Can Land Trusts Lobby?
Yes, your land trust can lobby. It can lobby the city council, the state government, and even the Congress. Any 501(c)(3) nonprofit can lobby if you follow some relatively simple rules.
The IRS says you can! You can read their letter on lobbying by 501(c)(3) charities.
You? Lobby? (134KB, PDF) Read this publication from Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest for up to date information on the in's and out's and how-to's of lobbying.
Read this relatively short article entitled, Being Well Connected: Why Local Politicians Matter to Nonprofits (PDF, 60KB) to learn how and why to develop political connections. In the March/April 2005 issue of the Grassroots Fundraising Journal.
If your organization has a stake in increasing the federal tax incentives for landowners to donate or sell their lands for conservation, Land Trust Alliance needs your lobbying help! If your organization wants to increase public funding for land conservation, Land Trust Alliance needs your lobbying help to get that done! Hundreds of land trusts, ranging from the Nature Conservancy to all-volunteer organizations operating in a single township, have worked with us to lobby their local, state and federal legislators to help them conserve more land. What do you have to do?
1. Decide what is in your land trust's best interest! You may decide, like many land trusts, to lobby only where there is a clear benefit to your organizational goals, and to do so in a pro-active, non-confrontational way. Asking your legislators for help is in many ways no different from asking any other donor for help.
2. Land trusts that make lobbying a substantial portion of what they do should elect to come under the rules the Congress passed in 1976 for lobbying by public charities. By filling out IRS Form 5768, you come under these rules, which allow you to spend as much as 20 percent of your budget on lobbying so long as you keep track of and report those expenditures (time and expenses spent lobbying) to the IRS.
3. 501(c)(3)'s are never allowed to endorse political candidates! But land trusts can advocate in non-partisan elections, such as ballot referenda. Many land trusts have played a key role in campaigning for referenda to create new sources of conservation funding at the local and state level.
4. There is a special limit on funds used to persuade the general public on legislative issues. Any type of communication used to reach out to the public rather than just to your members, such as newspaper ads, is considered grass-roots lobbying. You can only spend one quarter of your lobbying limit on grass-roots lobbying. Advocacy on referenda, however, does not count as grassroots lobbying, and is not subject to the 25 percent limit.
5. Not all work you do with government is lobbying! Work done by volunteers (including your board and members) does not count (except to the degree your budget covers their expenses). Communication about legislation to your members does not count, so long as you do not urge them to lobby. Work with administrative agencies on a grant proposal or on regulations they are considering is not considered lobbying by the IRS. Broad discussion of social issues (i.e., sprawl, or protection of open space) that does not address the merits of specific legislation is not lobbying.
6. Keep informed – join Land Trust Alliance ADVOCATES, our e-mail alert network that lets you know what the federal government is doing that may affect your conservation work, and how you can affect it.
