Congressionally Chartered Nonprofit Organizations (“Title 36 Corporations”): What They Are and How Congress Treats Them Page: 2 of 20
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Congressionally Chartered Nonprofit Organizations ("Title 36 Corporations")
Summary
The chartering by Congress of organizations with a patriotic, charitable, historical, or educational
purpose is essentially a 20th century practice. There are currently some 92 nonprofit corporations
listed in Title 36, Subtitle II, of the U.S. Code. These so-called "Title 36 corporations," such as
the Girl Scouts of America and the National Academy of Public Administration, are typically
incorporated first under state law, then request that Congress grant them a congressional or
federal charter.
Chartered corporations listed in Title 36 are not agencies of the United States, and their charters
only rarely assign the corporate bodies any governmental attributes. For instance, the
corporation's debt is not guaranteed, explicitly or implicitly, by the full faith and credit of the
United States. The attraction of Title 36 status for national organizations is that it tends to provide
an "official" imprimatur to their activities, and to that extent it may provide them prestige and
indirect financial benefit.
In recent years, some in Congress have expressed concern that the public may be misled by its
chartering process into believing that somehow the U.S. government approves and supervises the
corporations, when in fact this is not the case. As a consequence, the House Judiciary
Committee's subcommittee of jurisdiction instituted a moratorium on granting new charters in
1989. (The Senate generally defers to the House on chartering matters.) On several recent
occasions, however, Congress has established Title 36 corporations despite the moratorium.
This report will be updated in the event of a significant development.Congressional Research Service
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Kosar, Kevin R. Congressionally Chartered Nonprofit Organizations (“Title 36 Corporations”): What They Are and How Congress Treats Them, report, June 17, 2011; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc818554/m1/2/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.