
The Tyler Clementi Foundation
Theater for the New City
Theaterlab, Inc.
Theatre Development Fund
Theatre of Youth
Tioga County Rural Ministry, Inc.
Tompkins Community Action, Inc.
Tompkins Corners Cultural
Center, Inc.
Transfernation, Inc.
Treehouse Shakers
Trickle Up
Troy Children's Chorus
Troy Housing Authority
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall
True Insights Consulting LLC
Union for Reform Judaism
Union Settlement
United Church Funds
United Church Home Society
United Neighborhood Houses
United Tenants of Albany
United Way of New York City
United Way of the Southern Tier,
Inc.
Unity House of Troy
University Consultation Center
Untermyer Performing Arts
Council, Inc.
UPAC
Upstate Films Limited
Virtual Education Life Skills
Mentoring Services, Inc.
(V-ELMS)
Long Island City
Bath
New York City
Troy
New York City
New York City
Pelham
New York City
New York City
Warrensburg
Brooklyn
New York City
New York City
New York City
New York City
New York City
Buffalo
Owego
Ithaca
Putnam Valley
New York City
New York City
New York City
Troy
Troy
Troy
Pittsford
New York City
New York City
New York City
Albany
Corning
Troy
Bronx
Yonkers
Rhinebeck
Brooklyn
Community Letter in Support of Nonpartisanship
April 5, 2017
Page 6
Volunteers Improving
Neighborhood Environments,
Inc.
Volunteers of America Upstate
New York
Washburn Carmichael
West Village Committee
Westbeth Artists Residents
Council
Westchester Country Club
Women's Bar Association of
Orange & Sullivan Counties
Foundation, Inc.
Women's Studio Workshop
Words Without Borders
World Day of Prayer USA
World Music Institute, Inc.
YMCA of Olean
You Are Beautiful People, Inc.
Zegar Family Foundation
Binghamton
Rochester
Ossining
New York City
New York City
Newburgh
Rosendale
New York City
New York City
Brooklyn
Hinsdale
Warwick
New York City
National Organizations
Abila
Accreditation Council for Psychoanalytic
Education, Inc.
AdoptAClassroom.org
Alliance for Strong Families and Communities
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
American Alliance of Museums
American Association of Anatomists
American Association of Physics Teachers
American Association of Teachers of German
American Bladder Cancer Society
American Board of Venous & Lymphatic
Medicine
American Brass Chamber Music Association
American Conference of Academic Deans
American Heart Association
American Historical Association
American Jewish Committee
American Medical Association Foundation
American Physiological Society
American Podiatric Medical Association, Inc.
American Red Cross
Americans for the Arts
Americans Promoting Study Abroad
Americans United for Separation of Church
and State
Amyloidosis Foundation
Annie E. Casey Foundation
New York
Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center
Association for Jewish Outreach Professionals
Association of American Colleges and
Universities
Association of Art Museum Directors
Association of Direct Response Fundraising
Counsel
Association of Fundraising Professionals
Association of Immunization Managers
Association of Nature Center Administrators
Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty
Baptist Women in Ministry
Barr Foundation
BoardSource
Brady Campaign and Center to Prevent Gun
Violence
Camp Fire
Campion Foundation
Catholic Charities USA
Catholic Mobilizing Network
Center for Health, Environment & Justice
Center for Inquiry
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
Citizen Schools
CleanSlateNow
Commonwealth Fund
Council on Foundations
Council for Global Equality
Dance USA
Dementia Society, Inc.
Democracy 21
Destination & Travel Foundation
Dietel Partners, LLC
Disability Rights Advocacy Fund
Ecology Project International
Engineering Conferences International
Feed the Children
Feeding America
Food & Water Watch
Ford Foundation
Forum of Regional Associations of
Grantmakers
Free Press
Girl Scouts of the USA
Girls Inc.
Global Integrity
Goodwill Industries, International
Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
Greater Nonprofits
GuideStar
Habitat for Humanity International
Community Letter in Support of Nonpartisanship
April 5, 2017
Page 7
Harbor Compliance
HawkWatch International
Hindu American Foundation
Histiocytosis Foundation
Horizons National
Human Science Institute
Independent Sector
International Essential Tremor Foundation
International Hearing Dog, Inc.
International Performing Arts for Youth
International Primate Protection League
Issue One
Jessie Ball DuPont Fund
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Jewish Federations of North America
Leadership USA
League of American Orchestras
League of Women Voters
Leukemia Research Foundation
Local Learning: The National Network for Folk
Arts in Education
Lumina Foundation
Lymphoma Foundation of America
Migraine Research Foundation
Mentors International
Morino Ventures, LLC
National Association of Charitable Gift
Planners
National Association of Health Data
Organizations
National Association of State Boating Law
Administrators (NASBLA)
National Association of Watch and Collectors
NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Illness
National Center for Appropriate Technology
National Center for Fire and Life Safety
National Committee for Responsive
Philanthropy
National Council of Behavioral Health
National Council of Churches
National Council of Nonprofits
National Dance Education Organization
National Hartford Centers of Gerontological
Nursing Excellence
National Human Services Assembly
National Indian Child Welfare Association
National LGBTQ Task Force
National Organization for Albinism and
Hypopigmentation
National Runaway Safeline
National Safe Place Network
National Tongan American Society
New York
NEO Law Group
North American Bramble Growers Research
Foundation
OPERA America
Partnership for America's Children
Pension Fund of the Christian Church
Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement
Project Wet Foundation
Project Managers Without Borders
Public Citizen
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Secular Coalition for America
Senior Executives Association
Seva Foundation
Skillman Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Smith’s Food and Drug
Social Velocity
The Arc of the United States
The Aspen Institute
The Commonwealth Fund
The Dibble Institute
The Educational Foundation of America
The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi
The Michael J. Fox Foundation
The Ocean Foundation
The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation
The Voter Participation Center
TIDES
Unemployment Services Trust
Union for Reform Judaism
United Way Worldwide
University Professional & Continuing
Education Association
US Lacrosse
Vasculitis Foundation
Volunteers of America
Voto Latino
Wallace Global Fund
WasteWater Education
Weingart Foundation
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Words Without Borders
World Day of Prayer USA
World Neighbors, Inc.
Youth Services America
YWCA USA