Podcast appearances and mentions of tim mooney

In today's episode continuing our eight-part series, we examine how nonprofits are effectively advocating for environmental justice. We'll analyze practical strategies for building awareness and securing advocacy funding while navigating the regulatory frameworks that govern nonprofit activism. Join us for a clear-eyed look at how organizations are making meaningful progress in environmental protection and climate action.    Attorneys for this episode   Tim Mooney  Quyen Tu  Susan Finkle Sourlis    Shownotes   Current Events / Executive Orders:  • Trump Administration Environmental Rollbacks  • Rescinded EPA's Environmental Justice Screening Tool (EJSCREEN)  • Repealed Biden-era executive orders on Justice40, climate equity, and cumulative impacts assessments  • Reinstated NEPA rules from 2019, reducing environmental review for pipelines, highways, and factories  • Revoked protections for sacred Indigenous lands (e.g., Bears Ears downsizing, drilling leases on Chaco Canyon perimeter)  • Impacts on Vulnerable Communities:  • Halted all EPA funding for community air monitoring programs in EJ-designated census tracts  • Suspended grants to community-based climate resilience projects  • Cut FEMA's BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities) equity prioritization language  • Reopened refineries and power plants previously closed for Clean Air Act violations, especially in Black and Latino neighborhoods  • EPA DEI cuts:  • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced plans to cancel nearly 800 environmental justice grants, totaling over $1.5 billion, which were intended to support projects mitigating climate change impacts in vulnerable communities .  •  Additionally, the EPA is undergoing a reduction in force, affecting employees in its Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, as part of a broader effort to realign the agency's mission    ·      Non-Lobbying Advocacy o   Nonpartisan Advocacy 101: 501(c)(3)s cannot support or oppose candidates for public office, but they can… o   Educate the public about issues of importance to your organization. §  Waterkeeper Alliance is holding EPA Admin Lee Zeldin accountable for cuts to PFAS research. o   Hold a rally §  Memphis Community Against Pollution rallied to celebrate a victory for clean water, while turning its attention to a clean air fight against an Elon Musk-owned company's proposed data center. o   Initiate or participate in litigation §  AFJ member Earthjustice has sued the Trump administration's improper withholding of IRA grant funds for projects that included Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grants to install solar panels on small farms. o   Fund Advocacy §  Meyer Memorial Trust funded  41 organizations with EJ awards totaling $6.9 million in 2024 with a focus on frontline and indigenous communities   ·      Lobbying o   501(c)(3) public charities are also allowed to use unrestricted funds to engage in some lobbying activities. o   Tax Code Lobbying 101: Public charities can lobby, but they are limited in how much lobbying they may engage in. §  Insubstantial part test vs. 501(h) expenditure test. §  Under either test, lobbying includes attempts to influence legislation at any level of government. §  Track your local, state, and federal lobbying, and stay within your lobbying limits. o   State/local level lobbyist registration and reporting requirements may also apply when engaging in legislative and executive branch advocacy. o   Ballot measure advocacy (direct lobbying) could also implicate state / local campaign finance and election laws. o   Lobbying wins §  Hawaii just passed a first-of-its-kind climate tax on short-term accommodations to fund defenses against climate change fueled disasters. Sierra Club of Hawaii has been actively lobbying on climate change legislation for years. §  Ballot measure wins (h/t The Nature Conservancy) ·      California: $10 billion climate bond that funds climate resilience, protecting clean drinking water and preventing catastrophic wildfires.  ·      Washington: An effort to roll back the state's Climate Commitment Act was defeated. The CCA provides millions for conservation, climate and wildfire funding, including funding for Tribal nations and at-risk communities. ·      Minnesota: Renewal of the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund for another 25 years. The fund will provide $2 billion ($80 million per year from state lottery proceeds) to protect water, land and wildlife across the state. Resources – ·      Earth & Equity: The Advocacy Playbook for Environmental Justice ·      Public Charities Can Lobby (Factsheet) ·      Practical Guidance: what your nonprofit needs to know about lobbying in your state ·      Investing in Change: A Funder's Guide to Supporting Advocacy ·      What is Advocacy? 2.0  

Hannah Marie Marcus is a Manhattan-born musician and olfactory artist whose work spans folk, slowcore, Cajun, and experimental sound. The Hannah Marcus Years: 1993–2004 collects recordings with collaborators including Tim Mooney and members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. She has since scored films, toured with Matana Roberts, and performed scent-based works.

A recent Fifth Circuit holding in Memorial Hermann has caught the attention of lawyers in our space, with some wondering if the tax law rules on how 501(c)(4)s operate may change. But what did the court really say, and how should 501(c)(4) advocacy organizations react? On this special holiday edition of the pod, we are joined by Larry Gold of Trister Ross Schadler and Gold to understand what this case says and what it means for (c)(4)s in 2025 and beyond.  Attorneys for this episode  Tim Mooney  Susan Finkle Sourlis  Larry Gold, Trister Ross Schadler and Gold   Show notes  What is Memorial Hermann?  Very basics of the case  Basics of the holding  Where does this court's ruling apply?  501(c)(4) organizations must exclusively operate for the social welfare,  how is that interpreted to mean primarily, and the limit on items that do not as social welfare as secondary activity. We frequently talk about one of those secondary activities a lot – partisan political work. But this case focuses on another thing – can you explain why commercial activity does not promote social welfare?   The concern raised by some is the court's move to a smaller insubstantial standard for commercial activity may also apply to political activity, limiting the amount advocacy groups can engage in. How does the law treat commercial activity and political activity differently, and does that distinction matter here for other courts that may be addressing this?  Do (c)(4)s in the Fifth Circuit that engage in partisan political advocacy need to change what they're doing or how much they're doing? What about (c)(4)s outside of the Fifth Circuit?  There's another layer to all of this with (c)(4)s that have filed Form 1024s accepted by the IRS – can you explain what that is and why filing a 1024 now may be a good idea for some (c)(4)s that haven't yet?  What's happening next with this case?  What's your take on how various media outlets have presented this case – do you think they've helped or muddied the waters?  On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is a yawn and 10 is metaphysical crisis, where are we now with Memorial Hermann for (c)(4)s?     Resources - Tim  The Rules of the Game     

In an effort to fight inflation and protect the job market, the U.S. Federal Reserve central bank on September 18 announced it was cutting interest rates by half a percentage point. This was noteworthy as it represents the first rate cut since 2020, and it is not expected to be the last. In this episode of the Nexus podcast, we talk to Davinder “D.K.” Malhotra, professor of finance and director of Thomas Jefferson University's MBA programs, and associate professor of finance Tim Mooney about the importance of the rate cuts – both current and upcoming – particularly what it will mean for students and alumni today and in the future. SOCIAL CHANNELS: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JeffersonUniv/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffersonUniv Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffersonuniv/?hl=en TikTok: @_jeffersonuniv_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JeffersonUniv LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/school/thomas-jefferson-university

