Nonprofit Basics: Election Year Issues for Private Foundations and Public Charities Part 2: Legislative Lobbying Activities by Public Charities

Welcome to EO Radio Show – Your Nonprofit Legal Resource. This Nonprofit Basics episode is the second of a three-part series on election year activities for public charities and private foundations.

Part 1 addressed the prohibition on intervention in candidate campaigns for elected office. Part 2 focuses on legislative lobbying activities by public charities.

This discussion addresses permitted educational and advocacy activities, the definition of lobbying, and the two different rules that apply to public charity legislative lobbying under the subjective test of Section 501(c)(3) or the elective test for charities that make the 501(h) election, which allows for an objective limitation on lobbying expenditures.

In Part 3, I'll address allowed private foundation approaches to advocacy.

Resources:

Farella Webinar: Election Year Issues for Private Foundations and Public Charities

Bolder Advocacy Podcast: https://bolderadvocacy.org/podcast/

IRS Chart: Common Tax Law Restrictions on Activities of Exempt Organizations

IRS Form 5768 for 501(h) election: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5768.pdf

National Council of Nonprofits: Taking the 501(h) Election: https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/taking-the-501h-election

Treasury Regulations on Exempt Purpose Expenditures: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/26/56.4911-4

If you have suggestions for topics you would like us to discuss, please email us at [email protected]. 

Additional episodes can be found at EORadioShowByFarella.com.