Please note: Advocacy activities are not considered lobbying and are an eligible use of funds with no budget limitations or requirements.
LOBBYING – Please visit
IRS.gov for rules governing lobbying for charitable organizations.
Attempts to influence legislation, commonly known as lobbying, may be of two types, direct or indirect.
Direct Lobbying
Direct lobbying refers to certain communications directly with government personnel who are involved in the legislative process. They may be legislators or employees of legislative bodies, or other government personnel who participate in the formulation of the legislation concerned. A communication with these government personnel will be lobbying only if it both refers to specific legislation and indicates a view on that legislation.
Indirect Lobbying
Indirect (or "grass roots") lobbying refers to communications with members of the general public. Certain "public relations" or educational activities may constitute indirect lobbying, and others will not.
Indirect lobbying communications include only communications that (1) refer to specific legislation, (2) indicate a view on the legislation, and (3) encourage the recipient of the communication to take action with respect to the legislation.
