By Chelsea Langston Bombino and Dr. Stanley Carlson-Thies
In this current COVID-19 pandemic, local, state and federal governments are taking actions that impact the capacity of faith-based nonprofits to continue to sustain basic operations and to provide services. In addition, governments are taking actions that directly influence the quality of life of both the workers of faith-based organizations and the communities they are called to serve, from returning citizens, to healthcare workers and pregnant women. Many faith-based nonprofits wonder about the wisdom and technical aspects of advocacy and lobbying. These are appropriate questions. While it is up to each FBO to decide whether and how to engage in advocacy and lobbying, every organization needs to consider its approach to advocacy work. If nothing else, legislators and regulators need to hear from faith-based and other organizations so that laws and regulations adequately take into account the freedoms, commitments and responsibilities essential to these organizations. The Center for Public Justice, of which Sacred Sector is an initiative, has worked to develop a number of resources related to advocacy and lobbying in response to COVID-19, including: putting forth public policy recommendations for policymakers to consider in response to COVID-19, organizing sign-on letters from leaders in the faith-based nonprofit sector advocating for needed changes to safety net systems, and resources for leaders of faith-based organizations as they consider what actions they can take that may be classified as advocacy or lobbying. .
The Sacred Sector summary document that follows this introduction focuses on the public policy frameworks that encourage organizations to participate in advocacy and lobbying in our pluralistic society. Sacred Sector launched in 2017 with the goal of empowering faith-based nonprofits and their leaders to navigate the increasingly complex challenges of a pluralistic, 21st century society. This learning community empowers faith-based organizations (FBOs) to live out their missions holistically in navigating public policy, in adapting organizational best practices and in public positioning (an approach we refer to as the “Three P’s”). The COVID-19 pandemic presents particular challenges and opportunities for faith-based nonprofits to incarnate the distinctive assets of their faith-based missions to address emerging, complex challenges.
This resource is especially relevant for this current moment, we believe, because it is vital that public officials hear from the organizations and individuals that are either being empowered or are facing barriers to flourishing because of government action or inaction. We encourage FBOs to consider communicating with policymakers about crafting policies that respond forthrightly to the dual health and economic crises by strengthening civil society and the social safety net, while also preserving institutional religious freedom. By strengthening faith-based organizations and their employees in the midst of this crisis, policymakers will safeguard the sacred sector as a vital part of a resilient and flourishing society.
The information may be useful to you, too, as a window into the often complex world of advocacy and lobbying, and as encouragement that the communications and actions of a faith-based organization should reflect and strengthen its faith-based mission.
Objective: This resource is designed for faith-based organizations (FBOs) to understand the legal framework of advocacy and lobbying. This resource will define advocacy and lobbying, discuss laws that faith-based organizations must know, and discuss how advocacy and lobbying are important tools not only to help a faith-based organization achieve some of its goals, but also to protect the legal freedoms faith-based organizations need in order to operate and flourish as religious organizations.
Sacred Sector has created six different “Toolboxes” to guide organizations and emerging leaders in the faith-based nonprofit sector through the common challenges that they face. Each Toolbox is composed of three distinct parts: Public Policy, Organizational Practice and Public Positioning.
This resource is an excerpt of the Sacred Sector Advocacy and Lobbying Toolbox - Public Policy, which is available to members of the Sacred Sector Community and Sacred Sector Fellowship. This resource outlines the major public policy considerations FBOs should be aware of with respect to advocacy and lobbying.
What is Advocacy?
Advocacy is the broad term, describing a wide range of actions that a faith-based organization (FBO) can take to persuade the government, other influential institutions and the public generally to act in some way or to stop acting in order to help the FBO achieve some aim. For example, a faith-based organization that provides services to people who have been trafficked might decide to carry out an advocacy campaign through radio and social media advertising to encourage the public to become aware of the signs of trafficking and to report on suspicious activities. The organization might supplement its direct services and its advocacy campaign by lobbying the city government to adopt a revised city ordinance that will require police practices that better detect trafficking and better protect people who have escaped the traffickers.
