Press Release

Initiative to Accelerate Charitable Giving Announces New Members

New members represent a broad spectrum of interests across philanthropy and join chorus of voices calling for policy reforms to close tax loopholes 

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Initiative to Accelerate Charitable Giving (IACG) is proud to expand its coalition with the addition of four new members: Give Blck, Rehabilitation Through The Arts (RTA), Worldreader, and Gaurav Kapadia, CEO of XN.

These new members represent a broad spectrum of interests across philanthropy and join philanthropists John and Laura Arnold, Melanie Lundquist, Ford Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, law professors Ray Madoff and Roger Colinvaux and other members of IACG who support federal policy reforms that will expand the number of Americans who donate to charity, provide much-needed resources to charities in a more timely fashion so they can more effectively continue serving communities, and re-establish charities as the center of charitable giving laws.

A brief overview of IACG’s new members are below:

  • Give Blck – Giving voice to over 500 Black-founded nonprofits and counting, Give Blck addresses racial equity in giving by offering a comprehensive database for donors to find and fund Black nonprofits.
  • Rehabilitation Through The Arts – Based in New York, RTA helps people in prison develop critical life skills through the arts, modeling an approach to the justice system based on human dignity rather than punishment.
  • Worldreader – Headquartered in San Francisco, Worldreader supports vulnerable and underserved communities with digital reading solutions that help improve learning outcomes, workforce readiness, and gender equity.
  • Gaurav Kapadia –Gaurav is CEO of XN, a private investment organization. He is involved in numerous philanthropic and civic causes and serves as the Co-Chairman of the Kapadia Family Foundation and on the Boards of Trustees of The Whitney Museum of American Art, Uncommon Schools, The Trust for Governors Island, the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law Center, and iMentor.

Give Blck Co-Founder Stephanie Ellis-Smith said, “Give Blck is proud to join the Initiative to Accelerate Charitable Giving and drive much-needed change to improve how funders address the giving gaps in non-profit funding. We are at a turning point where companies and individuals want to give more to Black nonprofits. We hope that our presence reminds participants, funders, and legislators alike that reforming our charitable giving laws is a crucial step towards achieving racial and economic equity in our sector.”

Rehabilitation Through The Arts Founder & Executive Director Katherine Vockins said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted people in prison, who are five times more likely to contract the virus than the general public. This important effort to accelerate charitable giving will allow RTA and other nonprofits to serve incarcerated people and other communities who are victims of social and racial injustice.”

Worldreader CEO and Co-Founder David Risher said, “There has never been a more important time to put charitable dollars to work. While many non-profits continue to work tirelessly to keep kids learning and provide other essential services during the pandemic, they are struggling and need our support. We must restore the connection between charitable tax benefits and benefits to working charities so that they can continue serving our communities and addressing the most pressing issues of our time.”

XN CEO Gaurav Kapadia said, “The private and charitable sectors both play a critical role in addressing society’s greatest needs and enriching our communities through education, arts and culture, and other civic causes. I’m thrilled to support the Initiative to Accelerate Charitable Giving’s efforts to close the tax loopholes that are impeding the flow of resources to America’s working charities. Now more than ever, we need to empower the nonprofit sector to ensure that much-needed resources get to work for the American people in a more timely fashion.”

As part of its launch last December on Giving Tuesday, IACG unveiled a statement of principles that outlines federal policy reforms that would fulfill the purpose of charitable tax incentives by tying the tax benefits of philanthropic giving to when that money actually goes to charities and the American taxpayer can benefit it. Specifically, IACG proposes the following reforms:

1. For private foundations, close loopholes to better ensure that distributions qualifying for the payout requirement are available for use by working charities; and incentivize greater payout through reforms to the excise tax.

2. For donor-advised funds (DAFs), adopt measures to make sure that DAF accounts are distributed to working charities within a reasonable period of time.

3. For individuals, incentivize greater giving by expanding and extending the new non-itemizer charitable deduction in a cost-effective way.

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About the Initiative to Accelerate Charitable Giving

The Initiative to Accelerate Charitable Giving (IACG) is a broad coalition of philanthropists, leaders of major foundations, non-profits and others who represent a broad spectrum of interests across philanthropy. IACG is dedicated to promoting common-sense, non-partisan federal policy reforms that close tax loopholes and re-establish charities as the center of charitable giving laws. For more information, visit www.acceleratecharitablegiving.org.