National Christian Foundation


National Christian Foundation is a US non-profit organization that assists donors in donating to charitable causes. NCF is a leader in accepting non-cash assets, and is the nation's largest provider of donor-advised funds focused primarily on Christian givers. Since 1982, NCF has granted over $11.6 billion to causes and charities. The NCF has donated to conservative religious organizations and charities, including some designated as hate groups with ties to people pushing anti-LGBTQ legislation in Uganda and other countries.

History

In 1982, Evangelical Christian author and entrepreneur Larry Burkett, financial advisor Ron Blue, and tax attorney Terry Parker founded the National Christian Foundation.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, NCF began adding local offices throughout the United States in 2000. By 2018, NCF reported having 28 local offices in cities across the country including Dallas, Orlando, Chicago, and Seattle. These local offices are community-based and act as liaisons to the national organization.
In 2019, NCF distributed its eleventh billionth grant dollar to more than 63,000 charities since its founding. This accomplishment has led it to be ranked as the 6th largest non-profit organization in the United States.

Program

NCF's primary operation, the Giving Fund, works like a charitable savings account. Via an online dashboard, donors give various assets into the Fund, receive a tax deduction at the time of the gift, and recommend grants to their favorite charities. NCF accepts non-cash gifts such as stocks, real estate, and business interests. They also offer other giving options, such as Charitable Gift Annuities and the NCF Legacy Fund. Recently, NCF released the ability to monitor account information on mobile devices. Through both platforms, donors can also set annual or lifetime giving goals and read stories or watch videos about donations.
All charitable contributions are donated to NCF, which helps to maximize charitable gifts.
NCF spends a small portion of gifts and earnings to fund the support activities necessary to be able to make those grants. NCF calculates the amount as a percentage of the donor's Fund balance, and, in the case of non-cash assets, a percentage of gift value.

Criticism

Like other donor-advised funds, there is lack of specificity in the source of the money and their specific target. Between 2015 and 2017, NCF distributed 56.1 million dollars to 23 organizations designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center.