Another charity. Another letter from the U.S. Senate. And again, coast-to-coast press coverage raising significant questions, this time about the recent Senate inquiry into pay practices at Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Many charity executives will say a small prayer of thanks that the mailman didn’t stop at their doors with a Senate-franked envelope.

Notwithstanding the power of prayer, leaders in the charitable community seeking to avoid letters from senators would do well to take a hard look at their organizations and ask fundamental questions.

The paramount question for the leaders of a charity to ask: What is our organization’s charitable goal and mission and how do we accomplish that mission?

To go further, is the mission (and are the related accomplishments) of our organization something that can be understood by a grandmother, and do our accomplishments justify the tax breaks we receive and that are subsidized by the community?

Setting aside the desire to avoid correspondence with senators, the need for 501(c)(3) organizations to have a well-articulated charitable mission coupled with concrete and measureable accomplishments is a here-and-now issue given the recent decision by the Illinois Supreme Court in Provena. The Illinois case upholds the denial of a charitable hospital’s exemption from property tax on the grounds that the hospital had failed to provide sufficient charitable work.

This landmark case — which many view as a major victory for the poor — should be must reading for every charity executive. As state and local governments are desperate for revenues, you can expect  that more charities will face questions about their exemptions from certain state and local taxes.

As charities revisit their mission and goals, here are some basic guidelines:  If the organization is providing services for a fee, the pull and effort should be toward those services that are free to the poor, discounted to people with low incomes, and fairly priced to others. Note: This doesn’t mean increasing the amount you charge low-income families and then providing them a discount from the inflated price—see Footnote 4 of the Provena decision.  

A charitable leader also needs to compare her organization to similar for-profit businesses and articulate a strong case as to how the tax-exempt organization significantly differentiates itself — to the benefit of the public.

It is charities that walk, talk, and quack like a for-profit entity with no clear charitable mission and accomplishments that will often find themselves subject to questions by the Congress, press, donors, and now their state and local government. 

Call it what you want — organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes, serving public rather than private interests, or providing public benefits commensurate with your resources — each is grounded on a simple notion, and each, if followed, will serve as a north star to help guide a charity away from the rocks and shoals.  

There are some real steps that charities can take today — to the benefit of their goals and missions — that will do much to avoid getting an unwelcome bill from the state or local government or a letter from the Senate tomorrow.