Vernick J S
Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Am J Public Health. 1999 Sep;89(9):1425-9. doi: 10.2105/ajph.89.9.1425.
Nonprofit organizations play an important role in advocating for the public's health in the United States. This article describes the rules under US law for lobbying by nonprofit organizations. The 2 most common kinds of non-profits working to improve the public's health are "public charities" and "social welfare organizations." Although social welfare organizations may engage in relatively unlimited lobbying, public charities may not engage in "substantial" lobbying. Lobbying is divided into 2 main categories. Direct lobbying refers to communications with law-makers that take a position on specific legislation, and grassroots lobbying includes attempts to persuade members of the general public to take action regarding legislation. Even public charities may engage in some direct lobbying and a smaller amount of grassroots lobbying. Much public health advocacy, however, is not lobbying, since there are several important exceptions to the lobbying rules. These exceptions include "non-partisan analysis, study, or research" and discussions of broad social problems. Lobbying with federal or earmarked foundation funds is generally prohibited.
非营利组织在美国倡导公众健康方面发挥着重要作用。本文介绍了美国法律规定的非营利组织游说规则。致力于改善公众健康的两类最常见的非营利组织是“公益慈善机构”和“社会福利组织”。虽然社会福利组织可能进行相对不受限制的游说，但公益慈善机构不得进行“大量”游说。游说分为两大类。直接游说指与立法者就特定立法表明立场的沟通，基层游说包括试图说服普通民众就立法采取行动。即使是公益慈善机构也可以进行一些直接游说和少量的基层游说。然而，许多公共卫生倡导活动并不属于游说，因为游说规则有几个重要的例外情况。这些例外包括“无党派分析、研究或调查”以及对广泛社会问题的讨论。一般禁止使用联邦或专款专用的基金会资金进行游说。
