Political Dos and Don'ts for Non-Profit Organizations
Some would argue that charitable 501(c)(3) organizations are the “sleeping giants” of the democratic process. These community organizations have credibility, trust, and access to potential voters who are often disengaged from the electoral process. As such, they can be the catalyst for a dramatic increase in voter participation through legal, permissible, nonpartisan voter mobilization activities-- voter registration, voter education, and get-out-the-vote (GOTV).
The following information is a basic overview of what is and is not permissible voter mobilization activity for 501 (c)(3) nonprofits.
Things you CAN do as a 501(c)(3) organization:
• Conduct voter registration and nonpartisan get-out-the-vote (“GOTV”)
efforts.
o Drives must be designed to educate the public about the importance of
voting.
o Activities cannot be biased for or against any candidate or party.
o Nonprofits can target areas in nonpartisan ways. For instance, nonprofits
may target low-turnout areas, low-income populations, minority populations,
and students.
o Nonprofits may target registration and turnout efforts to the areas
or people they serve.
• Educate the public on issues and encourage participation in the
political process.
• Educate all candidates and political parties on your issues.
• Conduct or participate in a nonpartisan candidate forum. The forum
must be open to all candidates, be run in a balanced way, and include
a broad range of nonpartisan questions for the candidates.
• Make presentations on your organization’s issue to platform
committees, campaign staff, candidates, media, and the general public.
• Work on behalf of a ballot measure.
• Continue your normal lobbying on issues.
• Rent or sell mailing lists to candidates at fair market value,
if made available to all candidates.
Things you CANNOT do as a 501(c)(3) organization:
These restrictions in no way prohibit officers, members, or employees
from participating in a political campaign as private citizens.
• Endorse or oppose a candidate—implicit or explicit. Contribute
money, time, or facilities to a candidate.
• Coordinate activities with a candidate.
• Restrict rental of your mailing list and facilities to certain
candidates.
• Set up, fund, or manage a Political Action Committee (PAC), established
under section 527 of the tax code mainly for electoral activity.
Source: Minnesota Participation Project, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits