At Bolder Advocacy, we’re always helping nonprofits make smart strategic choices within the law. That’s why we’re publishing a guide on how a 501(c)(3) and a 501(c)(4) can actually help each other by leveraging each other’s limitations.
Federal tax law limits how much lobbying a 501(c)(3) public charity can do. Despite those limits, some of these organizations find themselves at the end the year with unused lobbying capacity (meaning, they have not spent up to their legally allowed cap).
Federal tax law limits 501(c)(4)s in a different way. Unlike 501(c)(3)s, they cannot offer tax-deductibility to their donors. That sometimes makes it harder for 501(c)(4)s to raise money.