By NEO Law Group
Bob Jones University v. United States, 461 U.S. 574 (1983), is a landmark case in which the United States Supreme Court held that the IRS had the authority to revoke the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status of Bob Jones University (BJU) based on the university’s racially discriminatory practices that were contrary to public policy. According to...
Advocacy is an essential board responsibility. That’s the new message being espoused by BoardSource in connection with the release of the third edition of Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards. I’ve long asserted that board members should consider whether advocacy (and in some cases lobbying) would...
501(c)(3) organizations have numerous tools at their disposal for achieving their charitable purposes, and also have the distinct advantage of being able to receive contributions that are generally tax-deductible for donors. However, in exchange for tax-exemption and the ability to receive deductible charitable contributions, the law places some limitations...
Washington DC is the site for New Frontiers, the 2016 Independent Sector Annual Conference and Public Policy Action Institute, taking place November 15-18. The Conference comes at a pivotal time for the nonprofit sector and our nation, rigidly divided on so many issues and characterized in many ways by a disengaged...
From Independent Sector – Voter polling commissioned by Independent Sector has found that, across the political spectrum, American voters are overwhelmingly united in support of the charitable sector. The findings are summarized in a new report, “United for Charity.” As the report title suggests, voters show a high...
In this next post in our series on election-related activities and 501(c)(3) organizations, we are taking a closer look at nonpartisan voter guides and candidate questionnaires. Despite the fact that such guides and questionnaires are election-related, 501(c)(3) organizations can prepare and distribute them without fear of jeopardizing their exempt status...
While 501(c)(3) organizations are prohibited from intervening in elections, they are permitted to engage in certain nonpartisan election-related activities if they structure such activities appropriately, which we’ll address in this next post in the series. This includes sponsoring candidate debates and forums and inviting candidates to speak at...
As we’ve previously written in the first post of this series, 501(c)(3) organizations are prohibited from engaging in or sponsoring activities that intervene in a political campaign for public office. However, this does not mean that all individuals associated with such organizations, including employees, volunteers, officers, and directors,...
I’ll be on Nonprofit Radio this Friday at 10:30 am PT / 1:30 pm ET discussing What’s Permissible Advocacy with host Tony Martignetti. Catch us live on Talking Alternative or a few days later on iTunes. How much can your nonprofit participate in the presidential election? Can you educate? Endorse? Lobby? Gene Takagi walks us through...
With the election year in full swing, many nonprofits have questions regarding the scope of permissible election-related and lobbying or advocacy activities organizations recognized as exempt under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) can engage in. This post will be the first in a series discussing these issues. *** As...
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