Bolder Advocacy

Although 501(c)(3) organizations need to be careful not to violate the ban on intervention in political campaigns when communicating with parties and candidates, not all such communications are prohibited, and being overly cautious can sometimes undermine a 501(c)(3)’s legitimate efforts by keeping it from working with non-501(c)(3)s in permissible ways. This fact sheet offers some guidelines for when it's appropriate for a 501(c)(3) group working on election protection issues to talk with a candidate or party — and when it's not.