Category: Uncategorized

Election Protection & Voter Assistance

On this episode, we’ll discuss how different types of tax-exempt organizations can ensure the right to vote is protected by engaging in election protection activities and assisting voters at the polls. and potentially afterwards. Whether it’s poll monitoring, ballot curing, staffing an election protection hotline, or providing rides to the polls, we’ll discuss the rules that apply to 501(c)(3)s and 501(c)(4)s so that your organization can ensure that all eligible voices are heard this election season. 

Attorneys for this episode  

  • Tim Mooney  
  • Natalie Ossenfort 
  • Quyen Tu 

Shownotes 

  • Poll watching / observing 
  • Litigation 
  • Rides to Polls 
  • Ballot chasing and curing 
  • Poll monitoring 
  • Count monitoring 
  • Voting education 
  • Nonpartisan activity
    • No support or opposition of candidates
    • Facts and Circumstances
    • Follow FEC rules if federal candidates on ballots (no incentives for voting or registering to vote) 
  • State law often adds layers of complexity here – be sure to know what is allowed in your state
    • Ohio: must stay outside 100ft no-solicitation permitter when line warming
    • Michigan: strict rules related to hiring a car to provide rides to the polls (effectively prohibited unless voter unable to walk)
    • CO / TX: strict rules that apply when you want to hand out and collect voter registration applications
  • Voter Assistance Series (AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, IL, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, NY, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, TX, Virginia, Wisconsin)
    • Voter Registration Rules
    • Vote by Mail Rules
    • Correcting errors on absentee ballots (ballot curing)
    • Rides to Polls Rules
    • Line Warming Activities  
    • Poll Watching
    • What about selfies? 
  • Partisan Voter Protection
    • Ballot Chasing and Curing can be done with a partisan focus (for instance, only trying to cure votes of one party, litigating on behalf of a candidate)  
    • Off limits for c3s, which must engage in nonpartisan advocacy ONLY 
    • Ok for c4s but counts as secondary activity 

Resources Practical Guidance – Voter Assistance Series, released in partnership with the Democracy Capacity Project  Rules of the Game – Guide to Election Related Activities for 501(c)(3)s  Election Checklist for 501(c)(3)s Combating Voter Suppression & Election Subversion

Pre-Election Advocacy

On this episode, we discuss the unprecedented election-year challenges we face and the ways all nonprofits can help ensure a safe election. As trusted messengers, nonprofits can explain voting options and deadlines; encourage absentee voting and a new generation of poll workers; conduct election protection programs; support and join litigation and even facilitate voting and promote increased voter turnout. 

This is a repodcast of the first part of our three-part series from 2020. 

Our attorneys for this episode    

Leslie Barnes  

Tim Mooney  

Quyen Tu  

 

Shownotes 

  • Election-year challenges 
  • Dangers for in-person voting 
  • Massive poll worker shortage 
  • Monumental increase in voting by mail 
  • Predictions for contested elections/delayed results 
  • Defunding the United States Postal Service 
  • Interference in the election by foreign and domestic actors 
  • Reminder – 501(c)(3) organizations must remain nonpartisan  
  • When We All Vote Video – Voter Registration Drives 
  • https://youtu.be/XNt-9v3HY30s 
  • Created by a c3, When We all Vote 
  • Shared by a c3, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund 
  • Nonpartisan – no support or opposition for any candidate for elected office 
  • Explains how schools can create and promote a voter registration drive  
  • Explains how volunteers can share news of newly registered voters on social media 
  • Safe for community foundations and c4s too! 
  • Special rules exist for private foundations  
  • Can’t buy votes. Don’t exchange anything of value for someone completing a voter registration form or voting. 
  • Can spend money to facilitate voting – Examples  
  • Must also follow state law regarding voter registration and drives 
  • IRS permits targeting voter outreach for nonpartisan reasons  
  • Fair Fight Action Video – Vote By Mail/Voter Education 
  • Encourages Georgians to vote by mail to shorten lines for those who must vote in person and reduce risk for all 
  •  
  • Fair Fight Action is a 501(c)(4) and could engage in partisan activity as secondary activity 
  • This video is a nonpartisan example of voter outreach/education – primary activity 
  • Safe for c3s to share as well! 

