Amend ProgCode Community Guidelines to Address 501(c)(4) Status

[stephenscapelliti]

Proposal: Amend the ProgCode Guidelines to inform members and new registrants about IRS restrictions

Description

This initiative seeks both input and approval from the ProgCode community to amend the ProgCode Community Guidelines to include an explanation of prohibited activity which will inform members and new registrants of the limitations placed on ProgCode by IRS regulations.

Problem

1. ProgCode members and new registrants should have a means of determining which activities are permissible when using ProgCode resources, such as the Slack, GitHub, and Airtable. IRS regulations restrict certain political activities of 501(c)(4) organizations such as ProgCode.

2. The IRS regulations describe the restricted activities only in general terms, and non-compliance is determined on a case-by-case basis. There is no list of impermissible activities. An infraction could result in financial penalties for ProgCode, as well as the potential loss of tax-exempt status. Therefore, it is important for ProgCode members to be informed about the grey areas of compliance.

3. The logical place for this information is the ProgCode Community Guidelines, which provide general guidance for other activities within the ProgCode community. Detailed information has been pinned in the #legal channel and in various other community documents, but members should be given a reasonable description of the IRS rules, so that they can identify potential compliance issues.

4. The ProgCode culture promotes autonomy and assumes that all members will act in conformity with the laws that govern ProgCode. Currently, the guidelines do not provide a means for redressing actions which expose the ProgCode community to liability. At a minimum, the guidelines should provide authority to staff members to protect the tax-exempt status of ProgCode for the benefit of its members and its charitable mission.

5. 501(c)(4) organizations are different from most other tax-exempt charitable organizations, because they are permitted to engage in limited political activities which are not permitted in other tax-exempt formats [e.g., 501(c)(3), 501(c)(6)]

Benefit

This will inform ProgCode members about the limitations which the IRS places on activities that occur within the ProgCode community.

Plan

• Post this pilot initiative and notify the ProgCode community in the #team-announcements and #operations channels.

• Present the issue for discussion at the 01-08-18 Community Operations meeting, and seek consent to proceed, to allow for a one-week period in which members may review this initiative and comment.

• Seek consent to implement at the 01-15-18 Community Operations meeting, for the purpose of amending the ProgCode Community Guidelines to include the final version of the proposed guideline.

Decision Making

As stated above, consent to proceed will be requested at the 01-08-18 Community Operations meeting, and consent to implement will be requested at the 01-15-18 Community Operations meeting.

Optional Information

Reference link(s)

Proposed Amendment to the ProgCode Community Guidelines - Please comment on the document and/or here in this GitHub issue.

Current ProgCode Community Guidelines

Treatise excerpt regarding 501(c)(4) activities

IRS regulation which governs 501(c)(4) organizations: 26 CFR 1.501(c)(4)-1

[PamelaJohn]

History:
Issue #229 was introduced at the 01-08-18 community Ops meeting. Consent to continue discussion of the amendments was granted. Discussion was temporarily tabled until after Democratizing Democracy virtual conference and IRS decision to allow ProgCode’s application to operate as a 501(c)(4)
Additional community discussion took place on 04-23 & 04-16-2018. Implementation of amendment was delayed pending:

• Inclusion of plain language use case scenarios in the proposed 501(c)(4) amendment.
• Review and update of the Community Guidelines to comply with community votes & all state and federal laws

[PamelaJohn]

UPDATE: At the 4-23-2016 community Ops meeting, the community decided to review GitBook as a possible location for Community Guidelines, 501(c)(4) notice as well as statements on Mission, Vision and Culture.

I looked into GitBooks and discovered that more than a year ago, Preston created a GitBook called ProgCode Staffers Policy & Guidelines which incorporates the Community Guidelines & Staff Handbook Google Docs. The GitBook is also more up to date than the existing Google Docs which are referenced throughout Slack and other community documents and assets.

PROPOSED ACTION ITEMS:

• Create a ProgCode GitBook
• Transfer the text of Preston’s work from Preston’s GitBook to ProgCode’s to use as a more current starting point for revision

[PamelaJohn]

Once the above changes have been implemented, it would be good to update all additional ProgCode front-facing materials and documents which are distributed to new members:

• Community Guidelines (Google Doc)
• ProgCode website
• ProgCode Toolkit
• New Member Welcome Email
• New Member Welcome DM

Please add any additional documents which may also need updating.