Guess What! It's 2024, which means we have a BIG election on the horizon. Not only will voters take to the polls to decide who will be our next President, but they'll also be invited to speak their voice in relation to ballot measures and down ballot races that will impact our laws and determine who will represent us in local government, state legislatures, Congress, the courts, and more! With so much at stake, many private and public foundations may be curious whether they have a role to play. The answer is YES! And, this episode of the podcast will discuss the rules foundations need to know when funding and engaging in nonpartisan election activities. Attorneys for this show Monika Graham, Tim Mooney, Natalie Ossenfort Show Notes ·       General rule: private and public foundations (as 501(c)(3) organizations) are permitted to engage in and fund nonpartisan election season activities. o   No support or opposition of candidates for public office (including candidates running in “nonpartisan” races) o   No telling people who to vote for on their ballots or encouraging them to vote for particular political parties o   Keep it NONPARTISAN. The facts and circumstances matter. o   Remember that special rules will apply to private foundations when it comes to voter registration activities and ballot measures (discussed later in this episode)   ·       General GOTV Activities (not talking voter registration here) o   Both private and public foundations are permitted to engage in nonpartisan get-out-the-vote (GOTV) activities §  Avoid referencing parties or candidates §  Do not suggest who people should vote for §  Use nonpartisan targeting only o   Examples §  Communications posted on social media reminding readers that “Your Vote is Your Voice” without reference to candidates and parties and without suggesting that people vote for candidates who have particular stance on issues of importance to the foundation §  Communications circulated at local events that remind people to “Vote. It's Easy!” and provide information on where, when, and how to vote. ·       Make sure you get the information correct ·       Don't target your outreach based on partisan criteria (i.e. populations / communities who you think are likely to vote for certain types of candidates) o   As always, remember that other laws (like state law) may apply to your work in addition to the tax code rules requiring nonpartisanship.   ·       Candidate Education o   Offer educational resources and materials to ALL candidates o   Provide only information that is previously gathered §  Avoid generating and analyzing new data or conducting new research per a candidate's request §  But, do feel free to point candidates to information posted publicly on your website o   What if a candidate or campaign staffer calls your offices asking for talking points for an upcoming rally? Resist the urge to provide them with that information because it equates to an impermissible candidate contribution.   ·       Voter Registration o   501(c)(3) Public charities are permitted to engage in and fund nonpartisan voter registration activities. §  This means that not only can community foundations directly fund their public charity grantees' voter registration drives, but they can also engage in voter registration themselves. §  Just remember to keep it nonpartisan and to follow state and federal law. o   Now private foundations are subject to more restrictive rules when it comes to voter registration. §  Private foundation cannot fund voter registration drives whether they are doing it themselves or making grants earmarked for them - unless the drive is nonpartisan and conducted in 5 or more states over multiple election cycles §  This means that many of their public charity grantees' will not be eligible to receive grants that are earmarked for voter registration. §  BUT, it does NOT mean that public charities can't use funds provided through a general support grant for nonpartisan voter registration purposes.   ·       What about ballot measures? o   Ballot measures are effectively pieces of legislation, and it's the voting public with the power to vote on them. o   Whether it's a bond proposal, constitutional amendment, or other type of initiative, public charities are allowed to support or oppose ballot measures. o   But, because of their legislative nature, support or opposition of measures qualifies as lobbying. o   Public charities (like community foundations) are limited in how much lobbying they are permitted to do under the tax code and should count their ballot measure activities (and grants earmarked for ballot measure advocacy) against their lobbying limits. o   Private foundations are effectively prohibited from lobbying due to a steep excise tax imposed by the tax code. As such, they should avoid supporting or opposing measures and earmarking grants for that purpose.   Resources ·       Investing in Change: https://afj.org/resource/investing-in-change-a-funders-guide-to-supporting-advocacy/ ·       Community Foundations o   Rules of the Game a Guide to Election Related Activities: https://afj.org/resource/the-rules-of-the-game-a-guide-to-election-related-activities-for-501c3-organizations/ o   Election Checklist for Public Charities: https://afj.org/resource/election-checklist-for-501c3-public-charities-ensuring-election-year-advocacy-efforts-remain-nonpartisan/ ·       Private Foundations o   Voter Registration Rules for Private Foundations: https://afj.org/resource/voter-registration-rules-for-private-foundations/ o   Voter Engagement Messaging and Activities for Private Foundations: https://afj.org/resource/voter-engagement-messaging-and-activities-for-private-foundations/ ·       Election Activities of Individuals Associated with Private and Public Foundations: https://afj.org/resource/election-activities-of-individuals-associated-with-501c3-organizations/ ·       4/17 Public Webinar on Foundations and Election-Related Activities: https://secure.everyaction.com/7TbHTruU2EOizr289QaNUw2?emci=c121c8f7-80eb-ee11-aaf0-002248223794&emdi=d570d8a8-0fed-ee11-aaf0-002248223794&ceid=2918047  

In this week's edition of Tranquility du Jour, I chat with returning guest Tim Mooney. Hear about our latest passions and challenges, how we've made it 20 years, why we're unmarried and childless by choice, how we navigate living in a tiny space, and more. Plus, we have a BIG announcement! Pour a cuppa tea and tune in! Link in bio. ✨ Direct download: Tranquility du Jour Podcast #624: Celebrating 20 Years Subscribe in your favorite podcast app such as Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon. Visit kimberlywilson.com/podcast for more. New to Tranquility du Jour? Learn more here. _____________________________ Mentioned in the Show Ezra Klein podcast mentioned Instagram handle of man with many senior pets Women Without Kids book Washington Post article we mentioned: saying no to marriage 15 years together podcast A few previous posts about our journey: 2009, 2013, 2014 Let's Connect Receive inbox love through Love Notes: invites, inspiration, and more. Browse my 6 Books and planners. Follow along on Instagram and YouTube. Share a review on Apple Podcasts, Amazon, or Goodreads and you may hear it shared on the show. And, I'd love to send you snail mail as a thank you! Details here.