 

  • Houston Justice Coalition Post 
  • Safe for c3s and c4s to share government messages 
  • Nonprofits can volunteer their space for voting/polling centers 
  • Best practices for 501(c)(3)s 
  • Nothing can support or oppose candidates 
  • Avoid mixing issue advocacy with voter registration/GOTV/voter education 
  • No candidate pledges 
  • Any interaction with candidates? Offer the same info to others running 
  • Best practices for 501(c)(4)s 
  • Can support or oppose candidates – track efforts – secondary activity 
  • Be aware of state laws 
  • Don’t coordinate efforts with federal (and usually) state candidates 
  • Report independent efforts under campaign finance laws 

 

Resources 

Bolder Advocacy Election Activities Page 

Want to Conduct or Fund a Voter Registration Drive 

Election Protection Efforts Factsheet  

Election Year Activities for 501(c)(4)s 

How 501(c)(4)s Can Hold Elected Officials Accountable  

Partisan Electoral Activity: What is it and What Can You Do? 

 

Non Bolder Advocacy resources 

Guide on how to do a school or community voter registration drive: https://www.headcount.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Booklet_Final-1.pdf 

For college student looking for information on voting? Check: https://andrewgoodman.org/myvoteeverywhere/

Advocacy Wins

We talk a lot about advocacy, but what’s advocacy without some wins? On this episode, we highlight some of the victories nonprofit advocates have achieved at the state and federal level.

Attorneys for this episode

  • Nona Randois
  • Victor Rivera
  • Tim Mooney

 

California

  • This summer California made history as the first state to agree to fully remove exclusions for Medi-Cal health coverage (California’s version of Medicaid) for all who are income eligible, regardless of immigration status.
  • This year’s budget removed the final exclusions for that population, who will be eligible to access health coverage through Medi-Cal starting by January, 2024.
  • California Immigrant Policy Center and Health Access California formed the #Health4All coalition in 2013. By 2022, the coalition consisted of 180 state and national organizations committed to health and racial justice.
  • Bolder Advocacy has supported California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC), Asian Americans Advancing Justice affiliates, Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Public Health Institute, and many other members of the #Health4All coalition by providing training and technical assistance throughout this effort.
  • Comment by Sarah Dar, the Director of Health and Public Benefits Policy at CIPC

 

Texas

  • PN3
    • A pre-natal to 3 collaborative whose mission statement is that all Texas children are born healthy and have equitable access to health and early learning support in their homes and communities.
    • They were able to advocate for an expansion to post-partum Medicaid coverage for Texas moms during the last Texas legislative session.
    • During the most recent legislative session, the Texas House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill that offered 12 months of coverage. However, the Texas Senate amended the legislation to six months instead. While the application is still in review, the work done by groups like PN3 has already made a significant impact.
  • Burn Pits 360 (https://www.texastribune.org/2022/08/08/texas-burn-pit-bill/)
    • PACT Act – expanding benefits for veterans who have been exposed to toxic burn pits and providing better coverage for veterans overall.
    • With the passage of this bill, veterans who are diagnosed with any of the conditions listed in the legislation will be deemed automatically eligible for health coverage.

Federal and West Virginia

  • The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) recently passed and was signed by President Biden
  • Formerly known as Build Back Better, many nonpriofits advocated for passage on all facets including tax reform, climate change and inflation relief
  • “Kayaktivists” met Sen. Manchin on the Potomac river at his boat/yacht
  • Manchin heard from representatives of community organizations across the state (including very rural southern WV)
  • Fast forward 11 months and “will he or won’t he” Sen. Manchin was a critical element in passage of IRA – these WV advocates were a big piece of that

 

Resources

Summer Internships With Advocacy Organizations

On this edition, we turn the mics on ourselves and feature two of our summer interns… what is it like to intern at an advocacy nonprofit and how do they contribute to the work we do at Alliance for Justice? 

