Are churches allowed to contribute to a local/national Chamber of Commerce?
Since churches are non-profit organizations, they are not allowed to endorse or fund the campaign of a political candidate in the US.
However, many churches are active members of their community’s Chamber of Commerce. With the recent Supreme Court ruling, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce & many community Chambers are very actively involved in campaign advertising now. Since churches are members of these organizations, at least some part of the dues paid by the churches ARE going to political campaigning, which seems wrong to me.
Are they allowed to contribute additional money to their local chambers, beyond dues, in effect funneling non-profit non-political money into an organization that is not restricted on campaign spending? And/or is there a limit on funds they can contribute or dues paid, to prevent such a scheme?
This is a very grey area and I think it needs to be looked at by congress.
November 1st, 2010 at 8:52 pm
This is a very grey area and I think it needs to be looked at by congress.
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