New Course Explains IRS Election Laws

May 5, 2014 | Read Time: 1 minute

A new animated online course can help foundation officials and charity leaders navigate election-related tax laws.

The training takes less than an hour to complete and covers topics such as voter education, issue advocacy, and interaction with candidates.

“There are a lot of things that people can do that do not violate electioneering prohibitions,” says Mary Anne Rodgers, general counsel at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, one of four philanthropies that developed the course. “We want people in the field to feel comfortable issue spotting, asking the right questions, and taking the appropriate legal steps.”

The course is part of a larger project, Learn Foundation Law, created by the Bill & Melinda Gates; William and Flora Hewlett; Gordon and Betty Moore; and Packard foundations.

About the Author

NICOLE WALLACE

Features Editor

Nicole Wallace is features editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy. She has written about innovation in the nonprofit world, charities’ use of data to improve their work and to boost fundraising, advanced technologies for social good, and hybrid efforts at the intersection of the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, such as social enterprise and impact investing.Nicole spearheaded the Chronicle’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast and reported from India on the role of philanthropy in rebuilding after the South Asian tsunami. She started at the Chronicle in 1996 as an editorial assistant compiling The Nonprofit Handbook.Before joining the Chronicle, Nicole worked at the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs and served in the inaugural class of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps.A native of Columbia, Pa., she holds a bachelor’s degree in foreign service from Georgetown University.