
Next month, Ci Yuan is convening leaders from across the U.S. social sector to take a critical look at the assumptions we all use to ground our work. This will both generate a report for the Chinese government and social sector but also, hopefully, spark some dialogue about how we may need to change here in the U.S.
There are major assumptions we take for granted about the role of nonprofit sector and our government. We assume that the government shouldn’t be the only provider of social services but also that they can outsource programs to nonprofits. We allow nonprofits to advocate for policy but not for politicians. We exempt nonprofits from paying taxes if their revenue is mission related and make it relatively easy to get and maintain nonprofit status.