Knights of Columbus - Not For Profits participating in politics

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4. February 2012 - 5:25

Dunkey

I am a member of the Knights of Columbus. I consider myself a person of faith and wanted to assist in charitable works in my local community while helping my church. I joined a year or so ago. Since then I have received three types of emails: requests for prayers for sick members, invites to the pancake breakfasts, and solicitations to embrace republican issues and candidates particularly the pro-lifers. The content of the emails most closely resembles the Tea Party mass misinformation emails.

Question: isn't this a violation of the tax law that protects the organization's not for profit status? To whom do I report it? And is this typical of the K of C? Are they mostly just a right wing insurance company feeding on the mouth breathers?

The hypocrisy of it is that they never once send an email that champions the poor or the sick. No emails asking members to stand up for universal healthcare or higher taxes on the wealthy. Nothing about improving life outside the womb.

Is it worth it to take my concerns further?

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4. February 2012 - 7:21

Bush_Wacker

You can only report it to the

You can only report it to the world in the way you just did. Anyone of authority that you take your concerns to is ultimately in step with the K of C. It's like reporting to the wolf that the coyotes are eating the chickens. You Tube, Blogs, Letters to the editor etc......

4. February 2012 - 9:35

Calperson

Dunkey wrote: Question: isn't

Dunkey wrote:

Question: isn't this a violation of the tax law that protects the organization's not for profit status?

No, non-profit corporations have the same 1st Amendment rights as the rest of us. It would be absurd to suggest that corporations like Greenpeace and Amnesty International don't engage in political speech.

4. February 2012 - 10:45

Art

Quote:No, non-profit

Quote:

No, non-profit corporations have the same 1st Amendment rights as the rest of us. It would be absurd to suggest that corporations like Greenpeace andAmnesty International don't engage in political speech.

Not necessarily so. Tax exemption has nothing to do with free speech issues.

Tax exemption is granted for a group of rather specific purposes

Quote:

The exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3) are charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition, and preventing cruelty to children or animals. The term charitable is used in its generally accepted legal sense and includes relief of the poor, the distressed, or the underprivileged; advancement of religion; advancement of education or science; erecting or maintaining public buildings, monuments, or works; lessening the burdens of government; lessening neighborhood tensions; eliminating prejudice and discrimination; defending human and civil rights secured by law; and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency.

I don't find political campaigning cited anywhere in that. Perhaps the Knights of Colubus does other things that qualify under the IRS code. The Knights of Columbus identifies itself as a 501(c)(8) fraternal organizations. Perhaps that makes the difference.

Here's the IRS code for fraternal organizations.

Quote:

To be exempt under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 501(c)(8), a fraternal beneficiary society, order, or association must meet the following requirements:

It must have a fraternal purpose. An organization has a fraternal purpose if membership is based on a common tie or the pursuit of a common object. The organization must also have a substantial program of fraternal activities.
It must operate under the lodge system or for the exclusive benefit of the members of a fraternal organization itself operating under the lodge system. Operating under the lodge system requires, at a minimum, two active entities: (i) a parent organization; and (ii) a subordinate (called a lodge, branch, or the like) chartered by the parent and largely self-governing.
It must provide for the payment of life, sick, accident, or other benefits to the members of such society, order, or association or their dependents.
An organization that provides benefits to some, but not all, of its members may qualify for exemption so long as most of the members are eligible for benefits, and criteria for excluding certain members are reasonable.

To be exempt under IRC 501(c)(10), a domestic fraternal society, order, or association must meet the following requirements:

It must have a fraternal purpose. An organization has a fraternal purpose if membership is based on a common tie or the pursuit of a common object. The organization must also have a substantial program of fraternal activities.
It must operate under the lodge system. Operating under the lodge system requires, at a minimum, two active entities: (i) a parent organization; and (ii) a subordinate organization (called a lodge, branch, or the like) chartered by the parent and largely self-governing.
It must not provide for the payment of life, sick, accident, or other benefits to its members. The organization may arrange with insurance companies to provide optional insurance to its members without jeopardizing its exempt status.
It must devote its net earnings exclusively to religious, charitable, scientific, literary, educational, and fraternal purposes.
It must be a domestic organization, that is, it must be organized in the United States.

There doesn't appear to be any anything in the code that disqualifies the KoC for tax exemption as a result of becoming a tea-party affiliate.

Knights of Columbus - Not For Profits participating in politics

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