Running a Nonpartisan Voter Registration Drive as a 501(c)(3)

1. The rule

The IRS says all 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from participating or intervening, directly or indirectly, in any political campaign for or against a candidate for elective office. Violations can cost the organization its exemption and bring excise taxes.

Some election work is allowed. The IRS names voter education done in a nonpartisan way, such as public forums and voter guides, and activities that encourage people to take part in elections, such as voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, when they are nonpartisan.

The same page draws the line. Voter education or registration with evidence of bias that would favor one candidate over another, oppose a candidate, or have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates is prohibited.

Sources: IRS, Restriction of political campaign intervention by section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations

2. What a neutral drive looks like

Revenue Ruling 2007-41 gives a plain example. A 501(c)(3) sets up a registration booth at the state fair. Its signs show only the organization's name, the date of the next statewide election and a notice that people can register. Volunteers do not mention any candidate or party. The official form lets registrants choose a party affiliation, and that is fine. The IRS says this is not campaign intervention.

Use that booth as your model. Name the organization, the election date and the chance to register. Leave out candidates, parties and issue positions tied to a race.

Sources: IRS, Revenue Ruling 2007-41 (Internal Revenue Bulletin 2007-25)

3. What crosses the line

The same ruling describes an environmental group that phones registered voters in one district shortly before an election in which a candidate is challenging the incumbent on environmental policy. The caller asks about the voter's views. Voters who agree with the incumbent are thanked and the call ends. Voters who agree with the challenger get a reminder to vote and an offer of a ride to the polls. The IRS says this is campaign intervention.

No candidate was named, and the group still crossed the line, because it chose who to help vote based on their likely candidate preference. Who you contact matters as much as what you say.

Sources: IRS, Revenue Ruling 2007-41 (Internal Revenue Bulletin 2007-25)

4. Choose who to contact on neutral grounds

Pick your audience by criteria that do not track candidate support: everyone in a neighborhood you serve, people who recently moved, eligible students on a campus, or all unregistered adults in your program area. Write the criteria down before the drive starts.

Do not filter by party, partisan lean or likely candidate preference, and do not change your plan when a race tightens. Offer the same help, such as rides, reminders or forms, to everyone you contact.

Sources: IRS, Restriction of political campaign intervention by section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations; IRS, Revenue Ruling 2007-41 (Internal Revenue Bulletin 2007-25)

5. Use the official forms and state instructions

The National Mail Voter Registration Form, published by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, can be used to register, update a name or address, or register with a party. The EAC says registrants must follow the state-specific instructions, which begin on page 3, sign the form and send it to their state or local election office.

States set their own rules for registration drives. Before you start, read your state's instructions on the form and contact your state election office with questions.

Sources: U.S. Election Assistance Commission, National Mail Voter Registration Form

6. Train volunteers and leaders

Volunteers should know the script and the one rule behind it: no candidates, no parties. Give them an answer for voters who ask who to vote for, such as pointing them to official election information.

Revenue Ruling 2007-41 also covers leaders. A leader may endorse a candidate personally, but not in the organization's official publications or at its official functions. In one example, a board chair urged a vote for a candidate at a regular meeting of the organization, and the IRS treated that as intervention by the organization.

Sources: IRS, Revenue Ruling 2007-41 (Internal Revenue Bulletin 2007-25)

Before the drive starts

Write down who you will contact and why, check the script and signs for any candidate or party reference, read your state's instructions, and brief every volunteer. Keep those notes; they show how the drive was run.