Nonprofits are being political. Yes, big corporations (in particular) and wealthy can do that -- the Supreme Court says so. But nonprofits, that's another story. As I understand it--we don't want to be influenced by the group of institutions who are by their nature, supported by the largesse of the government (that's who gives the big tax exemption to both the institution and those who support the institution.). Oh, and this doesn't apply to big corporations, right?
Anyway, according to the New York Times, the IRS was doing its job by looking into some individuals who made big gifts to advocacy nonprofits. There's something illegal about the giving and receiving and the IRS is doing its job as an enforcer. The bad news is that there are some Republican Senators who don't think the IRS is behaving correctly and they have launched their own investigation of the IRS.
Where does this really leave nonprofit boards? (When we talk about nonprofits, we really should talk about the "who" in nonprofits because the institution, while an individual under legal considerations, only succeeds thanks to the individuals.) At minimum, nonprofit boards should appreciate these are perilous times for a variety of reasons. Their actions will be questioned by someone and they should be prepared to respond. That's part of what it's about to be fiduciarily responsible.
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