logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Nonprofit Newswire | Excessive Lobbying Results in $20,000 Fine from IRS

Ruth McCambridge
September 20, 2010
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

September 18, 2010; Source: Star Advertiser | The Hawaii Family Forum has been fined $20,000 for excessive lobbying in
2009, resulting from its work against House Bill 444, which would have allowed civil unions. The bill was passed on the last day of the session but then vetoed by Governor Linda Lingle.

HFF spent $125,695 on lobbying in 2009–and this article describes that as well over the IRS-mandated limit of 20 percent of its total expenditures. By the way, this limit only applies to nonprofits who have elected to come under the 501(h) category–otherwise the test is more vague, requiring that a nonprofit to show the expenditures are “insubstantial”. Please note CLPI for lobbying rules. The Forum spent only $87,955 on other activities. The president of the organization, Frances Oda says that it will now revert to its charitable activity, which, according to him “was focused on the adoption of children out of the Family Court system.”

But as we look at the website, there is little indication of that shift in focus although we would not imply that all of what they are doing and planning is strictly lobbying. The organization has coincidentally just changed executives as of the first of September, but a “welcome” letter [PDF] posted on the website from the new director does not indicate the shift that Oda says has occurred.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

According to the Star-Advertiser article, the organization has been as active legislatively this year, but when asked if the organization anticipated being fined again, Oda replied, “I hope not. I don’t know. The executive director will monitor it. We will definitely be addressing that issue.”

Note to Oda: At the point that you are being fined by the IRS for overspending on lobbying, it is the board’s responsibility to monitor the situation and adjust accordingly.—Ruth McCambridge

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
About the author
Ruth McCambridge

Ruth is Editor Emerita of the Nonprofit Quarterly. Her background includes forty-five years of experience in nonprofits, primarily in organizations that mix grassroots community work with policy change. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Ruth spent a decade at the Boston Foundation, developing and implementing capacity building programs and advocating for grantmaking attention to constituent involvement.

More about: Nonprofit News

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

Spring-2023-sidebar-subscribe
You might also like
How Policy Is Building a Social Economy in South Korea
Minsun Ji
Nonprofits and Movements: How Do the Two Relate?
Steve Dubb
Human-Centered Design for Behavioral Health
Sonia Sarkar
Pro-Black Organizations Lead the Way for Workplace Mental Health and Wellbeing
Nineequa Blanding
Sustainability Starts at Home: Growing Inner-City Food Ecosystems
Pastor Keith Davis
What Nigeria Can Teach the US About Food Insecurity
Chidinma Iwu

NPQ Webinars

April 27th, 2 pm ET

Liberatory Decision-Making

How to Facilitate and Engage in Healthy Decision-making Processes

Register Now
You might also like
AOC’s “Tax the Rich” Dress Dazzles Met Gala, while...
Anastasia Reesa Tomkin
Foundation Giving Numbers for 2020 Show 15 Percent Increase
Steve Dubb
Strike MoMA Imagines Art Museums without Billionaires
Tessa Crisman

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

NPQ-Spring-2023-cover

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.