Government and Politics

Financing Advocacy Groups

Special interest groups lobby for hundreds of causes ranging from abortion and gun control to health care reform and the abolition of alcoholic beverages. Some of these groups have annual budgets that extend into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

A study of Internal Revenue Service computer records by the Scripps Howard News Service found that:

  • More than 7,200 advocacy groups collected $3.8 billion in tax-free contributions in 1996.

  • These groups held assets worth at least $11.7 billion.

  • Income last year was highest for groups promoting peace and pacifism -- a total of over $981 million.

  • This was followed by nearly $452 million collected by groups interested in drug use and over $415 million for those whose interest was medical care.

An IRS spokesman reports that the agency revokes the tax-exempt status of between 20 and 30 charities each year -- generally because of their political activities. Direct campaigning for a particular politician by a tax-exempt group is forbidden. But exactly how much lobbying and public opinion advocacy is permissible is a debatable matter, experts say.

Source: Thomas Hargrove, "Special-Interest Groups Keep the Cash Rolling In," Washington Times, December 1, 1997.

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