Bolder Advocacy Resource Library

Candidates for public office sometimes make statements about immigrants or immigrant rights that are incorrect, or with which nonprofits disagree. Nonprofits may wish to set the record straight. While 501(c)(3) organizations may continue to engage in education and advocacy to promote their issues during the election season, they are strictly prohibited from supporting or opposing candidates for public office. So how can 501(c)(3) organizations respond to candidates or political parties’ statements and remain nonpartisan? By being very deliberate and careful with their statements.

Las caridades públicas 501(c)(3) pueden cabildear bajo límites generosos permitidos bajo la ley tributaria federal. La cantidad de cabildeo que puede hacer una organización depende de cuál de las dos pruebas utiliza la organización para medir su cabildeo—“la prueba de gastos 501(h)” o “la prueba de la parte insustancial.” La mayoría de las organizaciones beneficiarían de elegir medir su cabildeo según la prueba de gastos 501(h), porque los reglamentos gobernando el cabildeo bajo la Sección 501(h) son mucho más claros.

Advocacy is defined as any action that speaks in favor of, recommends, argues for a cause, supports or defends, or pleads on behalf of others. This fact sheet offers a look at how advocacy is defined, how it is different from lobbying, and offers examples of advocacy projects from several nonprofit groups.

At the federal level, the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) imposes registration and reporting obligations on individuals and entities that lobby various federal officials once certain thresholds have been exceeded. This fact sheet provides an overview of the LDA registration thresholds applicable to charities, foundations, 501(c)(4), union and for-profit organizations. The thresholds under the LDA do not limit your organization’s lobbying, but rather impose certain disclosure and reporting obligations. This fact sheet will be useful for nonprofits that influence federal legislation, regulations, nominations, contracts, permits, and other governmental decisions.

En esta hoja informativa exploramos cómo se define la defensa y promoción de causas, cómo diferenciar entre el cabildeo y la defensa y promoción de causas, y ejemplos de proyectos que llevan a cabo distintas organizaciones sin fines de lucro.