 

Featured on this episode 

Jasmin Azizi 

Dylan Abrokwa-Jassor 

Host – Tim Mooney 

Executive Producer – Jairo Gomez 

 

Questions asked 

Tell us briefly about yourself. What are you currently studying? What are your career goals and why are you interested in that kind of work? 

Why did you decide to intern with AFJ? Why do you think this work is important? 

What was your understanding (or did you have any experience with this kind of work before) of this kind of work before interning with us? 

How would you explain your team within AFJ does? 

You do a lot of research in your role. Do you have any tips on being an efficient researcher? Have you noticed any improvement in that regard due to your time interning here? 

Was there anything that surprised you or that you didn’t expect about interning for an advocacy nonprofit / AFJ? 

What has been your proudest moment(s) interning with us? 

How do you think your experiences in this internship will benefit you long term in terms of your career or even in your personal life? 

Anything you would like our listeners or prospective interns at a nonprofit know about after your experience this summer? 

Foundation Engagement in Election Season

We spend a lot of time on the pod talking about what public charities can do around election season, but let’s spend some time talking to the funders out there. If you’re making grants to public charities, you play a big role in your communities… and as it turns out, you can also join them in many of the same nonpartisan activities around elections. On this episode, we’re covering the types of voter engagement and funding opportunities available to private and public foundations.

Nonpartisan Candidate Education

  • Great way to make sure the candidates understand the issues of importance to your foundation and its work
  • Candidate education must be done by both private and public foundations in a nonpartisan way.
  • Being nonpartisan means no support or opposition of candidates (facts and circumstances test)
  • For candidate education
    • Offer educational materials to all candidates in a race
    • Make efforts to ensure that candidates are provided with equal information
  • If making a legislative ask in your educational materials, it could count as lobbying if person running for office is incumbent legislator
  • That’s a no for private foundations, but public foundations are free to engage in lobbying in limited amounts

Candidate Debates / Forums

  • Public and Private foundations can get the candidate together so that they can relay information about their policy positions to voters
  • Again, facts and circumstances matter… keep it nonpartisan!
    • Invite all viable candidates
    • Impartial moderator / unbiased audience
    • Fair rules with open-ended questions covering a broad range of issues
    • Provide equal opportunities for candidates to respond
  • What happens if all candidates decide not to participate?
    • The more that do agree to participate, the better…. really comes down to a facts and circumstances analysis

Election Advocacy Funding

  • Provide general operating support to your public charity grantees
    • Can be used for any permissible 501(c)(3) purpose
    • By providing grantees with flexibility to spend funds how they choose, you give them the option to use your funding to engage in nonpartisan election season activities
  • Provide grants to fund specific, nonpartisan, election season advocacy programs
    • Just remember private foundations should avoid earmarking grant funds for lobbying
    • In addition, there are special rules related to private foundation voter registration grants. (Section 4945(f) of tax code)
    • Does not apply to other GOTV activities

 

Resources

Voter Registration Rules for Private Foundations

Debating the Future: Foundations Can Educate the Community Through Candidate Debates

Investing in Change: A Funder’s Guide to Supporting Advocacy

 

Candidate Education

Election season provides a great opportunity for nonprofits and foundations to elevate their issues with voters and candidates. On this episode we’re going to look at ways a variety of tax-exempt entities can engage in outreach to candidates and engage with political parties. We’ll look at ways nonprofits can attend political party conventions, help shape candidate and party platforms, educate candidates on community issues, respond to candidate questions, and more. 

