[20808] in APO-L
Risk Management: Partisan Political Activity
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jeremy Licata)
Thu Aug 26 16:05:59 1999
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 16:05:53 EDT
Reply-To: Jeremy Licata <dcnblus@HOTMAIL.COM>
From: Jeremy Licata <dcnblus@HOTMAIL.COM>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
POLITICS:
the total complex of relations between people living in society
PARTISAN:
a firm adherence to a party, faction, cause, or person; especially :
exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance
===================================================================
Ok... that stated, please recognize that anything done by Alpha Phi Omega,
whether in the spirit of service or otherwise, can be construed to some
degree as "political." If it affects the relationship between people living
in society, then it falls under that category.
Granted, this is only one of the definitions provided by the dictionary, but
it's the one that makes the most sense. Apologies to any PoliSci people who
try not to think of PoliSci as Sociology for Lawyers....
Then, you have to consider what constitutes "by Alpha Phi Omega" -- such as
the problem with have had with other risk management issues. Can one Brother
constitute the Organization? I suppose it depends on the jury....
Also, the 501(c)(3) IRS regulations (and related citations) primarily refers
to the direct use of non-profit funds for partisan activity. Non-profits are
able to work with lobbyists to influence legislation; members of non-profit
organizations may state their political views without threat to the
organization's IRS status; non-profits can go so far as to attend partisan
political events -- as long as there are no corporate funds associated with
the attendance [being given a "free" ticket counts as money, though, to the
IRS and that could get you into trouble.]
The Brother's original email, from my reading of it, was unsolicited and, as
such, was a violation of federal statute pertaining to such activity.
As to whether it could be construed as partisan political activity on the
part of Alpha Phi Omega, Inc. and, as such, be taken as a violation of IRS
regulations regarding non-profit entities
-- not a chance.
Brother Shroeder -- it's not that you started anything. Everyone just
decided it was a good day to over-react.
:tanner
--worked for too many small non-profits [American College of Cardiology,
American Association of Dental Schools, The Theatre Conspiracy....]
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