Volume 12, Issue 3

Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) are the fastest growing destination for charitable giving, and subject to vigorous debate over whether they should be more tightly regulated. Virtually all of the research on DAFs and the arguments for increased regulation emanate from the US. This article compares regulation in Canada and Australia with the US to demonstrate how different regimes lead to different uses of DAFs and different ‘market’ configurations. The conceptual framework presents three motivational scenarios for their use: as pseudo foundations, tax savings and protection of privacy. The differential effects of regulation on these donor scenarios explains why total DAF assets in Australia are proportionately much lower than its North American counterparts, mainly because its regime is not skewed as heavily toward the tax savings motivated donor. The findings raise serious questions as to whether DAFs have actually democratized philanthropy, as is so often claimed. In terms of policy change, all three countries have experienced policy drift, although for different reasons. However, COVID-19 pandemic may have created new windows of opportunity for regulatory reform.

Regulation protects the third sector from mismanagement, provides data for policy development, and increases public trust and confidence in its organisations. Different agencies regulate Malaysian third sector organisations (TSO), based on their legal forms and varying activities or functions. Yet, can different regulations governing organisations with similar objectives effectively address issues affecting the sector as a whole? This study provides an overview of the Malaysian third sector regulatory landscape and examines the operational challenges caused by the multiple regulator environment. Third sector actors and regulators were interviewed to understand how they navigate legal and regulatory requirements. Findings show that regulation is hampered by discrepancies surrounding the interpretation and application of laws. This Malaysian study shows that regulatory inconsistencies affect the sector’s operational efficiency and diminish trust between the TSOs and regulators. Based on these findings, uniformity in regulation is crucial to build trust in the sector, as well as between actors and regulators.

The 2010 Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid eligibility to states’ residents with incomes below the federal poverty line, creating both opportunities and challenges to hospitals in states that adopted the new Medicaid eligibility. This article explores the effect of Medicaid expansions on nonprofit hospitals. Using data from Internal Revenue Service and a difference-in-differences design, this article examines the impact of the expansions on the number of, contributions to, and profitability of nonprofit hospitals. The results suggest that Medicaid expansions did not affect the number and profitability of nonprofit hospitals; however, the expansions were associated with a reduction in contributions to certain types of hospitals by around 23%. Therefore, the effects of policy changes vary by the type of nonprofit hospitals, which then need to find better strategies to cope with these changes.