[C-U Smokefree] Charities and lobbying

[Theotskl at aol.com]

Hi All--

FYI on charities and lobbying.

Cheers,

Theo

Charities Can Lobby, Despite Misconceptions
12/5/2003

Not only are nonprofit groups allowed to lobby, a little-known 1976 law gives
them more ability to do so than is commonly recognized, the Washington Post
reported Nov. 30.

Many nonprofit leaders either don't understand how federal tax laws work
regarding lobbying by tax-deductible groups or let the fear of an IRS audit
dissuade them from exercising their rights under the law. A Washington Post
survey
of 1,700 nonprofit groups found that most needlessly limit their advocacy
efforts.

"We found that the typical executive director of a 501(c)(3) has little
understanding of what the law says," according to the article by Jeffrey M.
Berry,
a political-science professor at Tufts University. "Almost half of those
surveyed are so ignorant of the law that they don't even believe their
organization
has the right to take a stand on federal legislation (perfectly permissible),
while 45 percent believe they are not allowed to sponsor a debate featuring
candidates running for public office (they can't support a candidate, but a
candidate forum is just fine)."

Part of the problem is a confusing set of regulations. Section 501(c)(3) of
the IRS code, for example, says nonprofits can't lobby to any "substantial"
degree, but the IRS has refused to clarify what is meant by "substantial."
On the
other hand, nonprofits are allowed to "educate" lawmakers without constraint.
"For political scientists, this is a preposterous distinction," wrote Berry.
"To educate lawmakers is to lobby."

The good news is that a 1976 law provides some clear-cut guidance to
nonprofits. By choosing what's known as the "H election" when filing their tax
returns, nonprofits can easily spend as much as 20 percent of their annual
budgets on
lobbying without running afoul of the IRS. The only catch is that nonprofits
have to keep track of and report their (rather narrowly defined) spending on
lobbying activities.



This article is online at http://www.jointogether.org/y/0,2521,567954,00.html

Visit www.jointogether.org for complete news and funding coverage, resource
links and advocacy tools supporting community-based efforts to reduce and
prevent substance abuse and gun violence.

Receive free news and funding headlines by email! Sign up at
www.jointogether.org/jtodirect