Lobbying by nonprofits and charitable organizations is kind of a touchy issue on K Street. Regardless of how noble the cause they’re lobbying for is, many government relations representatives for charities skip on registering. Part of it is just trying to escape the term “lobbyist” for the usual reasons, but more often than not, it’s because of confusion over two different sets of rules for lobbying by charities adopted by IRS and the Congress.

Here’s something charities should take comfort in: the government likes you. Both laws are not as complicated or scary as perceived, and with a little bit of due diligence, it’s entirely possible to lobby while staying legally within all the limits. But bear in mind that, if your activities and expenditures meet the thresholds, you must register under the LDA – whether you want to be a lobbyist or not.

The LDA (and as amended by HLOGA) states that in addition to reporting all lobbying expenditures on their Form 990, nonprofits may also be required to register with Congress and report their activities, but only if they meet these two thresholds:

• You have an employee who is a “lobbyist,”* defined as someone who spends 20% or more of his/her time engaged in lobbying activities and the same employee makes one or more lobbying contact in the same quarter
• Your total federal lobbying expenses are expected to exceed $11,500 during a quarter

501 (c) (3) public charities can also invite members of Congress and their staff or families to attend fundraising events free of charge, so long as they extend the invitation themselves (and not through corporate sponsors or non-employees), the primary purpose of the event is fundraising, and any entertainment offered to the Members or their staff is provided to all attendees equally.

As for keeping track of lobbying activities for IRS purposes (which you must do in order to file your 990), two options exist. Either an organization must submit to the “substantial part” test, where the IRS looks at activities and expenditures to determine how much time and money you’re spending on lobbying, or the organization may elect to an expenditures (501 (h) ) test.

The 501 (h) test is often the best way to go for most 501 (c) (3) charities – just file this one-page form – not just because it provides generous limits on how much they can spend on lobbying, but also because it gives very clear and helpful definitions of what legislative activities do not constitute lobbying. Note that this election is in fact a limitation on the amount of time and money that the organization can spend on lobbying – but for most nonprofits, whose primary purpose is not lobbying, this election makes sense.

Note that private foundations are prohibited from attempting to influence legislation or participating in partisan politics.

*For more on the definition of “lobbyist,” see Lobbyists.info’s free lobbying glossary.