He does every part! Every. Single. Part.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's our first-ever #sportsball edition of the pod! Dig into the tax code a bit, and you'll discover that tax-exemption and sports fit together like a sports reference and a podcast that doesn't really cover sports. In other words... perfectly. From amateur athletics, to professional sports leagues, to this newish thing called NIL that allows collegiate athletes to get paid for the billions they earn other people, the IRS and tax law has something to say about all of it. And most importantly, after this episode you will too at your next summer cocktail outing... Attorneys for this episode: Natalie Ossenfort, Tim Mooney, Victor Rivera What are tax-exempt organizations? Amateur athletics as 501(c)(3)s Major pro leagues had 501(c)(6)s and then dropped them ·      Advocacy angle... weighing in on oversight is not lobbying, so many tax-exempt advocacy groups like Human Rights Watch have weighed in against the move. ·      Or, advocacy in support of (or opposition to) the “No Corporate Tax Exemption for Professional Sports Act”, legislation introduced in Congress in June of this year that, if passed, would strip the Tour of its tax-exempt status. ---> Lobbying Case study: NIL Collectives as 501(c)(3)s ·      NCAA v Alston ·      NIL collectives were set up as 501(c)(3) organizations, making tax-deductible. ·      2023 IRS GLAM letter concluded that an organization that develops paid NIL opportunities for student-athletes will, in many cases, be operating for a substantial nonexempt purpose (ie, serving the private interests of the student-athletes, instead of providing a real charitable purpose). Resources: ·      501(c)(3) exemption requirements by the IRS ·      Establishing your organization toolkit ·      GLAM letter on NIL Collectives ·      NCAA's response to GLAM letter

On this episode, we'll discuss how different types of tax-exempt organizations can ensure the right to vote is protected by engaging in election protection activities and assisting voters at the polls. and potentially afterwards. Whether it's poll monitoring, ballot curing, staffing an election protection hotline, or providing rides to the polls, we'll discuss the rules that apply to 501(c)(3)s and 501(c)(4)s so that your organization can ensure that all eligible voices are heard this election season.  Attorneys for this episode   Tim Mooney   Natalie Ossenfort  Quyen Tu  Shownotes  Poll watching / observing  Litigation  Rides to Polls  Ballot chasing and curing  Poll monitoring  Count monitoring  Voting education  Nonpartisan activity No support or opposition of candidates Facts and Circumstances Follow FEC rules if federal candidates on ballots (no incentives for voting or registering to vote)  State law often adds layers of complexity here – be sure to know what is allowed in your state Ohio: must stay outside 100ft no-solicitation permitter when line warming Michigan: strict rules related to hiring a car to provide rides to the polls (effectively prohibited unless voter unable to walk) CO / TX: strict rules that apply when you want to hand out and collect voter registration applications Voter Assistance Series (AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, IL, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, NY, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, TX, Virginia, Wisconsin) Voter Registration Rules Vote by Mail Rules Correcting errors on absentee ballots (ballot curing) Rides to Polls Rules Line Warming Activities   Poll Watching What about selfies?  Partisan Voter Protection Ballot Chasing and Curing can be done with a partisan focus (for instance, only trying to cure votes of one party, litigating on behalf of a candidate)   Off limits for c3s, which must engage in nonpartisan advocacy ONLY  Ok for c4s but counts as secondary activity  Resources Practical Guidance – Voter Assistance Series, released in partnership with the Democracy Capacity Project  Rules of the Game – Guide to Election Related Activities for 501(c)(3)s  Election Checklist for 501(c)(3)s Combating Voter Suppression & Election Subversion

The GOP's run of restlessness when it comes to satisfaction with the party.  Tim Mooney, Political Advisor to Saving Arizona, on their event Saturday, October 1, and Mark Kelly's far-left voting record. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The voting record of Sen. Mark Kelly needs to be showcased to the voters of Arizona to keep them informed of what their elected officials stand for when they go to the polls.

On this episode, we discuss the unprecedented election-year challenges we face and the ways all nonprofits can help ensure a safe election. As trusted messengers, nonprofits can explain voting options and deadlines; encourage absentee voting and a new generation of poll workers; conduct election protection programs; support and join litigation and even facilitate voting and promote increased voter turnout.  This is a repodcast of the first part of our three-part series from 2020.  Our attorneys for this episode     Leslie Barnes   Tim Mooney   Quyen Tu     Shownotes  Election-year challenges  Dangers for in-person voting  Massive poll worker shortage  Monumental increase in voting by mail  Predictions for contested elections/delayed results  Defunding the United States Postal Service  Interference in the election by foreign and domestic actors  Reminder - 501(c)(3) organizations must remain nonpartisan   When We All Vote Video – Voter Registration Drives  https://youtu.be/XNt-9v3HY30s  Created by a c3, When We all Vote  Shared by a c3, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund  Nonpartisan – no support or opposition for any candidate for elected office  Explains how schools can create and promote a voter registration drive   Explains how volunteers can share news of newly registered voters on social media  Safe for community foundations and c4s too!  Special rules exist for private foundations   Can't buy votes. Don't exchange anything of value for someone completing a voter registration form or voting.  Can spend money to facilitate voting – Examples   Must also follow state law regarding voter registration and drives  IRS permits targeting voter outreach for nonpartisan reasons   Fair Fight Action Video – Vote By Mail/Voter Education  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFl6AYki1B8  Encourages Georgians to vote by mail to shorten lines for those who must vote in person and reduce risk for all    Fair Fight Action is a 501(c)(4) and could engage in partisan activity as secondary activity  This video is a nonpartisan example of voter outreach/education – primary activity  Safe for c3s to share as well!    Houston Justice Coalition Post  Safe for c3s and c4s to share government messages  Nonprofits can volunteer their space for voting/polling centers  Best practices for 501(c)(3)s  Nothing can support or oppose candidates  Avoid mixing issue advocacy with voter registration/GOTV/voter education  No candidate pledges  Any interaction with candidates? Offer the same info to others running  Best practices for 501(c)(4)s  Can support or oppose candidates – track efforts – secondary activity  Be aware of state laws  Don't coordinate efforts with federal (and usually) state candidates  Report independent efforts under campaign finance laws    Resources  Bolder Advocacy Election Activities Page  Want to Conduct or Fund a Voter Registration Drive  Election Protection Efforts Factsheet   Election Year Activities for 501(c)(4)s  How 501(c)(4)s Can Hold Elected Officials Accountable   Partisan Electoral Activity: What is it and What Can You Do?    Non Bolder Advocacy resources  Guide on how to do a school or community voter registration drive: https://www.headcount.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Booklet_Final-1.pdf  For college student looking for information on voting? Check: https://andrewgoodman.org/myvoteeverywhere/