Attorneys for this episode

  • Natalie Roetzel Ossenfort 
  • Leslie Barnes 
  • Victor Rivera Labiosa 

Show Notes 

  • 501(c)(3) public charities can educate candidates on community issues. They can engage with candidates during in-person visits, phone calls, issue briefings, etc. 
  • Just remember, public charities must remain nonpartisan in their outreach by trying to ensure that each candidate is provided with identical or equivalent communications. 
  • Also note that if the candidate is an incumbent legislator, communication with them could be lobbying if you express a view on specific legislation. 

 

  • Not only can 501(c)(3) public charities proactively reach out to candidates to share information about their missions and research, but they can also respond to candidates’ questions. But there are a few things to keep in mind. 
  • The 501(c)(3) should treat candidates as they would other members of the public. For example, if a candidate calls for any data, you can point that candidate to your website just like you would with anyone else. The important thing is that you are not compiling data just for the candidate or their campaign and that you’re not conducting new research because a candidate requests it. This could be considered a candidate contribution. 
  • Take care not to serve as a policy strategist or research arm of the campaign. Remember, the 501(c)(3) should be careful about allowing its name to be used by the candidate’s campaign. 
  • We recommend as a best practice to designate an experienced staff member to talk with candidates. 

 

  • 501(c)(3) public charities can shape candidate and political party platforms and encourage candidates and political parties to talk about the issues. 
  • Take care not to praise or criticize a candidate that adopts your organization’s policy issues. 
  • To keep things nonpartisan, include a disclaimer in oral and written testimony that information is being provided for educational purposes only. 

 

  • 501(c)(4)s can engage in some partisan activity (support or opposition of candidates), but should be aware of FEC and other state laws prohibiting corporate campaign contributions 
  • (c)(4)s cannot coordinate strategy with federal candidates. 
  • (c)(4)s may be able to work with state and local candidates in about half of all states by following state campaign finance laws. 
  • Not all outreach and engagement amounts to a contribution – keeping it nonpartisan as part of your primary purpose 

 

Resources 

 

Ballot Measures Revisited

On this episode, we revisit a very specific type of lobbying that doesn’t necessarily seem like lobbying in the first place. Ballot measures can range from local bonds to state constitutional amendments, and everything in between. What can nonprofits do to support or oppose them, and how do they comply with state and federal law?  

 

Our attorneys for this episode 

  • Tim Mooney 
  • Natalie Ossenfort 
  • Quyen Tu 

 

What are Ballot Measures? 

  • Called different things in different states and localities 
    • Bond 
    • Constitutional Amendments 
    • Referenda 
    • Ballot questions / initiatives  
    • Propositions 
    • Any policy matter put to a vote of the general public 
  •  
  • There are no federal ballot measures, but federal law has one major thing to say aboutmeasures for 501(c)(3)s 
  • State and sometimes local laws cover campaign finance and reporting requirements 

 

Can nonprofits take a stance? 

  • No. End of episode. (just kidding!) 
  • Most can. All 501(c)s that aren’t charities or foundations can (generally) do an unlimited amount of ballot measure advocacy, but must follow state and local laws for reporting their work 
  • Public charities can take a stance, but ballot measures are lobbying (which is why this episode is in the lobbying series!). From there, they also have to follow state and local laws for reporting their work 
  • Private foundations cannot take a stance on ballot measures (again…lobbying) without being hit with a big excise tax 

 

Wait, lobbying? Tell me more. 

  • Boil it down? Voters are a giant legislative body 
  • Direct lobbying, not grassroots – and that’s good because charities can do more direct lobbying 
  • Doesn’t violate the prohibition on electioneering to support or oppose measures because they are not related to candidates 
  • Be careful to make sure your org’s advocacy isn’t seen as/tied to a candidate’s position on theballot measures 
  • Clock starts ticking when petitions go out to qualify for the ballot or (probably) when you’re lobbying legislative bodies when they are determining whether to refer an item to the voters 
  • Count all prep work, staff time, communications costs, etc. 
  • You non-c3s? Tax law doesn’t restrict lobbying, and this counts toward primary purpose activity… so load up on your GOTV and voter reg work on ballot measures and (strategy time!) it can offset candidate work you do. 

