According to the Mexican Center of Philanthropic Institutions (CEMEFI), half of all Mexican foundations were established in the last decade. Nonetheless, from our standpoint, it should be noted that the constitutional origin of the most important and powerful philanthropic organizations goes back to the 1985 earth quake that hit Mexico City.

A law on "Private Assistance" has been in place in the Federal District since 1943. It regulates the activity of organizations engaged in socially beneficial work that wish to receive resources from companies seeking tax deductions, or from the government directly. These organizations had to adopt the legal form of Institución de Asistencia Privada (IAP), and accepted the oversight of the Private Assistance Board, which is directed by an officer appointed by the regent, or mayor of Mexico City.

In Oaxaca the Private Assistance law is now being framed (see Government Institutions). Hence there is no clear legal framework for philanthropic institutions to be able to make tax-deductible donations to Oaxacan organizations.

This lack of legal framework is mainly a hindrance to the transfer of resources by companies to the NGOs, since there is no government oversight body to regulate the proper use of tax deductions. In theory, NGOs can request the permission of the Secretariat of Treasury and Public Credit (SHCP, or Hacienda) to receive donations from companies or private individuals, but actually this practice is uncommon, since the bureaucratic steps are many and NGOs prefer not to have a direct relationship with Hacienda. Indeed, in the vast majority of cases, NGOs are not perfectly frank in their tax declarations to the SHCP.