DONATIONS TO “Bonds for Libraries” FROM 501(c)(3) ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS LIBRARY FRIENDS DO NOT SUPPORT ANY POLITICAL ACTIVITY PROHIBITED BY THE IRS
Following are excerpts from the IRS which can be found, along with a much more detailed description of 501(c)(3) compliance requirements regarding political activity, at www.irs.gov.
“Under the Internal Revenue Code, all Section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.”
“Certain activities or expenditures may not be prohibited depending on the facts and circumstances. For example, certain voter education activities (including presenting public forums and publishing voter education guides) conducted in a non-partisan manner do not constitute prohibited political campaign activity.”
“Section 501(c)(3) organizations may take a position on public policy issues…”
“However, section 501(c)(3) organizations must avoid any issue advocacy that functions as political campaign intervention.”
“Bonds For Libraries”, a Political Action Committee (PAC) registered with the New Mexico Secretary of State, does not engage in any campaign for any candidate or any other partisan activity.
The PAC does maintain a website which contains educational material of all sorts concerning Library GO Bond funding and materials which takes a position on the approval these bonds.
The PAC does contract with a public relations firm to develop educational and advocacy materials concerning the public approval of the bonds.
The PAC is funded almost entirely by 501(c)(3) organizations such as library Friends groups and the New Mexico Library Association.
The PAC is staffed entirely by volunteers who contribute both their time and their money.
We believe that PAC activities are entirely within compliance of the IRS code.
Section 501 (h) of the IRS code permits 501(c)(3) organizations to make limited expenditures for “lobbying” and “grass roots” political activities. The limit is 5% of the organization’s annual budget per year.