On Fri, Aug 29, 2008 at 03:48:52PM +0100, MJ Ray wrote: > Can SPI join FACIL as an organisational member, to promote software in > the public interest in Quebec and to show solidarity for this move? > I'm not sure whether FACIL's policy on "Interventions au niveau politique" > is a problem, but it seems to stop short of party or electoral politics. > http://facil.qc.ca/drupal/fr/association/mandat
Here are several US federal government pages on the rules on political and lobbying activities for organizations with our tax status (we are a 501(c)(3) organization, and specifically not a private foundation): http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=120703,00.html http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=179773,00.html http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopicp97.pdf http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopici02.pdf http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=179750,00.html Most likely, if we stay away from anything connected to partisan activity, political campaigns, or expressing or influencing opinions on who should or shouldn't be voted for or elected to office, we will not violate the prohibition on political activities. If we stay away from anything trying to directly or indirectly influence legislation or its adoption or rejection, we will probably not violate the limitations on acceptable amounts of lobbying activities. (If we "involve ourselves in issues of public policy [...] in an educational manner" without doing stuff relating to legislation, that seems to be OK.) However, the above paragraph is only my summary of my understanding, not legal advice from any lawyer, and if we do decide to join FACIL, we should get one of our lawyers to confirm that it won't cause us tax problems before any such decision becomes effective. - Jimmy Kaplowitz [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Spi-general mailing list [email protected] http://lists.spi-inc.org/listinfo/spi-general