On this episode, we revisit a very specific type of lobbying that doesn't necessarily seem like lobbying in the first place. Ballot measures can range from local bonds to state constitutional amendments, and everything in between. What can nonprofits do to support or oppose them, and how do they comply with state and federal law?     Our attorneys for this episode  Tim Mooney  Natalie Ossenfort  Quyen Tu    What are Ballot Measures?  Called different things in different states and localities  Bond  Constitutional Amendments  Referenda  Ballot questions / initiatives   Propositions  Any policy matter put to a vote of the general public    There are no federal ballot measures, but federal law has one major thing to say aboutmeasures for 501(c)(3)s  State and sometimes local laws cover campaign finance and reporting requirements    Can nonprofits take a stance?  No. End of episode. (just kidding!)  Most can. All 501(c)s that aren't charities or foundations can (generally) do an unlimited amount of ballot measure advocacy, but must follow state and local laws for reporting their work  Public charities can take a stance, but ballot measures are lobbying (which is why this episode is in the lobbying series!). From there, they also have to follow state and local laws for reporting their work  Private foundations cannot take a stance on ballot measures (again...lobbying) without being hit with a big excise tax    Wait, lobbying? Tell me more.  Boil it down? Voters are a giant legislative body  Direct lobbying, not grassroots – and that's good because charities can do more direct lobbying  Doesn't violate the prohibition on electioneering to support or oppose measures because they are not related to candidates  Be careful to make sure your org's advocacy isn't seen as/tied to a candidate's position on theballot measures  Clock starts ticking when petitions go out to qualify for the ballot or (probably) when you're lobbying legislative bodies when they are determining whether to refer an item to the voters  Count all prep work, staff time, communications costs, etc.  You non-c3s? Tax law doesn't restrict lobbying, and this counts toward primary purpose activity... so load up on your GOTV and voter reg work on ballot measures and (strategy time!) it can offset candidate work you do.    State laws...  Every state is different, starting with the fact some states don't have ballot measures at all. Even states without statewide ballot measures like NY have local bond measures though.  Any state or locality with ballot measures has some kind of registration and reporting laws  We have state law resources for your state! Examples:  Texas  Corporations (including nonprofits) can support or oppose ballot measures in Texas.  Texas Election Code defines a political committee as two or more persons acting in concert with a principal purpose of accepting political contributions or making political expenditures. Since the definition of “persons” includes nonprofit corporations and expenditures and contributionsinclude those made in connection with a measure, it is possible for nonprofits to trigger PAC registration and reporting in Texas even if they don't do any candidate-related work.  TRANSLATION: if a group of nonprofits comes together to raise funds for the support or opposition of a measure, they may need to register and report as a PAC.  It is also possible that if a nonprofit acts on its own to impact a ballot measure, it could trigger direct campaign expenditure (aka independent expenditure) reporting even if it doesn't coordinate its work with other organizations or individuals. DCE reporting, as it's sometimes referred to, kicks in when more than $100 is spent to support or oppose a measure.  Of course, there are other scenarios as well that might not require state-level reporting in the ballot measure context in Texas (e.g. nonprofit contributions to a ballot measure only PAC), so feel free to reach out to our TX team if you have any questions about when and what you have to report when you engage in ballot measure advocacy.  Oregon  Trivia: Oregon is one of the first states to adopt ballot measures... started them in 1902 (just behind SD and UT)  Five forms: state statutes (legislature or citizen referred), constitutional amendments (legislature or citizen referred), and veto referenda.  If your nonprofit's purpose is to support/oppose a ballot measures you have to register as a political committee  No contribution limits (those are unconstitutional per SCOTUS)   Real time online reporting (ORESTAR!!!!)  3 reporting periods  Contributions over $100 - the name/address of the donor disclosed  California  These rules are about transparency and tracking money in CA elections.  Most important: if you engage in certain fundraising activities or spending, you could become aballot measure committee and not even know it. That means your nonprofit would have filing and reporting obligations.  There just isn't enough time to do justice to the CA BM rules on this show so if you're interestedin a whole show, please shoot us an email  Ballot measures are treated as campaign activity  Rules are designed so that when people or organizations accept or spend money for ballot measures, it gets reported by someone.  When there is advocacy for a ballot measure, there will be a main ballot measure committee.Must report contributions of $100+, whether financial or in-kind, and expenditures. This usually works best as a separate entity from a 501(c)(3).  Even if you are not the main ballot measure committee, there are ways NPs could trigger reporting with the FPPC  receiving or spending money on ballot measure advocacy  receive $2k+ in calendar year earmarked for ballot measures, you become a recipient committee. Recipient committees have to report their donors.  Another way to become a recipient committee is to spend at least $50k in non-earmarked donated funds. At these higher levels of spending it gets more detailed so please check out our resources.   Major Donor Committee: give $10k+ in calendar year to a recipient committee (staff time counts) but does not receive $ earmarked for ballot measures  Independent Expenditure Committee: spends $1k+ in a calendar year on communications that expressly advocates for/against ballot measures and not made in coordination with a ballot measure committee  Non reportable activities:  10% or less of staff time  Paid staff time counts as an expenditure, or if it's coordinated with a ballot measure committee, a contribution. If you have staff spending more than 10% of their time in any calendar month on ballot measures, you need to consider that expenditure towards these thresholds.  Newsletter  Member communications  Contracted services to the ballot measure committee  Certain limited fundraising expenses  Raising money for the ballot measure committee where the contributions go directly to theballot measure committee (funds do not pass through the org)   You can ask people to donate to the main ballot measure committee and only your fundraising costs would count as a contribution toward these thresholds, some fundraising costs are even exempt from reporting.  Final thoughts?  Often critically important advocacy  Private foundations! You can and should support this work, even though you cannot directly advocate or fund it. How?  general support grants  specific project grants for non-lobbying portions of the work  educate the public about the ballot measure process  communications that qualify as nonpartisan analysis  communications that are neutral urging voters to study the issue    Resources  Bolder Advocacy ballot measure toolkit  Seize the Initiative  Foundations and Ballot Measures  California Campaign Finance and Ballot Measure Guide  Ballot Measure Activities Exempt from California Disclosure Laws  Initiating Policy Change: Circulating Ballot Initiatives in California  Texas Campaign Finance and Ballot Measure Guide 

The endgame of presidential elections used to be pretty straightforward. Congress plays a more-ceremonial-than-substantive role counting each state's certified electoral college delegates. The candidate who won more than 270 electoral votes officially wins and the new President gets sworn in on January 20th. But January 6, 2021 was, of course, very different. The false rhetoric claiming the historically well-run election was “stolen,” led to the failed, but nonetheless deadly, January 6th insurrection. This month, a select committee of the House of Representatives is poised to lay out its findings on why this happened and who was behind the effort. On this episode, we talk about how nonprofits have a role to play in the investigation and the response to the revelations.    Our Attorneys for this Episode  Natalie Ossenfort, Tim Mooney, Quyen Tu    Shownotes  The Select Committee explained  Live Tweeting the hearings - responding to revelations, fact checking, etc  Lobbying for specific responses  Referral to DOJ for criminal investigation/prosecution  New laws – amending Electoral Count Act, DC Statehood  Disqualifying those that took part in the insurrection from running for federal office (14th Amendment plus new laws)  Educating your constituencies (about what process is / what it isn't...)  Electoral work (nonpartisan voter education, or partisan c4 efforts)  (c)(3): praising and criticizing incumbents, best practices  (c)(4): can be more electorally-focused  Resources  Nonprofits' Role in January 6th Investigations and Response   Praising & Criticizing Incumbents The Rules of the Game  The Connection

