A city in Canada decided to levy property taxes on a local museum—it could have been avoided, so who was asleep at the switch?  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/whitehorse-museums-to-begin-paying-property-tax-to-city-1.3088157

Proceeds from California’s landmark cap and trade program will fund a non-profit that puts solar panels on low-income homeowners’ roofs in disadvantaged communities: http://www.treehugger.com/solar-technology/free-solar-panels-low-income-ca-homeowners-funded-cap-trade-system.html

A political dispute between the mayor and city council in New York means budget cuts for non-profits that rely on city funding: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/exclusive-budget-bad-elderly-charity-article-1.2233703

Good example of a human services non-profit using advocacy—in this case suing the city—on behalf of its clients: http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/homeless-charity-sues-tampa-contends-panhandling-laws-are-unconstitutional/2230621

It’s all very confusing, but here’s a good explainer as to why and how public affairs plays a key role in your non-profit’s advocacy communications: http://www.gnowit.com/blog/government-relations-integral-part-pr-puzzle

The IRS is getting ready to issue new regulations for political non-profits—this doesn’t impact most 501(c)3’s: http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/05/22/i-r-s-seeks-to-define-political-activity-for-nonprofits/?_r=0

LA n Sync is such an effort, led by Annenberg, to help generate resources: http://www.lansync.org/

The homophobic walls come down at the Boy Scouts, one of America’s largest and oldest non-profits: ...

Lax government oversight–from the IRS to state regulators–of charities makes it easy for scam artists to operate: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/22/business/patchwork-oversight-allows-dubious-charities-to-operate.html?_r=0

Great example of a non-profit advocate becoming one of the people he tries to influence—a charter school leader gets elected to the LA Board of Education:  http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-lausd-election-analysis-20150521-story.html#page=1

Impacting the Non-Profit & Philanthropic Communities, according to Independent Sector—they make sense: https://www.independentsector.org/uploads/ninetrends.pdf

Los Angeles’ landmark minimum wage increase to $15 will give smaller non-profits more time to meet the requirements, but it’s another good example of how politicians can directly impact your organization—my Nonprofit Quarterly newswire: ...