As the 2008 election nears, one topic of warning is becoming all the rage, nonprofits that use the campaign season to bring attention to their issues, such as education or healthcare. As the Chronicle of Philanthropy notes, "Nonprofit organizations are stepping up their political activity and becoming more aggressive lobbyists as the presidential primaries draw near, though they must be careful to follow the complex laws governing their tax-exempt status."

A Time magazine article highlights many nonprofits that are doing great work to promote the needs of the nonprofit sector to candidates.

We have noted here before foundations that are becoming more involved with independent campaigns that seek candidates' stance on issues, and investing in new advocacy campaigns to accomplish its policy goals. The example of Ed in '08 and many others are mentioned in the Times article. The routine question arises, how involved should charities get in politics. However, "[Robert] Egger says bring it on. 'Nonprofits have for too long been complacent to let others tell us what we can and can't do."

Egger is not the only nonprofit leader using next year's early primaries to thrust his agenda into the national spotlight. Bill Gates, whose foundation is the world's largest philanthropy, last month called on presidential contenders to commit to expanding the President's Malaria Initiative, a $1.2 billion effort started by President Bush in 2005 to cut malaria deaths by 50% in 15 African nations.

One very impressive example of nonprofits using the election to raise political awareness of the sector is the Primary Project.

This time around, New Hampshire nonprofit leaders are learning the art of bird-dogging. One, Cynthia Mills, CEO of the Manchester-based Tree Care Industry Association, has met 11 candidates at house parties and town hall meetings, peppering them with questions on how they envision a future partnership with the nonprofit sector. The Nonprofit Primary Project hopes to meet with all the presidential hopefuls one-on-one before the January primary

The Washington Post highlights the new publication Seen But Not Heard: Strengthening Nonprofit Advocacy and the executive director of OMB Watch. In light of a certain disdain for lobbyists, we all must be reminded that charities need to lobby more. "Bass's biggest problem is convincing charities that they not only can make their case to government, but that they really ought to do so. In effect, he needs to convince his fellow do-gooders that lobbying is not so bad." Disturbingly, "a third of nonprofits polled recently owned up to 'lobbying' two or more times a month. But when asked if they 'advocate,' closer to half admitted to that. Many nonprofits also are unsure how much lobbying the law permits them to do."

Check out this very interesting blog which asks what the nonprofit sector's role is in the 2008 election and as promoters of civic engagement. More importantly the author states; "The problem, rather, is that the broader social policy environment is hostile to most of our [nonprofits'] missions, hostile even to the concept of a common good. That's the limiting factor that should be changed."

The Washington Post has addressed a Council of Europe report, Europe's leading human rights watchdog organization, approved by their Legal Affairs Committee criticizing the way the United Nations and the European Union blacklist terrorist suspects. The report states that the method used to sanction individuals and organizations does not include any "procedures for an independent review of decisions taken, and for compensation for infringements of rights. Such a procedure is totally arbitrary and has no credibility whatsoever." The committee recommends that those who are sanctioned be allowed a fair trial with the ability to see the evidence against them, within a reasonable time and compensation for wrongful designation as a terrorist. Just as in the United States, cases are being taken to court, but the problems with the underlying regulations and laws have not been addressed.

The council's actions serve as recommendations to members of the 27-nation European Union. Approximately 370 individuals and 60 organizations worldwide have been blacklisted by the U.N. Security Council or the European Union, the investigation found. In addition to the freeze on their finances and the prohibition on travel, they have little recourse for getting delisted, according to Dick Marty, a Swiss legislator who led the investigation. . . . "The person or group concerned is usually neither informed of the request, nor given the possibility to be heard, nor even necessarily informed about the decision taken -- until he or she first attempts to cross a border or use a bank account."

The Campaign Finance Institute has issued a press release announcing an effort led by OMB Watch which culminated in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urging them to drop the Ensign Amendment to S. 223, the Campaign Disclosure Parity Act. The unrelated amendment would require charities, religious organizations, and civic nonprofit organizations to disclose all of their donors who contributed $5,000 or more when they file an ethics complaint against any Senator. This is clearly meant to defeat a bill that has no public objection. The bill would simply require electronic disclosure of Senate campaign contributions.

Our letter stated; "Its unmistakable purpose is to discourage organizations from taking action to keep government accountable. Its retaliatory nature is counter to donors' privacy rights and the First Amendment rights of association and speech, and raises significant constitutional questions."

Letter in the News: BNA Money and Politics ($$) reported; "Signatories of the letter to Reid and McConnell included organizations ranging from the liberal Alliance for Justice and OMB Watch to the American Conservative Union and James Bopp, general counsel of the James Madison Center for Free Speech."

A coalition of organizations, including Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the Sunlight Foundation, the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), Public Citizen, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have launched GovernmentDocs.org. It is an online document database that will make results of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests easily searchable, browsed and reviewed. Registered users will be able to review and comment on documents. Check out the site here.

Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is investigating six evangelistic ministries to determine whether they have illegally used donations to finance lavish lifestyles. Senator Grassley sent letters to each of the ministries requesting documents to answer questions regarding expenses, executive compensation, housing allowances, checking and savings accounts, cars, airplanes and overseas trips. They have until Dec. 6 to respond. Grassley's press release states, "The inquiry is part of Grassley's long-standing interest in making sure tax-exempt organizations are accountable to donors." Read the story in the New York Times here.