Alliance for Justice wins! IRS Ruling on A Public Charity’s Support of Nonprofit Lobbying
posted on: Friday, October 02, 2009
by Niki Jagpal
On October 1, the Alliance for Justice posted some great news on their website: they received a ruling from the IRS regarding the rules that apply to the organization’s grants to groups that lobby. This was several years in the making. In 2005, AFJ had asked the IRS for a ruling to clarify whether public charities , like their private foundation counterparts, are allowed to provide grants to groups that lobby. As AFJ notes, private foundations have had this clarity from the IRS while public charities, including community foundations, have not.
Nan Aron, president of AFJ, stated in the press release: “This is an important clarification for the nonprofit sector … For the first time, public charities have guidance on how to treat grants to groups that lobby. We hope this clarification will give more grantmakers the confidence they need to fund aggressive advocacy."
Although the ruling only applies to AFJ, the press release states that it signals the IRS’s approach to evaluating similar re-granting work in the sector in the future. I certainly hope it does.
Since last year, we’ve produced a series of reports on the broad social benefits of advocacy, organizing and civic engagement under our Grantmaking for Community Impact Project. Although there is a clear distinction between advocacy and lobbying, and the rules governing each, lobbying isn’t a “four-letter’ word. It’s unfortunate that so many people just think of K-street “special interest” groups lobbying on behalf of mega-corporations. And right now, everyone’s hearing about PhRMA, and its unfettered influence on the healthcare reform conundrum. But lobbying is a perfectly valid and appropriate strategy. A lot of times, it’s a great tool for the advocacy and community organizing work that nonprofits do on issues such as access to better education, minimum wage and civil rights.
Congratulations to AFJ and a shout out to the IRS for clarifying the rules governing AFJ’s work. I share AFJ’s hope that this is a positive sign for IRS rules governing other public charities in our sector.
Do you agree that public foundations or public charities ought to be governed by the same rules that apply to private foundations? Share your thoughts with us in our comments – we’d love to hear from you!
Niki Jagpal is research & policy director at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP).Labels: 501 (h), Alliance for Justice, community foundations, governing rules, Grantmaking for Community Impact Project, IRS, lobbying, nonprofit advocacy, nonprofit policy, public charities
On October 1, the Alliance for Justice posted some great news on their website: they received a ruling from the IRS regarding the rules that apply to the organization’s grants to groups that lobby. This was several years in the making. In 2005, AFJ had asked the IRS for a ruling to clarify whether public charities , like their private foundation counterparts, are allowed to provide grants to groups that lobby. As AFJ notes, private foundations have had this clarity from the IRS while public charities, including community foundations, have not.
Nan Aron, president of AFJ, stated in the press release: “This is an important clarification for the nonprofit sector … For the first time, public charities have guidance on how to treat grants to groups that lobby. We hope this clarification will give more grantmakers the confidence they need to fund aggressive advocacy."
Although the ruling only applies to AFJ, the press release states that it signals the IRS’s approach to evaluating similar re-granting work in the sector in the future. I certainly hope it does.
Since last year, we’ve produced a series of reports on the broad social benefits of advocacy, organizing and civic engagement under our Grantmaking for Community Impact Project. Although there is a clear distinction between advocacy and lobbying, and the rules governing each, lobbying isn’t a “four-letter’ word. It’s unfortunate that so many people just think of K-street “special interest” groups lobbying on behalf of mega-corporations. And right now, everyone’s hearing about PhRMA, and its unfettered influence on the healthcare reform conundrum. But lobbying is a perfectly valid and appropriate strategy. A lot of times, it’s a great tool for the advocacy and community organizing work that nonprofits do on issues such as access to better education, minimum wage and civil rights.
Congratulations to AFJ and a shout out to the IRS for clarifying the rules governing AFJ’s work. I share AFJ’s hope that this is a positive sign for IRS rules governing other public charities in our sector.
Do you agree that public foundations or public charities ought to be governed by the same rules that apply to private foundations? Share your thoughts with us in our comments – we’d love to hear from you!
Niki Jagpal is research & policy director at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP).
Labels: 501 (h), Alliance for Justice, community foundations, governing rules, Grantmaking for Community Impact Project, IRS, lobbying, nonprofit advocacy, nonprofit policy, public charities
posted by Niki Jagpal at
10:20 AM
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