On this episode, our third in our 2022 Election series, we thought we'd look at how nonprofits can further democracy through candidate debates. Since the pandemic, we've seen organizations get seriously creative in using technology to engage and keep us safe and socially distanced. If you're a long-time listener, you might recall that we also hosted an episode on Candidate Debates in 2020, back when we launched during the shutdown.   Link:  Attorneys for this episode  Leslie Barnes, Tim Mooney, Quyen Tu  Shownotes  Public charities can convene candidate debates and forums  The safe harbor for (c)(3)s hosting candidate debates  Narrowing invitees based on nonpartisan criteria  Publicize widely and invite public  Neutral moderator  Questions: broad and wide-ranging topics  Equal treatment of each candidate  No pledges  Best practices   Hosting a debate watch party and commenting on debates  Fact checking is ok, supporting/opposing candidates is not  Forums  Facts & Circumstances analysis  Federal university rule  Candidate meet and greets  Resources  Hosting Candidate Debates: Public Charities Can Educate the Community Through Candidate Debates   Commenting on Candidates and Campaigns: How 501(c)(3)s Can Respond During an Election Year   Responding During Election Season and Debates   Sample 501(c)(3) Organizational Policy for Election Season   Rev. Rul. 2007-41 

On this episode, we continue our ongoing series on advocacy in action turning to efforts to increase diversity in the federal courts and beyond. With the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings beginning this week on the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to become the next Justice of the Supreme Court, we spoke with two experienced and accomplished attorneys who speak to the importance of the nomination and what that means for Black women, the judiciary, and efforts like Alliance for Justice's Building the Bench program.  Attorneys for this episode  Kimberly Humphrey  Natalie Ossenfort  Tim Mooney  Shownotes  Introducing Kimberly Humphrey  Why this topic is important and timely and a brief intro to our Building the bench efforts  Introducing our guests  Thoughts on lack of representation in the legal profession  The landscape  The courts specifically  Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination  AFJ/Building the Bench  Other efforts  Concluding thoughts  Links to full interviews  Kisha Brown  Jocelyn Cuttino   Resources  Jocelyn Cuttino on LinkedIn  Kisha Brown on Justis Connection  AFJ's Building the Bench  Ketanji Brown Jackson nomination resources 

On this episode, we once again turn to your questions on nonprofit advocacy with another edition of Ask Us Anything. We'll cover topics like litigation, lobbying grants, state PACs connected to (c)(3)s and more!  Attorneys for this Podcast  Natalie Ossenfort  Leslie Barnes  Tim Mooney    Questions  You often mention litigation as something nonprofits can do. What are some examples?  Someone sent us an email asking us for our last two 990s. Can we just direct them to the IRS site? The one we just filed isn't up there yet – is it ok for us to tell the person they'll have to wait til it processes?  Can we make a lobbying grant from a c3 to a c4 before we file before we file our 2021 Form 990 this May and have it count as a 2021 expenditure?  We spoke with lawyers who were concerned about us forming a state PAC connected to our c3. The PAC will exclusively work on an upcoming statewide ballot question. They think we need to form a c4 or the c3 could risk its tax status. Is that right?  We want to purchase cable tv ads telling people to contact both our Senators to support President Biden's nominee for the Supreme Court. The thing is, our primaries are really early, and one Senator has a challenger. We'd like to do this out of our c3 but aren't sure if that's ok...  Our executive director is running for school board. Can our c3 staff volunteer for the campaign? What are best practices for staff running for office?  Resources  Maximize Your Advocacy  Give Me Your 990!  8 Tips for Nonprofits with Employees Running for Public Office 

On this special episode... we revisit how nonprofits can make their voice heard when there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court or any appointed judicial seat.     Our attorneys for this episode    Tim Mooney  Natalie Ossenfort  Quyen Tu    Opening Thoughts    After the announcement that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will retire pending confirmation of his successor, groups are gearing up to influence President Biden's nomination and the Senate confirmation vote. But before we talk about our advocacy and the rules of the game for advocacy in this area, we wanted to share the statement of AFJ President Rakim Brooks on Justice Breyer:    Justice Breyer has always been one of the most active members of the bench — drawing as many laughs as any justice in recent history. His jurisprudence, however, has had the quiet dignity of a justice who understood that the proper role of the Court is to defer to the people and their elected representatives to decide our democracy's most important questions. Time and time again, he has stood up against the wealthy and powerful to protect the fundamental rights and legal protections of millions of Americans.      Read more from the AFJ statement    Shownotes   Work supporting or opposing a judicial nomination like SCOTUS counts as lobbying.   When does the meter start running for 501(c)(3) public charities?   Types of lobbying  Do nonprofits have to worry about the rules around elections?  AFJ and AFJ Action's advocacy    Resources  Our new home for all of our resources on advocacy for judicial nominations   President Biden's Potential Supreme Court Shortlist (AFJ)  Election Checklist for 501(c)(3) Public Charities: Ensuring Election Year Advocacy Efforts Remain Nonpartisan   Accountability Advocacy for 501(c)(3)s   Bolder Advocacy's TA hotline: 866-NP-LOBBY  Email us at advocacy@afj.org   Our website is bolderadvocacy.org     

Dr Tim Mooney, George Town GP

On this episode we'll share some tips for 501(c)(4) organizations, those nonprofits the IRS calls Advocacy or Social Welfare Organizations. Whether your public charity has an affiliated 501(c)(4) or you work for a stand-alone 501(c)(4), these nonprofits must provide the IRS and the public with their financial and programmatic information annually. And we're going to talk about how c4s can comply with the IRS requirements, some of the new developments that allow for protection of donor disclosure, and some of the information we, the public, can glean from these reports.    Attorneys for this episode:  Quyen Tu, Tim Mooney, and Leslie Barnes  Key Takeaways:  501(c)(4) with annual gross revenue over $50,000 must file an information return with the IRS – either a Form 990 or Form 990 EZ.  Starting with FY 2020 annual returns, 501(c)(4) organizations are no longer required to disclose their donors to the IRS or public.  501(c)(4) organizations must still provide copies of certain financial documents to the public upon request.    Don't forget other reporting requirements-state and federal lobbying and campaign finance requirements   These rules apply to 501(c)(5) and 501(c)(6)s as well  Resources:    Give Me Your 990  501(c)(4) Reporting: Where Are Donors Disclosed  IRS website: Public Disclosure and Availability FAQs   IRS Instructions for Schedule C, Form 990  Technical Assistance Hotline number 1-866-675-6229 (866-NP-LOBBY) or email us advocacy@afj.org or fill out our request form here. 