 

State laws… 

Every state is different, starting with the fact some states don’t have ballot measures at all. Even states without statewide ballot measures like NY have local bond measures though. 

Any state or locality with ballot measures has some kind of registration and reporting laws 

We have state law resources for your state! Examples: 

Texas 

Corporations (including nonprofits) can support or oppose ballot measures in Texas. 

  • Texas Election Code defines a political committee as two or more persons acting in concert with a principal purpose of accepting political contributions or making political expenditures. Since the definition of “persons” includes nonprofit corporations and expenditures and contributionsinclude those made in connection with a measure, it is possible for nonprofits to trigger PAC registration and reporting in Texas even if they don’t do any candidate-related work. 
  • TRANSLATION: if a group of nonprofits comes together to raise funds for the support or opposition of a measure, they may need to register and report as a PAC. 
  • It is also possible that if a nonprofit acts on its own to impact a ballot measure, it could trigger direct campaign expenditure (aka independent expenditure) reporting even if it doesn’t coordinate its work with other organizations or individuals. DCE reporting, as it’s sometimes referred to, kicks in when more than $100 is spent to support or oppose a measure. 
  • Of course, there are other scenarios as well that might not require state-level reporting in the ballot measure context in Texas (e.g. nonprofit contributions to a ballot measure only PAC), so feel free to reach out to our TX team if you have any questions about when and what you have to report when you engage in ballot measure advocacy. 

Oregon 

  • Trivia: Oregon is one of the first states to adopt ballot measures… started them in 1902 (just behind SD and UT) 
  • Five forms: state statutes (legislature or citizen referred), constitutional amendments (legislature or citizen referred), and veto referenda. 
  • If your nonprofit’s purpose is to support/oppose a ballot measures you have to register as a political committee 
  • No contribution limits (those are unconstitutional per SCOTUS)  
  • Real time online reporting (ORESTAR!!!!) 
  • 3 reporting periods 
  • Contributions over $100 – the name/address of the donor disclosed 

California 

  • These rules are about transparency and tracking money in CA elections. 
  • Most important: if you engage in certain fundraising activities or spending, you could become aballot measure committee and not even know it. That means your nonprofit would have filing and reporting obligations. 
  • There just isn’t enough time to do justice to the CA BM rules on this show so if you’re interestedin a whole show, please shoot us an email 
  • Ballot measures are treated as campaign activity 
  • Rules are designed so that when people or organizations accept or spend money for ballot measures, it gets reported by someone. 
  • When there is advocacy for a ballot measure, there will be a main ballot measure committee.Must report contributions of $100+, whether financial or in-kind, and expenditures. This usually works best as a separate entity from a 501(c)(3). 
  • Even if you are not the main ballot measure committee, there are ways NPs could trigger reporting with the FPPC 
  • receiving or spending money on ballot measure advocacy 
  • receive $2k+ in calendar year earmarked for ballot measures, you become a recipient committee. Recipient committees have to report their donors. 
  • Another way to become a recipient committee is to spend at least $50k in non-earmarked donated funds. At these higher levels of spending it gets more detailed so please check out our resources.  
  • Major Donor Committee: give $10k+ in calendar year to a recipient committee (staff time counts) but does not receive $ earmarked for ballot measures 
  • Independent Expenditure Committee: spends $1k+ in a calendar year on communications that expressly advocates for/against ballot measures and not made in coordination with a ballot measure committee 
  • Non reportable activities: 
  • 10% or less of staff time 
  • Paid staff time counts as an expenditure, or if it’s coordinated with a ballot measure committee, a contribution. If you have staff spending more than 10% of their time in any calendar month on ballot measures, you need to consider that expenditure towards these thresholds. 
  • Newsletter 
  • Member communications 
  • Contracted services to the ballot measure committee 
  • Certain limited fundraising expenses 
  • Raising money for the ballot measure committee where the contributions go directly to theballot measure committee (funds do not pass through the org)  
  • You can ask people to donate to the main ballot measure committee and only your fundraising costs would count as a contribution toward these thresholds, some fundraising costs are even exempt from reporting. 