Lobbying is the narrower set of advocacy actions aimed at influencing legislation — seeking the adoption of a law, pressing for the changing of a bill (that is, a proposed law), or arguing for the rejection of a bill. Seeking to influence legislation includes expressing a view on appropriations bills or taxes and trying to influence the confirmation of executive branch officials or judicial nominees. In this resource, "advocacy" refers to the whole range of persuasive efforts, including lobbying, except when the discussion specifically notes that the reference is to non-lobbying persuasion. Much advocacy, and all lobbying, has to do with pressing for, stopping, or changing some kind of government action. Many FBOs focus on direct service to a community or set of people and might not regard efforts to influence government, much less actual lobbying, as elements of faithful service. Yet sometimes what government does, or does not do, affects those the FBO seeks to serve, such as trafficked people. Moreover, engagement with government may be necessary to preserve the freedom the FBO needs in order to continue to serve consistent with its religious beliefs and missions.
Benefits of Advocacy
Historically, nonprofit advocacy has (1) influenced the speed at which societal problems have been addressed by the political system, (2) aided in properly framing the problems and solutions, and (3) assisted with the designing of solutions. Advocacy has also encouraged citizens to change their own practices that were adding to the problems. Beyond the important act of voting, advocacy provides another way for citizens to have a voice in the making of laws and the implementation of policy. Nonprofits provide a public avenue for members of society to have a voice in the governmental policy making and implementing process. They promote the many voices of our diverse civic society — service providers and clients, business owners and employees, the majority and the minority, the religious and secular — through a variety of activities.
Whatever an FBO's area of service, government policy will inevitably be part of the picture. Government rules might help or hinder an FBO’s ability to carry out its programs of service. Government programs might help or harm the people it seeks to serve. Government rules, or the lack of them, might safeguard or threaten the FBO’s religious freedom and its ability to remain true to its mission in all it does.
Fortunately, FBOs are free to voice their opinions about public policies, seeking to persuade government to change, keep, add or eliminate laws and programs. FBOs and other 501(c)(3) organizations may even lobby government officials, despite rumors to the contrary. In fact, Congress and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have specifically written the rules on lobbying to give nonprofit organizations assurance about what kinds of advocacy constitutes legally regulated “lobbying” and how much of such lobbying they may do without danger of violating the law. While intervening for and against candidates in elections is legally off-limits to 501(c)(3)s, advocacy and lobbying are perfectly legal. The Bill of Rights in the Constitution specifically protects the right of citizens to "petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Those governed, including nonprofit organizations, are invaluable checks on government and sources of information and direction for government.
A Broader Perspective on Advocacy
Many FBOs, even when their focus is direct service, have decided that they should pay attention to government programs and the development of legislation. For example, an FBO operating a child care center should be aware that the well-being of the children and families they serve is directly affected by government policies that aim to enhance the availability of health insurance to low-income families. There might be an even more direct connection: changes in the amount of federal funding for child care for low-income families could affect whether some of those families receive a child-care certificate that they can use to pay for child care at the faith-based center, or changes in the rules that apply to that funding might put the faith-based center off-limits to families with federal financial support. Consider an even closer connection: changes in federal or state rules about religious discrimination by employers might legally prohibit an employment practice upon which the center has relied to ensure its employees share the religious values of the center.
While it is up to each FBO to decide whether and how to engage in advocacy and lobbying, every organization needs to consider its approach to advocacy work. If nothing else, consider that legislators and regulators need to hear from faith-based and other organizations so that laws and regulations adequately take into account the freedoms, commitments and responsibilities essential to these organizations. Good citizens will pay attention to changes in government policy that affect their area of service and their own freedom to serve faithfully, and they will speak up — often with others — when prudent and necessary.
