Amicus Brief on Schedule B, Donor Privacy Filed With the Supreme Court

(See AFP’s previous article for more details about the case.)

The amicus brief that AFP Global signed onto in the case of Thomas More Law Center v. Becerra involving donor privacy and Schedule B of the Form 990 has been filed with the Supreme Court.

The brief, spearheaded by The Nonprofit Alliance, was supported by AFP and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and co-signed by 123 other charities, including four AFP chapters.

The NonProfit Times reports that a total of 275 nonprofits, including the Association of National Advertisers, the ACLU, the Philanthropy Roundtable and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, signed onto 35 amicus briefs challenging donor disclosure requirements being promulgated by the California Attorney General’s Office. In addition to those briefs, 22 state attorneys general, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and the U.S. Solicitor General filed additional briefs in support of the petitioners.

While no set calendar has been scheduled yet, it is possible that the case could be heard in April.

“I am very energized by the number of charities that responded to the email we distributed to chapters and our members’ organizations asking them to sign on to the brief,” said Mike Geiger, MBA, CPA, president and CEO of AFP. “The case involves an issue that is at the heart of ethical—and effective—fundraising: donor privacy and the rights of Americans to come together to support an issue and to give that support anonymously if they wish. If donors don’t feel like their privacy will be respected, they are much less likely to give, so this is a very critical case for all charities.”

The four AFP chapters that signed onto the brief include AFP New York City; AFP New York, Westchester; AFP Ohio, Northwest; and AFP Virginia, Hampton Roads.

Geiger stated that AFP’s position is consistent with the association’s overall focus on ethics and transparency, and that there is nothing in the case that prevents the Attorney General from obtaining any needed information from the Form 990 through the traditional court process. “Given the evidence that has been presented—a clear lack of the state of California ever using the information on the Schedule B—we feel that the onus ought to be on the government to demonstrate why they need this sensitive information, especially as it hasn’t demonstrated it can keep the information private in the first place,” said Geiger. Over 1,800 Schedule Bs have been inadvertently posted online by the California Attorney General’s office and freely available to the public.

Numerous other states noted in their briefs that there is no routine need in their charity oversight duties for the information in the Schedule B.

The full amicus brief can be found below.

AFP will update members when a schedule