The Lawyer’s Alliance offered nonprofits some advice on how to
be as political as possible without threatening tax-exempt status,
and usually, this involves taking great care. One is for nonprofits
to identify their organization’s position on issues, rather than
identifying candidates’ political positions. When candidates come
to an event held by a non-profit, the non-profit should write them
a letter explicitly explaining that this is not a campaign stop.
Non-profits should avoid linking their websites to political or
campaign sites. Employees can only work on a campaign on their own
time. While allowing staff a day off to protest the RNC is iffy,
quietly encouraging a weekend gathering just might slip.
Indeed, this list seems to offer more ‘don’t’s’ than ‘do’s’ for
non-profits. For instance, after going to the workshop, the INCA
relief, a Muslim Humanitarian organization, decided not to endorse
the anti-RNC protests. In the office, though, talk was of attending
the protests and employees were very eager to be political.
— Elizabeth Dwoskin
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Nonprofit Dos and Don’t’s
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