Should Nonprofits Aim to Overturn the Prohibition on Charities Promoting Candidates? - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active and engaged democracy.

Should Nonprofits Aim to Overturn the Prohibition on Charities Promoting Candidates? - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active and engaged democracy.: Nonprofits are led by ideals and values for changing the world. Vote with the ideals and values that lead you.” So reads the campaign tagline of the California Association of Nonprofits (CalNonprofits), which is asking its nonprofit members to mobilize their staff and board members, as well as volunteers, to vote with their mission. Last month, the new nonprofit PAC CForward (which is also a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, and so not a charitable nonprofit) actually endorsed eight politicians, all Democrats except for one candidate for state senator in Tennessee, as pro-nonprofit candidates for public office.[i] The PAC of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) has been making donations to political candidates for some years, leaning somewhat toward Republican incumbent politicians with oversight responsibilities of the nonprofit sector at the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee.[ii]