Election Cycle Dos and Donts
Some would argue that charitable 501(c)(3) organizations are the “sleeping giants” of the democratic process. These community organizations have credibility, trust, and access to potential voters who are often disengaged from the electoral process. As such, they can be the catalyst for a dramatic increase in voter participation through legal, permissible, nonpartisan voter mobilization activities-- voter registration, voter education, and get-out-the-vote (GOTV).
What you CAN do as a 501(c)(3) organization
- Conduct voter registration and nonpartisan get-out-the-vote (“GOTV”) efforts.
- Drives must be designed to educate the public about the importance of voting.
- Activities cannot be biased for or against any candidate or party.
- Nonprofits can target areas in nonpartisan ways. For instance, nonprofits may target low-turnout areas, low-income populations, minority populations, and students.
- Nonprofits may target registration and turnout efforts to the areas or people they serve.
- Educate the public on issues and encourage participation in the political process.
- Make presentations on your organization’s issue to platform committees, campaign staff, candidates, media, and the general public
- Educate all candidates and political parties on your issues.
- Continue your normal lobbying on issues.
- Work on behalf of a ballot measure.
- Conduct or participate in a nonpartisan candidate forum.
- The forum must be open to all candidates, be run in a balanced way, and include a broad range of nonpartisan questions for the candidates.
- Rent or sell mailing lists to candidates at fair market value, if made available to all candidates.
What you CANNOT do as a 501(c)(3) organization:
These restrictions in no way prohibit officers, members, or employees from participating in a political campaign as private citizens.
- Endorse or oppose a candidate—implicitly or explicitly.
- Contribute money, time, or facilities to a candidate.
- Coordinate activities with a candidate.
- Restrict rental of your mailing list and facilities to certain candidates.
- Set up, fund, or manage a Political Action Committee (PAC), established under section 527 of the tax code mainly for electoral activity
