Lobbying and the Law

Make a Difference for Your Cause: Strategies for Nonprofit Engagement in Legislative Advocacy
This resource and discussion guide takes readers through the steps of the CLPI Road Map, provides examples of nonprofits that have successfully used public policy engagement to meet their missions, and presents six questions readers can use to stimulate discussion with others in their organizations.

Lobbying and Advocacy – Similarities and Differences
People sometimes confuse the words “lobbying” and “advocacy.”  The legal definition of lobbying
usually involves attempting to influence legislation.  Advocacy covers a much broader range of activities that might, or might not, include lobbying.  One way of differentiating between the two terms is to understand that lobbying always involves advocacy but advocacy does not necessarily involve lobbying.

1976 Law
The federal government, including Congress and the Internal Revenue Service, supports lobbying
by 501(c)(3) nonprofits.  Congress sent that unambiguous message when it enacted the liberal provisions under the 1976 lobby law.  The same message came from the Internal Revenue Service in regulations issued in 1990, which support both the spirit and intent of the 1976 legislation.

IRS Letter 2000 
This is in response to a letter … in which you requested information on questions related to lobbying 
by publicly supported charitable organizations … Your questions and our responses are set forth below. 1) Is lobbying by section 501(c)(3) organizations permissible under federal tax laws? … How much lobbying may a “public charity” … conduct?

Form 5768 – Take the 501(h) Election

How to Estimate
Nonprofits that lobby sometimes wonder whether they are coming close to the permissible limits of lobbying activity that they may conduct. If your group has elected to come under the 1976 lobby law (see “The 1976 Law Governing Nonprofit Lobbying”), it’s relatively easy to make an educated estimate about whether your organization is approaching the maximum it may spend on lobbying.

Information for Tax Preparers
Some tax return preparers for nonprofits and some nonprofit organizations have been slow to recognize that the federal government, including Congress and the Internal Revenue Service, supports lobbying by 501(c)(3) nonprofits. Congress sent that unambiguous message when it enacted the liberal provisions under the 1976 lobby law. The same message came from the Internal Revenue Service in regulations issued in 1990, which support both the spirit and intent of the 1976 legislation. Following are key points about that legislation.

Exclusions from Lobbying
Critical to the 1976 law are the provisions declaring that many expenditures that have some relationship to public policy and legislative issues are not treated as lobbying and so are permitted without limit. (See “The 1976 Law Governing Nonprofit Lobbying.”) For example ...

Initiatives and Referenda
In recent years, initiatives and referenda have become increasingly popular as a means of achieving legislative change at the state and local level. Several examples include high visibility issues such as affirmative action, "paycheck protection," and minimum wage. Nonprofits can play an important and potentially leading role in initiative and referenda processes and they should know the very favorable legal latitude for such involvement.

Why You Should Elect to Come Under the 1976 Law
Congress sent this unambiguous message when it enacted the exceedingly helpful 1976 lobby law. The same message came from the IRS in regulations issued in 1990. Together, the law and regulations provide wide latitude for charities to lobby.  But the law only provides this latitude for charities that elect to be covered by it. In most circumstances, nonprofits should become subject to this law - not only because it provides liberal limits on how much they can spend on lobbying, but also because it provides very clear and helpful definitions of what activities related to legislation do not constitute lobbying.

Nonprofits & Election-Related Activities
Nonprofits do not have to sit on the sidelines during a political campaign provided that they operate in a scrupulously nonpartisan manner. Nonprofits sometimes confuse working for the election of a political candidate with lobbying. These two kinds of activity are in fact very different. Also, visit the Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network for more information.

IRS Fact Sheet on Election Year Activities for 501(c)(3) Organizations
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is releasing this fact sheet to provide information to help section 501(c)(3) organizations stay in compliance with the federal tax law. Many of the types of political intervention activities addressed in the fact sheet were those that came under scrutiny during the 2004 election cycle. The contents reflect the IRS interpretation of tax laws enacted by Congress, Treasury regulations, and court decisions.