Bolder Advocacy Resource Library

In addition to complying with the federal tax rules governing lobbying, nonprofits working in California need to keep state lobbying requirements in mind. California has a sunshine law designed to reveal who has influence on California politics, and that sunshine law may apply to your organization. An organization is required to register and report its California lobbying activities if it exceeds specific monetary thresholds, or if an employee(s) of an organization spends enough time communicating with certain state officials. This factsheet will help you understand more about the California Political Reform Act (CPRA) and these rules differ from federal tax rules and certain local sunshine laws.

This flowchart is intended to help 501(c)(3)s and other nonprofits determine whether they may have reporting requirements for their work on ballot measures at the state or local level in California. 

Includes key takeaways, FAQs, a case study, and a list of helpful additional resources.

How state or local regulations may apply to your existing or proposed Get Out the Vote work

La ley de divulgación de cabildeo del estado de California (la Ley de Reforma Política de California o CPRA por sus siglas en inglés) establece ciertos umbrales de cabildeo. Una vez que se superan esos umbrales, la CPRA obliga a las personas y a las entidades que cabildean en varias oficinas estatales registrarse y/o rendir informes.

Además de cumplir con las normas federales de impuestos que rigen el cabildeo, las organizaciones sin fines de lucro que trabajan en California deben tener en cuenta los requisitos estatales de cabildeo.

Nonprofits care about and frequently weigh in on issues affecting education, including resources needed to support student learning in and out of the classroom, as well as students’ health, safety, and well-being.

This factsheet explains the process of redistricting in California.

Nonprofit organizations active in state or local California ballot measure campaigns must comply both with federal tax law and California ballot measure disclosure laws. Federal tax law permits public charities to engage in a limited amount of ballot measure advocacy. Under California law, organizations engaging in certain activities to support or oppose a ballot measure may need to disclose their expenditures in support of or opposition to the ballot measure, as well as the names of donors whose contributions were used to support the organization’s ballot measure activities. However, the following activities are exempt from California’s disclosure laws and can be done by an organization without fear of triggering any special disclosure reports.

Is your organization active in California legislative or administrative policy change? California has a sunshine law designed to reveal who has influence on California politics, and that sunshine law may apply to your organization. An organization is required to register and report its California lobbying activities if it exceeds specific monetary thresholds, or if an employee(s) of an organization spends enough time communicating with certain state officials. Just because an organization engages in lobbying at the state level in California does not necessarily mean it will have reporting obligations under state law. This factsheet will help you understand if your organization should report as a $5,000 Filer, a Lobbyist Employer, or neither.

This fact sheet discusses what type of reporting may be required for nonprofits supporting or opposing ballot measures in California.