Charitable organizations in the U.S. are allowed under IRS rules to lobby for specific legislation. They are not allowed to support specific candidates or parties or seek to influence elections. Many nonprofits do not know the difference and so refrain from legislative lobbying out of fear of losing their IRS tax exempt status.
Hi James,
Yes, there is some confusion by the NPOs regarding the difference between Advocacy and Lobbying!
Besides the IRS Form 501c(3), NPOs must submit Form 990 annually outlining resources used in this regard and within prescribed limits. This info available from IRS and National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS).
However, a problem arises when a NPO says it active on these forms but aren't.
The other issue is that the individual State (some 40) require the NPO to register/disclosure of Lobbying, again some still do not actively lobby. This is governed by the Department of the Secretary of State specifically. So to collect accurate data regarding your query, for the whole of US, will be problematic.
All the Best
Rob
Thanks, Robert. You've given me a few good leads, as well as some insight.
Hi James,
No problem.
Whilst carrying out some background research into this issue, one of the States that I looked into, the active NPOs was only 0.8% out of the total State NPO population (Charities Foundations and other NPOs), but is 97% of those registered at State level. How representative this is? for the US, I have no idea. Which enforces that although most NPOs tick the Federal forms saying they active or intend to be (they are not) but at State level the majority that register are! This is where further research is required! There are many reasons for the NPOs to do this, but the main one that I can find is that if they receive mostly public (Federal, State, County and Municipal) funding, they don't want to lose this funding if the Agencies don't like their level of lobbying/interference and withdraw. I am still investigating this area. If you do undercover something interesting during your investigation- would be great if drop me a line.
Thanks
Rob
Hello, Robert. I will most certainly let you know if I find out anything interesting. Thanks again!
Dear Mr. James,
Dear Mr. Robert,
Good day!
I research a transparency of lobbying in U.S. May I bring your kind attention to my question on RG platform. Hope, you could guide me to reliable source. Seems, NCCS is one of those I search for.
Thank you,
best regards
Anton
Hello, David. Thank you for your interest. I have not pursued the question for a couple of years now but the question is still certainly worth investigating.
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