Interest Groups,Business, and Non

Profit Advocacy
Carlos Arroyo
Brendan Tate

Class Poll
http://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/4M1XjhVtFGhgUOG

Brief Trends for 501(c)3

Approximately 1.58 million nonprofits were registered with the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) in 2011, an increase of 21.5% from 2001.
An estimated $836.9 billion was contributed to the U.S. economy by the nonprofit
sector in 2011, which made up 5.6 percent of the countrys gross domestic product
(GDP).
In 2012, total private giving from individuals, foundations, and businesses exceeded
$300 billion ($316.23 billion) for the first time since the recession started, an
increase of nearly 4 percent from 2011, after adjusting for inflation.
http://www.councilofnonprofits.org/telling-our-story/myths-about-nonprofits

3 Main Themes
1. Limitations on Advocacy
2. Significance of Venue
3. Conditions under which Advocacy can
be successful

Advocacy Stubborn Behavior

1. Metrics
2. Hard to Determine Success
3. Fungible

Federal Policy Issues

Federal

Budget / Appropriations
Federal Budget Process
Cell-phone Recordkeeping
Consumer Finance Protection
Economic Recovery
Estate Tax
Health Care Reform
Incentives for Giving
IRA Charitable Rollover
Jobs
Lobbying
Nonprofit Advocacy/Voice
Nonprofit Capacity Building
Pension Funding Relief
Regulatory/Oversight
Volunteer Mileage

2014 Public Policy Agency

1.Tax Policy: Empowering Community Solutions Through
Nonprofits
2.Budget & Spending: Addressing Community Needs
3. The Economy: Strengthening Communities through Job
Creation and Economic Development
4.Public-Private Collaborations for the Public Good
5.Advocacy Rights: Promoting Civic Engagement
6.Public Accountability: Ensuring Public Trust
http://www.councilofnonprofits.org/

Advocacy vs Lobbying
Advocacy-An attempt to influence the decisions of
any institutional elite on behalf of a collective
interest.

Lobbying-IRS defines lobbying as an attempt to

influence at the local, state, or federal level.
Lobbying always involves advocacy, but advocacy
does not involve lobbying.

501(c)3 vs 501(c)4
501 (c)(3)s - The maximum allowable annual lobbying by law is the sum of:
1.

20% of the first $500,000 of an organization's exempt purpose expenditures,

plus
2.

15% of the second $500,000 of such expenditures, plus

3.

10% of the third $500,000 of such expenditures, plus

4.

5% of the remainder of such expenditures,

with a cap of $1 million in annual lobbying expenses.

501(c)3 vs 501(c)4
A 501(c)(4) is a "social welfare" organization, in IRS terminology.
The unwritten rule is that these groups must spend less than half of their
resources on political activities.
Most tax lawyers suggest that, to avoid risk, at least 50.1 percent of their
efforts must go toward "social welfare" activities, meaning they must be
devoted to "promoting in some way the common good and general welfare
of the people of the community," according to the IRS.

Insider vs Outsider Strategies

Insider strategies- Cultivate long term
relationships with government
administrators.
Outsider-Demonstration or email action
alerts.

Direct/Indirect Influence
The attempt to influence public policy either can
be implemented directly or indirectly.
Directly-One on One Congressional meeting
commenting on legislation.
Indirectly-Education on an issue without
mentioning particular legislation.

Limitations on Advocacy
Central Issue of who advocates?
1. Whose interest do the organizations
represent?
2. Which groups engage in more (and more
successfully) advocacy.

Venue
Where do nonprofits advocate?
Do nonprofits make their case at the local, state,
or national level?

Advocate Successfully?
How is success defined? And does success come easily?
According to Salamon and Geller only 14% of organizations
that were involved in some sort of advocacy spent as much as
2% of their overall budget on those political activities.
Resource constraints limit the ability of nonprofits to undertake
advocacy. Such constraints include money and staff but also
time and expertise.

THE END