Final thoughts? 

  • Often critically important advocacy 
  • Private foundations! You can and should support this work, even though you cannot directly advocate or fund it. How? 
    • general support grants 
    • specific project grants for non-lobbying portions of the work 
    • educate the public about the ballot measure process 
    • communications that qualify as nonpartisan analysis 
    • communications that are neutral urging voters to study the issue 

 

Resources 

Post Roe Advocacy

Our team at AFJ is devastated but determined following the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade. The decision permits states to regulate our bodies and the most intimate of health care decisions – when to have a child, when to start a family. This horrific decision made possible by a rigging of rules & troubling power plays will irreparably harm our communities and our families. Make no mistake, this decision contains deeply flawed legal reasoning, designed to return and roll back rights for women, Black and Brown residents, and LGBTQ individuals. But since this isn’t a legal analysis show, we wanted to focus on what comes next? What can nonprofits and the communities they serve do following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision? And most importantly… How can we fight back? 

 

Attorneys for this episode

Natalie Ossenfort Leslie Barnes Tim Mooney 

 

Shownotes

 

Resources 

Advocacy Against Gun Violence

It seems like every time we turn on the news, there are reports of a mass shooting somewhere in America. Sadly, names of US cities or communities have become associated with horrific tragedies: Uvalde, Buffalo, Las Vegas, Orlando, and Newtown. On this episode we talk about the role nonprofits have in combating gun violence.

 

Our hosts for this episode 

  • Ryann Alonso 
  • Natalie Ossenfort 
  • Quyen Tu 

  Shownotes

  • Introducing Ryann Alonso – clarify what we mean by gun violence. 
  • Role for 501(c)(3) Public Charities
    • lobby for legislation to prevent gun violence
    • public education campaigns
    • fight disinformation and misinformation 
  • Role for  501(c)(4)s
    • all of the above, plus 
    • work on getting candidates who support these efforts into office 
    • 501(c)(4)s are social welfare organizations, and they can conduct an unlimited amount of lobbying 
    • Can also support / oppose candidates as secondary activity
  • Other activities
    • Coalitions
    • Corporate advocacy
    • Litigation

Resources 

January 6th Committee Advocacy

The endgame of presidential elections used to be pretty straightforward. Congress plays a more-ceremonial-than-substantive role counting each state’s certified electoral college delegates. The candidate who won more than 270 electoral votes officially wins and the new President gets sworn in on January 20th. But January 6, 2021 was, of course, very different. The false rhetoric claiming the historically well-run election was “stolen,” led to the failed, but nonetheless deadly, January 6th insurrection. This month, a select committee of the House of Representatives is poised to lay out its findings on why this happened and who was behind the effort. On this episode, we talk about how nonprofits have a role to play in the investigation and the response to the revelations. 

 

Our Attorneys for this Episode 

Natalie Ossenfort, Tim Mooney, Quyen Tu 

 

Shownotes 

  • The Select Committee explained 
  • Live Tweeting the hearings – responding to revelations, fact checking, etc 
  • Lobbying for specific responses 
  • Referral to DOJ for criminal investigation/prosecution 
  • New laws – amending Electoral Count Act, DC Statehood 
  • Disqualifying those that took part in the insurrection from running for federal office (14th Amendment plus new laws) 
  • Educating your constituencies (about what process is / what it isn’t…) 
  • Electoral work (nonpartisan voter education, or partisan c4 efforts) 
  • (c)(3): praising and criticizing incumbents, best practices 
  • (c)(4): can be more electorally-focused 

Resources