Q. Are 501(c)(3) organizations permitted to influence legislation?​​

A. Supporting or opposing legislation (not candidates for public office) is permitted under 501(c)(3). 

Federal tax law has two options for 501(c)(3) lobbying:

1. Filing an election (Form 5768) to be treated as a lobbying 501(c)(3) alerts the IRS to the fact that your group might be lobbying, but in return your organization is subject to more generous bright-line lobbying limits.  (Not all public charities are eligible to make this election.)

2. If your group does not make the election (or is ineligible to make the election), it is only allowed "insubstantial" amounts of legislative activity.

If you check this box yes, you are responsible for learning the IRS lobbying rules and understanding how they affect your organization.  The legislative/lobbying rules are explained in greater detail here.

(Note that rules for private foundations, not covered here, are different.)