On this episode, we begin looking forward to 2022 and what is sure to be an exciting year to come. Whether your nonprofit is gearing up for midterm elections, legislative advocacy, or administrative activism, there are several steps you can take to prepare your team NOW. That is why we present you with our TOP 10 nonprofit New Year's Resolutions.    Our Attorneys for This Episode:  Natalie Ossenfort  Tim Mooney  Leslie Barnes    Show Notes:  Schedule your election season advocacy training now. While midterm elections happen later in the year, candidates are launching their campaigns, and primary election season is gearing up. Make sure your staff is ready by training them on how your nonprofit can engage with candidates and voters while remaining in compliance with state and federal law.  Make sure you have an election season policy, and have your staff and Board members review and sign it. Many nonprofits are perfectly situated to get out the vote and pursue important policy agendas, but these activities can trigger conversations that implicate nonprofit election season advocacy rules. By having a policy (and sticking to it), you create a layer of protection for your organization as it confidently moves into 2022.  Build in accountability advocacy for your (c)(3) or (c)(4) for year-round effectiveness. Nonprofits can hold their elected officials accountable for how they serve their constituents. There are a variety of activities in which nonprofits may engage to remind legislators and elected officials that their issues matter, educate constituents about officials' positions and actions, and demonstrate to officials that their votes will not go unnoticed.  Have a 501(c)(3) and a 501(c)(4)? Get set up to grant unused lobbying capacity from the (c)(3) to the (c)(4) at the end of the year with our brand-new guide – Maximizing Your Advocacy! Why? Lobbying can count as one of a (c)(4)'s primary purpose activities, helping it to maintain the required balance between nonpartisan and partisan (secondary activity) work.  Prepare to educate candidates and political parties on your issues. An election year is a perfect time to capitalize on any heightened interest people have in the issues important to your communities. While 501(c)(3)s cannot provide singular research, strategy, or support to one candidate or political party, they can use this opportunity to educate candidates in a nonpartisan manner and even influence candidate and political party platforms.   Resolve to support democracy in 2022. The IRS permits 501(c)(3) nonprofits to engage in charitable activities, including nonpartisan activities that support democracy, expand the electorate, & encourage civic engagement provided the activities further the organization's mission. Determine if your state's election laws have changed for registering or voting, and build voter education and outreach into your advocacy work.  Make plans to brush up on your knowledge of state lobbyist registration and campaign finance reporting requirements. Depending on what level of government you are working to impact, you may trigger reporting requirements at the local, state or federal levels. These laws could require you to track both your administrative and legislative activities and any expenditures you make on ballot measure campaigns (in addition to independent expenditures if you happen to be a (c)(4) working to influence candidate elections). Luckily, we have a wealth of state law resources on our website including a NEW practical guidance lobbying series.  Take stock of your capacity to engage in advocacy, and embrace your strengths (and weaknesses) as an organization to maximize your impact at the legislature and beyond. Where should you start? Our Advocacy Capacity Tool is a good place to begin. By evaluating your goals, plans, strategies, partnerships/networks, operations, and more, your nonprofit can put itself in the best position for advocacy success.  Get social! (on social media that is). Social media offers nonprofits an opportunity to amplify their advocacy to reach communities far and wide. Whether your organization is building its presence on IG, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, or elsewhere, make use of online advocacy as a tool to expand your supporter base and activate public policy campaigns. Just remember that tax code nonprofit advocacy rules will still apply, and check out our guide to Public Policy in the Digital Age to remain in compliance.  Take time for yourself. Just because you work for a nonprofit or serve on a nonprofit Board, that doesn't mean that you can't step away from time to time to re-center and engage in the activities that bring you happiness and joy. Just like the last couple of years, 2022 is almost certain to bring with it its own unique set of challenges. Stay focused, stay diligent, but also keep motivated by taking time for YOU.                      Resources:  Accountability Advocacy for 501(c)(3)s  Accountability Advocacy for 501(c)(4)s  Is It (c)(3) Compliant? – Decision tree for election-year activity  Advocacy Capacity Tool  Maximizing Your Advocacy: 8 Steps for Granting Unused Lobbying Capacity from a 501(c)(3) to an Affiliated 501(c)(4)  Maximizing Your Advocacy Supporting Documents   Public Policy in the Digital Age: The Law of Online Lobbying & Election-related Activities  Sample 501(c)(3) Organizational Policy for Election Season 

Armando, Aaron, and Joan are joined by Tim Mooney of Pedalshift for a new round of Bike Draft, a sportsball-inspired draft game where we each attempt to assemble a bicycle for touring. Who wins the game? That's up to you to decide! Let us know via the episode post or stories (while it lasts) on … Continue reading E589 – Bike Draft 2021 →

On this episode, we walk through the ins and outs on why you'd want to form a 501(c)(4) to get things done as a nonprofit advocate. Because (c)(4)s are effectively the multi-tool of nonprofits, they can do a lot more than you might even think. But is it the right choice for your needs? This is part one of a two-part series.   Lawyers for this episode  Tim Mooney  Ronnie Pawelko  Leslie Barnes    Shownotes  What is a 501(c)(4)?  How to figure out if a nonprofit is a (c)(4)   Why would you want a (c)(4)?  Benefits of a (c)(4)  Downsides/Costs of a (c)(4)  Should We Form One?       Resources  Why create a 501(c)(4)?  501(c)(4) Strategy and Discussion Guide  Considering Starting a 501(c)4? Case Studies  Primer on Social Welfare Organizations: Using 501(c)(4) Organizations for Good  Power of Collaboration  Starting a 501(c)(4) organization   How to operate a 501(c)(4)  The Connection  Comparison of 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) permissible activities  Accountability Advocacy: How 501(c)(4)s Can Hold Elected Officials Accountable for Their Actions  Why (c)(3)s and (c)(4)s need to work collaboratively  Sample Timesheets  Sample Cost Allocation Agreement  Life Cycle of a Social Welfare Organization | Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov) 

