Nonprofit Groups End Talks With Government Over Antiterror Guidelines

After trying for seven years to convince the Treasury Department to significantly alter its antiterror guidelines for giving abroad, charities are ending discussions out of frustration.

Nonprofits have long argued that the voluntary guidelines hype the potential of U.S. charities being exploited by terrorists and create a cloud of suspicion that dissuades people and foundations from giving abroad.

In a letter sent to the Treasury Department on November 8, a group of more than 70 nonprofit organizations complained that the department hasn’t made any major changes based on their suggestions and sticks by what the charities believe are exaggerated claims.

Through its representative, Marcus Owens, the Treasury Guidelines Working Group which was convened by the Council on Foundations, said it was ending its dialogue with the government and disbanding as a result. “We are at an impasse,” the letter says.

A spokesperson for the Treasury said in an e-mail to The Chronicle that the government was “disappointed” by the charities’ decision but reiterated that the “fact remains that terrorists and their support networks continue to rely on charities as a primary source of financial and material support.”

The announcement by the charities was precipitated by a letter that Chip Poncy, director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Strategic Policy for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, sent to the working group of nonprofits in June. In the letter, Mr. Poncy rejected the idea that the guidelines for giving should be scrapped, as the working group has called for. “It would send the wrong message in the face of the fact that charities continue to be abused and exploited by terrorist organizations, particularly those charities operating in high-risk regions around the world,” he said.

Mr. Poncy also said Treasury would be modifying the guidelines, focusing on “high-risk” areas like Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Lebanon. He said he welcomed the input of charities in making those modifications.

But the working group of charities, which includes grant makers, associations, advocacy groups, and other types of nonprofits, said they’d had enough.

“After considering our collective progress over the past seven years and giving much thought to views expressed in your letter, the Working Group has determined that further discussions regarding the Guidelines and related guidance would be unproductive.”

The Treasury Department’s efforts to focus on “high-risk” parts of the world could further raise charities’ hackles. Three years ago, Grantmakers Without Borders, a group that represents donors, sent a letter to Treasury complaining about a document the Treasury released called “Risk Matrix for the Charitable Sector.” The grant-making group said it cast unfair suspicion on small, grass-roots charities working in conflict-ridden areas.