As executive director of the Montana Nonprofit Association, a membership association that supports more than 850 organizations across the state, I am dismayed by the numerous recent incidents in which politicians and influencers have portrayed local public charities across Montana as “dark money” groups and as organizations at the center of larger political conflicts.

The nonprofit sector operates on the basis of trust. The trust of families and households that organizations will respond to needs, the trust of funders and supporters that resources will be well managed, and the trust of the wider public, who recognize that nonprofits can and should get involved in areas where government and business cannot or should not.

When local public charities, run and supported by your neighbors, friends and colleagues, are portrayed as something they are not, and as something nefarious and disreputable, trust is undermined and the social contract between nonprofits and their community is compromised.

Montana's nonprofits fall roughly into two main categories: those that provide essential services to those in need, such as food security, housing, child care, healthcare, and education, and those that build and protect the Montana we love, including hiking trails, open space preservation, museums, and theaters. These nonprofits are known as “public charities” and are officially classified as 501c3 tax-exempt organizations under federal tax law. In Montana, these organizations are the foundation of our communities, employing Montanans, serving Montanans, and standing alongside the public and private sectors to round out the richness, beauty, and humanity that make our communities truly special places to call home.

In contrast to the secrecy implied by the term “dark money,” 501c3s (public charities) operate with a high degree of transparency and accountability and must be impartial in laws and goals and committed to the public good. Every tax return for a 501c3 is publicly available and contains details of all of that organization's income, expenses, programs, major donors, and board members. We are subject to strict financial reporting requirements and controls to ensure ethical behavior.

True dark money groups are not classified as 501c3 nonprofits and are not subject to the same rigorous transparency or obligation to remain impartial in their activities. Such simplistic and misleading labels not only fail to recognize the essential role that nonprofits play in the civic life of our state, but also undermine the integrity of our important work.

At MNA, we understand the importance of accuracy and transparency in fostering public trust, accountability, and community support. Not everyone is attracted to or even agrees with the stated mission of every public charity, but that does not diminish the inherent value of that organization's work or its commitment to accountability and good faith missionary activity. Portraying an organization as something entirely different just because you may not believe in its work is dishonest and damaging to the work of the entire sector, which in turn is damaging to all Montanans.

We face big problems in our society and in our communities. Public charities are at the heart of finding solutions, working in ways that center innovation, belonging, humanity, and compassion. Our work is neighbors helping neighbors with integrity and care. When we portray it otherwise, we undermine what remaining civic trust we have in one another and diminish our ability to work together to meet the challenges ahead.

Adam Jespersen,

Executive Director of the Montana Nonprofit Association