You're listening to the Westerly Sun's podcast, where we talk about news, the best local events, new job postings, obituaries, and more. First, a bit of Rhode Island trivia. Today's trivia is brought to you by Perennial. Perennial's new plant-based drink “Daily Gut & Brain” is a blend of easily digestible nutrients crafted for gut and brain health. A convenient mini-meal, Daily Gut & Brain” is available now at the CVS Pharmacy in Wakefield. Now for some trivia. Did you know that Rhode Island native, Marvin “Bad News” Barnes, was an all-american basketball player and played professionally in both the ABA and NBA? In 1973, Barnes was the first player to score ten times on ten field goal attempts which wouldn't be beaten until 1986. He was rookie of the year in the ABA playing for the Spirits of St. Louis. Barnes was known for his colorful personality. Barnes once refused to board a plan from Louisville Kentucky to St. Louis because the short flight was scheduled to arrive before its departure time as it switched time zones. He famously said “I ain't getting in no damn time machine.” and rented a car instead. Now, we turn our feature story…. A new question-and-answer document is available for those hoping to learn about plans to remove the Potter Hill Mill dam that spans the Pawcatuck River and once provided power for the now-defunct textile facility. The 21-page informational piece was developed by the project team and provided to the town councils in Westerly and Hopkinton and is also posted on Westerly's municipal website. The document attempts to answer questions about the project that have been submitted to the project team through Westerly's website. Tim Mooney, spokesman for the Nature Conservancy said: "At the public meetings, the project team encouraged folks to submit their questions to the town of Westerly's website. And we got a lot of great questions. The Q&A document gives the project team a way to answer the community's questions and provide an update on the status of the project at the same time." The private, non-profit Nature Conservancy is working on the project along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the state Department of Environmental Management, the Southern Rhode Island Conservation District and the town of Westerly. Removal of the dam has emerged as the project team's preferred option for accomplishing the project's main goals: improving fish passage in the river and reducing flood risks. Repairing the dam has been ruled out because of maintenance that would have to be performed once the repairs were made. The dam and mill property were both petitioned into receivership by the town of Westerly after property owner Edward Carapezza and his Renewable Resources Inc. failed in efforts to redevelop it. Prior owners also allowed the mill property to languish. The dam is the last barrier to fish passage on the river. Many members of the project team have worked together for years to remove other dams and obstacles in the river. Stay up to date on this developing story at westerlysun.com There are a lot of businesses in our community that are hiring right now, so we're excited to tell you about some new job listings. Today's Job posting comes from Cargill in Westerly. They're looking for shipping and receiving associates. You'll be responsible for working in a fast paced environment packing meat products. Pay is up $20.00 per hour. If you're interested and think you'd be a good fit for the role you can apply using the link in our episode description. https://www.indeed.com/jobs?l=Westerly%2C%20RI&mna=5&aceid&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpf2IBhDkARIsAGVo0D2S3gEb-328GyRpBuTTeeKPdn3-klOh0KYAsfete6MEZmI5S4qTg-4aAnQkEALw_wcB&vjk=740518464e480bd4 Today we're remembering the life of Justin Thomas Anderson, 47, of Charlestown, who peacefully assumed Executive Chef duties behind the eternal line. Born  in Hartford, he was a lifelong Whalers fan. In his youth, he demonstrated early signs of culinary acumen by referring to chicken wings as chicken-on-the-cob. Justin was forevermore drowned out by the arrival of his siblings. Raised in West Hartford, Justin was a '92 graduate of Conard High School, where with a group of masterful misfits he forged unbreakable bonds, whose antics tried the patience of parents and brake calipers. A self-taught musician, he won the talent show and was a featured member of his Dads garage band, Duke and the Esoterics. He spent his summers in Quonochontaug, RI, getting into good trouble with lasting friends, and where he would eventually call home despite detesting sand. He attended Johnson and Wales in Providence, RI as he honed his technique and creativity at various established restaurants before working up the line at W.B. Codys in Westerly. After 15 years of succulent BBQ and a cast of treasured Codys characters, including his best friend Chad, Justin enjoyed his remaining years at the Breachway Grill in Charlestown. A gifted Executive Chef, Justin was known for his tireless dedication, diligence, and intrepidness. Over the years, he refined his signature dishes of Chicken Scarpello, Fish Tacos, Sweet Chili Pasta, and Braised Short Ribs, while constantly pushing himself and the limits of expletives, on one occasion perfecting a tricky flan recipe for a Breachway Wine Night Dinner. A compassionate mentor and peer, he was quick with a knowing smirk to a harried colleague. He is predeceased by his best dog pal, Cody and is survived by countless friends far and near, extended family including loving Aunts, Uncles and cousins, his parents, three siblings, his adoring out-laws that thought of Justin as their own, nieces, nephew and Godson, and his cat, Papi. Thank you for taking a moment with us today to remember and celebrate Justin's life. That's it for today, we'll be back next time with more! Also, remember to check out our sponsor Perennial, Daily Gut & Brain, available at the CVS on Main St. in Wakefield! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode… the Supreme Court made some news as it closed out its spring term. In particular, the Court ruled in two big cases that impacted nonprofits. Now, a few months later we discuss what the holdings mean for nonprofits going forward.  Attorneys for this episode:  Jen Powis, Ronnie Pawelko, Tim Mooney  Topics:  Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta  Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee  Resources:  AFP holding (PDF)  Brnovich holding (PDF)  The Supreme Court's Latest Voting Rights Opinion Is Even Worse Than It Seems (Slate) 

On this episode, we're talking about recall elections. A recall is a procedure that allows citizens to remove and replace a public official before the official's term of office ends. Historically, recalls have been used most frequently at the local level and this year, and this year we're seeing a very prominent effort in California. Can nonprofits advocate in a recall election? Attorneys for this episode:  Quyen Tu, Natalie Ossenfort, Tim Mooney   Topics: History/Development of Recall What can nonprofits do and say in recall elections? Example: Mayoral Recall in Portland, Oregon Example: Gubernatorial Recall in California   Resources: Ballot Measures and Recalls: Basic Rules for 501(c)(3) Public Charities, 501(c)(4)s, and Unions National Conference of State Legislatures The Rules of the Game Episode 1 - “Can We Say That?” Bolder Advocacy's TA hotline: 866-NP-LOBBY Email us at advocacy@afj.org

On this episode, we chat about working in coalitions - one of the most effective ways for advocacy organizations to share and maximize resources to make real policy change. We go over five things to consider as you form your coalition to effectively work together. Attorneys for this episode:  Tim Mooney, Jen Powis, Ronnie Pawelko Topics: Structure Decision making Dealing with conflict Funding Assests, lists and websites Resources:  Rules of the Game 29: Affiliation and Coalition Basics The Connection Coalition Checklist Technical Assistance

    On this episode, we celebrate Pride month with a discussion about the fight for equality at the ballot, in legislatures and the courts. From Stonewall to Obergefell and beyond, nonprofits have stood center stage as key advocates.    The pod team for this episode  Zack Ford  Tim Mooney  Natalie Ossenfort    Milestones  1961: Illinois becomes first state to decriminalize homosexuality  1969: Raid of Stonewall Inn (NYC)  1973: Lambda Legal becomes the first legal organization created specifically to fight for gay rights, and Maryland becomes first state to legislatively ban same-sex marriage  1978: Inspired by Harvey Milk, Gilbert Baker designs the first rainbow flag as a symbol of pride  1996: Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) signed into law by President Clinton, banning federal recognition of same-sex marriage  1998: Murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming makes national news. His killers are later sentenced to life in prison  2009: President Obama signs into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act  2011: Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell  2013: U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Windsor strikes down part of DOMA, paving the way for legally-married, same-sex couples to receive federal benefits  2015: U.S. Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges holds that 14th Amendment requires states to recognize same-sex marriages  2021: President Biden issues executive order repealing former administration's ban on transgender Americans joining the military    Nonprofit advocates and their work    Recent Developments / Coming Soon...  During the 87th Legislative session, nonprofit advocates in TEXAS successfully defeated SB 29, which would have banned transgender student athletes from competing on sports teams based on their gender identity. Local nonprofits like the Texas Freedom Network and Equality Texas led the charge in advocating against the bill alongside several other incredible nonprofits. While it's possible the bill may be revived during a later legislative session, there is much to celebrate for now.  ARKANSAS recently passed a new law (one of the first of its kind in the nation) that bans gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth. The ACLU recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of four families and two doctors, who argue that the law is unconstitutional and that it should be struck down so that all children have access to medically necessary care.  Any day now, the United States SUPREME COURT is expected to release a decision in the case of Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, which will decide the constitutionality of a Philadelphia ordinance that bars discrimination based on sexual orientation. A legal challenge against the ordinance was brought by a Catholic foster agency that lost its contract with the city as a result of the nondiscrimination policy. The agency says that the policy violates its First Amendment rights to freedom of religion and speech.    Resources  LGBTQ Advocacy Toolkit  The Work for LGBTQ Equality Marches On by Leslie Barnes  Learn more about Daniel Quasar's redesigned Pride flag 

