Spring Update: Tax, NEA, Visas, and More

May 7, 2026

In This Issue

• Tax Law and Giving Trends
• NEA Awards More FY26 Grants; Advocacy Needed for FY27
• NEA Report Links Participation to Civic Engagement
• Here for You: Visa Assistance and Guidance
• Form 990 Changes Proposed

Tax Law and Giving Trends

New research and data examine the early effects of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s tax reform policies on household and corporate giving and provide insights into how well the public understands the changes in tax law. Nonprofit advocates have requested detailed guidance from the U.S. Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) about charitable giving provisions that are beginning to influence behavior. On average, more than 40% of an orchestra’s revenue comes from private giving—a percentage that continues to grow—so the following new reports and the League’s Philanthropic Trends Resources are of interest to orchestra stakeholders and supporters alike:

• CCS Fundraising and Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy partnered to present the March 2026 webinar, “2025 H.R. 1 and the Impact on Philanthropy.”
• The report Philanthropy Outlook 2026: Estimating Effects on Charitable Giving from the One Big Beautiful Bill examines how tax reform policies may influence household and corporate giving.
• The Fundraising Effectiveness Projecthas just released data on giving in the final quarter of 2025, with insights into strategies for 2026.
• The Association of Fundraising Professionals provides very helpful overviews and donor-facing materials to help activate the broad base of donors that do not itemize tax returns and will now be able to access the tax deduction for giving in 2026.

NEA Awards More FY26 Grants; Advocacy Needed for FY27

Following a January announcement of an initial set of Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) awards, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has since added hundreds of additional FY26 grantees to its online database. The League has updated its own page listing FY26 NEA grants to orchestras, which includes a current total of 70 awards directly funding orchestral projects as well as numerous related projects administered in the first round of GAP. Earlier this week the National Council on the Arts voted on several recommendations, including the second round of GAP awards, indicating new awards will be posted in the NEA’s Grant Search database, likely in late summer.

FY26 funding for the NEA and the National Endowment for the Humanities was preserved thanks to steady advocacy from the public and the bipartisan support of Congressional leadership. However, the Administration has released its FY27 budget request and once again renewed its proposal to shut down the NEA and other cultural agencies. The League recently submitted written testimony to Congress in support of robust FY27 funding for the NEA, and now is the time for all arts supporters to contact Congress urging federal arts support. Personalizing and sending a message about the importance of the arts will take 2 minutes, but the impact of collective action is long-lasting. Thank you for joining us in speaking up!

NEA Report Links Participation to Civic Engagement

In addition to its grantmaking role, the NEA is a key source of data and research on arts engagement and participation. A new report examines the links between arts participation and broader community engagement. The Great Connector: How Arts Participation Renews Civic and Community Engagement explores whether and how taking part in arts events and activities can build social and civic muscle and includes the following highlights:

• Arts participants experience a nearly 4x increase in likelihood of civic and community engagement, relative to non-arts participants.
• Adults who participate in many types of arts activities show the highest levels of civic and community engagement, compared with adults who do only some arts activities, or who do none at all.

The full report is available on the NEA’s website as part of its. National Arts Statistics and Evidence-based Reporting Center.

Here for You: Visa Assistance and Guidance

As orchestras are increasingly reporting, the process of engaging international guest artists has grown more challenging, expensive, and uncertain. The League continues to advocate, playing a leading role in coalition efforts to improve artist visa policies, such as supporting the bipartisan House of Representatives letter calling for artist visa improvements. We also provide help to artists and arts organizations navigating this process from start to finish. General public guidance is always available via our dedicated website, Artists from Abroad, and member orchestras can also access direct technical assistance. Our advocacy team is ready to help orchestras evaluate their options and understand the requirements, as we work to improve policies in Washington, D.C.

Form 990 Changes Proposed

The IRS recently announced plans to revise Form 990, with the stated goals of improving transparency and strengthening oversight of 501(c)(3) nonprofits. The revisions to this annually-filed information return will focus specifically on reports of government contracts, government grants, and fiscal sponsorship arrangements.

Nonprofit advocates will be mobilizing to review the more detailed proposals expected from the IRS. The League is a member of the National Council of Nonprofits, which is preparing a national sign-on letter and comment guide to assist organizations that wish to comment once the proposed regulations are published. Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.