Private Foundations
Unlike public foundations, private foundations are restricted by the IRS from lobbying themselves or from earmarking grants for lobbying activities. However, these restrictions need not stop private foundations from impacting public policy.

There are three different ways for a private foundation to make grants to public charities for public policy work.

First, private foundations may support public charities that engage in lobbying through general support grants. To protect the private foundation, however, the grant must truly be for general support - it should not be earmarked or restricted at all. That ensures that any lobbying use of grant funds was entirely in the sole discretion of the grantee's governing body, and therefore not attributable to the private foundation funder in any way. General support grants are the simplest and safest way for a private foundation to support a public charity's public policy work. (General support grant agreements should not prohibit the grantee from lobbying, since that eliminates the grantee's ability to direct those funds toward its lobbying efforts. A grant agreement that states that the grant is "not earmarked for lobbying" fully protects the private foundation, without tying the hands of the grantee.)

Second, private foundations may earmark grants to public charities for projects that involve non-lobbying strategies for influencing public policy, as described in the How to Engage in Public Policy section of this Toolkit. These strategies include:

• community organizing
• building coalitions
• non-lobbying issue advocacy
• litigation
• research and analysis
• regulatory advocacy

A private foundation grant that is earmarked for a non-lobbying project of the grantee may include a prohibition on lobbying with grant funds.

Third, private foundations may even earmark grants to public charities for projects that involve some lobbying, provided the private foundation's total funding of the project is less than the project's budget for non-lobbying activities. This is sometimes referred to as a McIntosh grant. Consult the resources listed below for further details on how such grants should be documented.

The following resources provide information about how private foundations can engage in and support public policy efforts without violating IRS regulations:

"A Guide to Programming Under IRS Public Policy Rules" W. K. Kellogg Foundation

Can a Private Foundation Make a Grant to a Non-Public Charity? Alliance for Justice

"Investing in Change: A Funders Guide to Supporting Advocacy" Alliance for Justice

"Legislative Visits by Private Foundations" Alliance for Justice

Letter to Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest from the IRS Clarifying Foundation Funding of Nonprofits that Lobby

"Private Foundations and Influencing Legislation," by Thomas A. Troyer, Charity Lobbying in the Public Interest

Private Foundations and Policymaking section, NP Action

"Private Foundations and Policymaking—Latitude Under Federal Tax Law" by Thomas A. Troyer and Douglas Varley, Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy

"Private Foundation Funding of Advocacy" by Rosemary Fei, Silk, Adler & Colvin

"Private Foundation Lobbying Exception: Nonpartisan Analysis" by Rosemary Fei, Silk, Adler & Colvin

"The Private Foundation's Guide to the California Ballot Initiative Process" by Rosemary Fei, Diane Fishburn, and Barbara Rhomberg, Northern California Grantmakers