[Foundation-l] Chapters

[Michael Snow]

On 8/28/2011 9:00 PM, Victor Vasiliev wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 7:24 AM, Nathan<nawrich at gmail.com>  wrote:
>> Which activities are these?
> Copyright and internet law lobbying.
This is incorrect. The foundation can engage in lobbying under US 
regulations if it wishes. Restrictions on lobbying by nonprofits are a 
limitation in degree, not a prohibition. Lobbying simply cannot be too 
significant a portion of the nonprofit's activities. If a nonprofit does 
engage in lobbying, the IRS has various tests that can be applied to 
determine if its tax exemption is jeopardized.

The reason for the popular misconception is that most nonprofits avoid 
lobbying altogether out of an abundance of caution. What the foundation 
actually cannot do is contribute to political candidates or support 
partisan activities, those are categorically prohibited.

--Michael Snow