Making Community Foundations Work: Overcoming Legal & Regulatory Barriers
From PhilanthropyWiki
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This paper is an overview of a submission made to the commonwealth government as a joint initiative of Philanthropy Australia and the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal. It argues that a simpler legal and tax structure would enable donors to realise their desire to give tax-deductible donations to benefit their local community, as well as enabling volunteer Boards of directors and staff to focus on donor development and addressing community needs, rather than on the legal and tax complexities which are currently causing delays and confusion.
The paper identifies four major regulatory barriers:
- Donations to a community foundation’s Public Fund may only be used to fund organisations with DGR status.
- The legal structure of community foundations is too complex.
- The creation of donor advised funds is limited by tax and trust law.
- Sporting organisations are not charitable.