Types of Advocacy
Advocacy is any act that supports an idea or action on an issue, often on behalf of others. All nonprofit organizations can legally engage in many different kinds of advocacy. Some common forms of advocacy in which FBOs might participate include civic education, community organizing, litigation, engaging the media, voter registration and lobbying. Most forms of advocacy, apart from lobbying, are unregulated, and nonprofits can devote any amount of time and expenditure towards non-lobbying advocacy.
Lobbying is a specific form of advocacy which is performed in two ways. It always has to do with efforts to affect the adoption or modification of a bill.
Direct lobbying requires communicating with a legislator (or legislator’s staff) to express support or opposition to legislation.
Grassroots lobbying involves urging the public to contact legislators in support or opposition to a proposed law.
Lobbying is legal and can be a way for an FBO to fulfill its mission. Lobbying can be done at the federal, state and local levels. At the federal level, members of Congress can be lobbied directly about federal legislation. Organizations can also engage state legislatures and can even lobby on the local level by engaging such lawmaking entities as town councils. State and local lobbying might require additional registration and record keeping. Note that an organization does not need to have a hired lobbyist in order to engage in what the law counts as lobbying.
Lobbying is highly regulated. All organizations must report their lobbying to the IRS every year. The law imposes a limit on lobbying activities, and exceeding that limit may lead to financial penalties and loss of 501(c)(3) status. The nature of that limit depends on which legal test an FBO elects to comply with. The test an FBO chooses also determines which aspects of the organization’s lobbying expenses and activities it must record and be prepared to disclose to the IRS. Smaller 501(c)(3)s that file the Form 990-EZ are not required to report their lobbying activities or expenditures. They should nevertheless track these activities (this is called the “no substantial part” test) or expenditures (501(h) election) carefully because they are subject to legal penalties for violating lobbying limits.
One test is the “insubstantial part” test: lobbying may not be more than an insubstantial part of the organization’s activities. The test looks at activities, not dollars; thus, for example, even the unpaid lobbying that a volunteer does counts towards this limit. The IRS has not specified how much lobbying activity crosses over to be a substantial amount, “although it is commonly believed that lobbying that comprises less than five percent of an organization’s overall activities is likely to be deemed ‘insubstantial’” according to Bolder Advocacy. Fortunately, 501(h) election is more specific.
Conclusion
The legal and public policy framework around advocacy and lobbying may seem complicated. However, if your organization decides that it should lobby and is willing to seek help to understand and comply with the legal requirements, the process doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Maybe one of your board members or volunteers actually has or can develop expertise on these requirements. Advocacy that is not lobbying is limited only by your organization's creativity, energy, resources and mission.
Advocacy and lobbying are two of the best ways for your organization to participate in the public square in order to help change laws, regulations, government budgets and even societal practices for the common good. Understanding and interacting with the public officials responsible for creating and implementing public policy as well as the processes in which they operate are important initial steps.
Chelsea Langston Bombino is the director of Sacred Sector, an initiative of the Center for Public Justice. Sacred Sector is a learning community for faith-based organizations and emerging leaders within the faith-based nonprofit sector to integrate and fully embody their sacred missions in every area of organizational life. Chelsea also serves as an adjunct professor for Pepperdine University and serves on the board of several nonprofit organizations, including First Amendment Voice and Young Leaders Institute.
Dr. Stanley Carlson-Thies is the founder and senior founder of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance, a division of the Center for Public Justice.
Sacred Sector is a learning community for faith-based organizations and emerging leaders within the faith-based nonprofit sector that seek to integrate and fully embody their sacred missions in every area of organizational life. Learn more at www.SacredSector.org.
The Center for Public Justice is an independent, nonpartisan organization devoted to policy research and civic education. Working outside the familiar categories of right and left, conservative and liberal, we seek to help citizens and public officeholders respond to God's call to do justice. Learn more at www.CPJustice.org.
This resource was developed by Sacred Sector, an initiative of the Center for Public Justice, and was made possible through the support of a grant from Templeton Religion Trust. The opinions expressed in this primer are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Templeton Religion Trust.