REFRESH Nonprofit Basics: Election Year Issues for Private Foundations and Public Charities - Legislative Lobbying and Advocacy Rules for Public Charities

Welcome to EO Radio Show - Your Nonprofit Legal Resource. As most listeners are undoubtedly aware, 2024 is an election year, and that means that charities and private foundations need to refresh their understanding of election-year issues for organizations that want to remain exempt under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3).

This week’s episode is a refresh of EO Radio Show episode 7, first released on July 18, 2022. Today’s focus is on allowable educational and advocacy activities for public charities, including a discussion of the definition of “lobbying” and the two different rules that apply to public charity. The first is the subjective test of Section 501(c)(3), and the second alternative is the elective test for charities that make the 501(h) election to allow for an objective limitation on lobbying expenditures. 

For more information on these related election year issues, listeners may want to go back to last week’s episode 66, covering the limitations in IRC section 501(c)(3) relating to candidate campaign intervention. Stay tuned for episode 68, which will refresh episode 8, covering permissible private foundation policy advocacy activities, also likely to be a hot topic in 2024. 

Be sure to check out the show notes for resources from the IRS on these topics, and check out the Farella Braun + Martel YouTube channel for the complete EO Radio Show playlist.

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

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DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to be, nor should it be interpreted as, legal advice or opinion.