Click here to read an article about the speeding up of non profit status granting by the IRS.

Alaska recently passed a law that gives it citizens an option to donate a portion or all of the dividend check they receive from the states oil wealth fund. To read the article click here.

Photo by Noblgnoble

It is a fine line between lobbying and education.  First, whom in your organization is doing the communication to the government?  If you have a dedicated person for government your getting much closer to the line of lobbying than you probably should?  The network which an organization has should include all of the elected officials within the geographic areas where the organization services.  Remember its about communicating at least seven times with the network to keep enaged with the person.  Such communication needs to convey over the year what the nonprofit is doing, how its doing and educating how rules or changes effect the organization and those its services.  There is nothing wrong with offering solutions to problems within a communication, there is nothing wrong with meeting with individuals within ones network, there is nothing wrong with holding forums on a subject.

The world of getting elected requires individuals elected to really know who to raise money from and the current movers and shakers of the community.  Therefore, check your network and see if its current.

One word of caution: A former elected official is not always the right person to manage the nonprofits network. The leadership of the nonprofit organization needs to be managing the network.  This should underscore the need to keep the network up to date.