Apr 25, 2017
Nearly 4,500 organizations called on Congress to protect nonprofit nonpartisanship and the longstanding Johnson Amendment in Section 501(c)(3).
This message is to all who signed their organizations onto the Community Letter in Support of Nonpartisanship. Thank you.
The Washington Post, The NonProfit Times, and others covered the letter and the underlying issue of nonprofit nonpartisanship.
Next Steps: What You Can Do
It is important for all committed to the integrity and independence of charitable nonprofits and foundations to demonstrate your strong support for current law (the last part of Section 501(c)(3), known as the “Johnson Amendment”) and to stay informed. Here are some ways to do that:
Communicating Your Support for Nonpartisanship: All individuals and organizations committed to preserving the protection against nonprofits and foundations being pressured to endorse or financially support candidates can show their support by forwarding the Community Letter in Support of Nonpartisanship to their Senators and Representatives.
- Personalized Letters: We created special State-Specific Letters highlighting all who signed from your state so you and others can either send via email/postal service to your Senators and Representatives or deliver during meetings in their offices or at site visits to your facilities.
- Cover/Transmittal Message: When preparing your personalized message to accompany the State-Specific Letters, you can be as detailed as you care to write. At a minimum, we suggest you identify your message with a RE/subject line that says Protect Nonprofit Nonpartisanship (Johnson Amendment) and include the following text:
My organization, [organization name], is proud to be one of the 4,500 charitable nonprofits, foundations, and others that signed the attached Community Letter in Support of Nonpartisanship. We and our colleagues across the country believe strongly that current law “shields the entire 501(c)(3) community against the rancor of partisan politics so the charitable community can be a safe haven where individuals of all beliefs come together to solve community problems free from partisan divisions.” We ask that you join us in opposing efforts to weaken or repeal the current law that for six decades has successfully protected the integrity and effectiveness of charitable nonprofits and foundations by keeping them apart from partisan politics.
- Issue Summary: The brief summary, Protect Nonprofit Nonpartisanship: Oppose Efforts to Repeal or Weaken the Johnson Amendment, was written as a handout/leave-behind document for meetings with federal lawmakers. Other Collaborative Initiative Partners, listed at the bottom of the page, have developed additional materials to explain legislative challenges to the Johnson Amendment. Please consider handing any of these summary sheets to your Senators and Representatives and their staff as a way of showing the broad opposition to repealing or weakening the current law on nonpartisanship.
Keeping Yourself Informed: The website, www.GiveVoice.org, tracks developments on nonprofit nonpartisanship, so check back regularly for new policy statements, links to editorials and op-eds, and additional resources. You can also stay up to date on the Johnson Amendment and other policy issues of concern to your segment of the nonprofit and philanthropic communities by reading updates, action alerts, and articles from any of the Collaborative Initiative Partners listed below.
Collaborative Initiative Partners: Alliance for Strong Families and Communities | BoardSource | Council on Foundations | Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers | Habitat for Humanity International | Independent Sector | Jewish Federations of North America| National Council of Nonprofits | National Human Services Assembly | Volunteers of America