In this episode, Sha Grogan-Brown talks with guest Le Tim Ly, Chief Operating Officer of Center for Empowered Politics about how building “multi-entity infrastructure” can improve the resilience of organizations.

While the Left faces many crises in these times, underpinning everything is the vulnerability of the operations and infrastructure of our organizations. So many groups have chosen to establish non-profit organizations as the entity for their organizing, and now this administration is targeting the tax status of two primary forms of non-profit organizations – known as 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4). Our movement has had critiques of the Non-Profit Industrial Complex for decades. We know this is not the ideal structure for our long term work. Yet the majority of Left organizations are currently dependent on non-profit structure and on philanthropy for the operations of their projects. We’re in a time which calls on us to be nimble and pivot many aspects of our operations. 

With this context in mind, Dear Rad Ops received this question: My organization is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and we are worried about being attacked by the current administration. What other options do we have for our organizational structure in case we lose our c3 tax status?

Resources from this episode

• Organizations providing support for exploring multi-entity infrastructure:
  
  
  
  • Definition List of organizational entities
  
  
  
  





• • Organizations providing support for exploring multi-entity infrastructure:
  
  
  
  • Center for Empowered Politics
  
  
  
  
  
  • Movement Politics Accelerator
  
  
  
  
  
  • Power & Protect Operations Network
  
  
  
  
  
  • New Left Accelerator
  
  
  
  
  
  • Want to go deeper on the difference between 501c3, 501c4 and PAC? Listen to this episode of Rules of the Game podcast, comparing tax-exempt organizations.
  
  
  
  
  
  • What to do if your organization loses 501c3 tax status
  
  
  
  

Discussion questions to take to your team

• What entities currently make up your organization’s infrastructure? Is everyone on staff aware of the reason or purpose for each of those entities?





• If you have a 501c3 organization, what is your back up plan in the case of losing your tax status? (Be sure to check out the next episode on risk assessment vs fear assessments, and be mindful of of reacting to this question primarily based on fear…)





• Which parts of your work could happen via a different entity?

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Guest Bio

Guest Speaker

Le Tim Ly is the Chief Operating Officer of the Center for Empowered Politics (CEP). Le supports the organization’s expansive programmatic work, organizational development, strategic planning, and finance and operations. Le has spent the last 25 years working for racial, environmental and economic justice with grassroots community organizations including Youth United for Community Action (YUCA), the Partnership for Immigrant Leadership and Action (PILA) and the Chinese Progressive Association in San Francisco.