Anita Lichtblau, a partner in Casner & Edwards’ Nonprofit Organizations practice, presented a webinar Advocacy and Lobbying: The Rules of the Road for Nonprofits in conjunction with 4good.org.
Involvement in public policy issues is a must for many nonprofits working to effectively implement their missions. But many nonprofits incorrectly believe that they are not permitted to lobby or that the rules are so complex that it is safer to just avoid it. In this webinar, we will show how the lobbying rules that apply to nonprofits can be translated into a workable and legally compliant advocacy program.
Takeaways:
- Understanding of when advocacy is considered lobbying
- Guidelines for compliance with lobbying rules of the Internal Revenue Code, government grants and appropriations, and state and federal registration requirements
- Tips on setting up systems and controls to ensure compliance
- Resources for more information on specific issues
Anita is a partner in the Boston law firm of Casner & Edwards, where she advises nonprofits on a variety of issues, including governance, formation and maintenance of nonprofit entities and tax-exempt status, grants and contracts, government grant regulations, and employment law. Before joining Casner & Edwards, she spent fifteen years as General Counsel to Action for Boston Community Development, a large human services organizations and Community Action Agency, and as Executive Director of Community Action Program Legal Services, which provides legal training and technical assistance to over 1000 Community Action Agencies across the country. She has presented hundreds of workshops and webinars on many of these nonprofit topics.
You can review the webinar for free in the 4good.org archive. (https://4good.org/anita-lichtblau/advocacy-and-lobbying#asset-7945)
This presentation is not intended as legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please contact Anita Lichtblau if you have questions about this presentation or other nonprofit topics.