People who donate to charitable organizations have a certain expectation of what the group will do with their funds. To help donors feel confident, several rating agencies publish scores for nonprofit organizations. These scores rank nonprofits for their transparency, utility, use of funds and perceived reliability. In recent years, donors have raised questions about the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs charity (OCPA). Its scores tend to be on the low side, which is seriously hurting the flow of donations, but is it possible that this is a result of shortcomings in the ratings, rather than in the OCPA charity itself?
The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs Charity
The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs is a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit set up as a think tank based in Oklahoma City. For more than 25 years, OCPA has advocated for relatively mainstream free-market ideas of limited government, free enterprise and individual rights. The council has largely done this with position papers and academic research on economic and political subjects.
OCPA offers a fellowship for future community leaders. It also runs a podcast, provides free data tools on its website and informs members of the public about impending legislative actions. The council is best known for its statements and press releases about most of the high-profile political issues of the day from a conservative standpoint.
Concerns About the Organization
The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs charity has come in for more than a bit of criticism in recent years. The council has a score of just 72% from Charity Navigator, a generally respected rating group for nonprofits that disclose their financials. This very average score is held down in part because of recent restructuring in the council’s recordkeeping that makes its finances less transparent. OCPA’s rating also takes a hit from the unusually high cost it pays to both raise funds and operate its assets, with just a $0.23/$1.00 fundraising efficiency.
Then there’s the matter of some odd personal behavior on the part of unnamed individuals associated with the council. In the summer of 2022, the wife of Oklahoma Rep. Anthony Moore actually filed a request for a restraining order against several OCPA staffers, including Jonathan Small, OCPA President, Dave Bond, VP of Advocacy, Ray Carter, Director of OCPA and Hallie Milner, Development and Outreach Coordinator. Ms. Moore alleged that she had been repeatedly called and threatened from spoofed phone numbers that later turned out to be from the high-ranking members of OCPA. It should be noted that the request for a protection order was eventually withdrawn a few weeks later.
What This All Means
The combination of low navigator scores and bizarre personal behavior from some of the council’s members has raised some serious questions about the legitimacy of OCPA as a charitable nonprofit. Technically, the council remains a tax-exempt nonprofit, and donations to the group remain tax deductible. Despite this, the various issues that raise questions about the OCPA’s integrity and use of funds make it all the more important to be careful about making donations or partnering with a political nonprofit.