On this episode, we cover a very specific type of lobbying that doesn’t necessarily seem like lobbying in the first place. Ballot measures can range from local bonds to state constitutional amendments, and everything in between. What can nonprofits do to support or oppose them, and how do they comply with state and federal law?     Our attorneys for this episode  Tim Mooney  Natalie Ossenfort  Quyen Tu    What are Ballot Measures?  Called different things in different states and localities  Bond  Constitutional Amendments  Referenda  Ballot questions / initiatives   Propositions  Any policy matter put to a vote of the general public    There are no federal ballot measures, but federal law has one major thing to say about measures for 501(c)(3)s  State and sometimes local laws cover campaign finance and reporting requirements    Can nonprofits take a stance?  No. End of episode. (just kidding!)  Most can. All 501(c)s that aren’t charities or foundations can (generally) do an unlimited amount of ballot measure advocacy, but must follow state and local laws for reporting their work  Public charities can take a stance, but ballot measures are lobbying (which is why this episode is in the lobbying series!). From there, they also have to follow state and local laws for reporting their work  Private foundations cannot take a stance on ballot measures (again...lobbying) without being hit with a big excise tax    Wait, lobbying? Tell me more.  Boil it down? Voters are a giant legislative body  Direct lobbying, not grassroots – and that’s good because charities can do more direct lobbying  Doesn’t violate the prohibition on electioneering to support or oppose measures because they are not related to candidates  Be careful to make sure your org’s advocacy isn’t seen as/tied to a candidate’s position on the ballot measures  Clock starts ticking when petitions go out to qualify for the ballot or (probably) when you’re lobbying legislative bodies when they are determining whether to refer an item to the voters  Count all prep work, staff time, communications costs, etc.  You non-c3s? Tax law doesn’t restrict lobbying, and this counts toward primary purpose activity... so load up on your GOTV and voter reg work on ballot measures and (strategy time!) it can offset candidate work you do.    State laws...  Every state is different, starting with the fact some states don’t have ballot measures at all. Even states without statewide ballot measures like NY have local bond measures though.  Any state or locality with ballot measures has some kind of registration and reporting laws  We have state law resources for your state! Examples:  Texas  Corporations (including nonprofits) can support or oppose ballot measures in Texas.  Texas Election Code defines a political committee as two or more persons acting in concert with a principal purpose of accepting political contributions or making political expenditures. Since the definition of “persons” includes nonprofit corporations and expenditures and contributions include those made in connection with a measure, it is possible for nonprofits to trigger PAC registration and reporting in Texas even if they don’t do any candidate-related work.  TRANSLATION: if a group of nonprofits comes together to raise funds for the support or opposition of a measure, they may need to register and report as a PAC.  It is also possible that if a nonprofit acts on its own to impact a ballot measure, it could trigger direct campaign expenditure (aka independent expenditure) reporting even if it doesn’t coordinate its work with other organizations or individuals. DCE reporting, as it’s sometimes referred to, kicks in when more than $100 is spent to support or oppose a measure.  Of course, there are other scenarios as well that might not require state-level reporting in the ballot measure context in Texas (e.g. nonprofit contributions to a ballot measure only PAC), so feel free to reach out to our TX team if you have any questions about when and what you have to report when you engage in ballot measure advocacy.  Oregon  Trivia: Oregon is one of the first states to adopt ballot measures... started them in 1902 (just behind SD and UT)  Five forms: state statutes (legislature or citizen referred), constitutional amendments (legislature or citizen referred), and veto referenda.  If your nonprofit’s purpose is to support/oppose a ballot measures you have to register as a political committee  No contribution limits (those are unconstitutional per SCOTUS)   Real time online reporting (ORESTAR!!!!)  3 reporting periods  Contributions over $100 - the name/address of the donor disclosed  California  These rules are about transparency and tracking money in CA elections.  Most important: if you engage in certain fundraising activities or spending, you could become a ballot measure committee and not even know it. That means your nonprofit would have filing and reporting obligations.  There just isn’t enough time to do justice to the CA BM rules on this show so if you’re interested in a whole show, please shoot us an email  Ballot measures are treated as campaign activity  Rules are designed so that when people or organizations accept or spend money for ballot measures, it gets reported by someone.  When there is advocacy for a ballot measure, there will be a main ballot measure committee. Must report contributions of $100+, whether financial or in-kind, and expenditures. This usually works best as a separate entity from a 501(c)(3).  Even if you are not the main ballot measure committee, there are ways NPs could trigger reporting with the FPPC  receiving or spending money on ballot measure advocacy  receive $2k+ in calendar year earmarked for ballot measures, you become a recipient committee. Recipient committees have to report their donors.  Another way to become a recipient committee is to spend at least $50k in non-earmarked donated funds. At these higher levels of spending it gets more detailed so please check out our resources.   Major Donor Committee: give $10k+ in calendar year to a recipient committee (staff time counts) but does not receive $ earmarked for ballot measures  Independent Expenditure Committee: spends $1k+ in a calendar year on communications that expressly advocates for/against ballot measures and not made in coordination with a ballot measure committee  Non reportable activities:  10% or less of staff time  Paid staff time counts as an expenditure, or if it’s coordinated with a ballot measure committee, a contribution. If you have staff spending more than 10% of their time in any calendar month on ballot measures, you need to consider that expenditure towards these thresholds.  Newsletter  Member communications  Contracted services to the ballot measure committee  Certain limited fundraising expenses  Raising money for the ballot measure committee where the contributions go directly to the ballot measure committee (funds do not pass through the org)   You can ask people to donate to the main ballot measure committee and only your fundraising costs would count as a contribution toward these thresholds, some fundraising costs are even exempt from reporting.  Final thoughts?  Often critically important advocacy  Private foundations! You can and should support this work, even though you cannot directly advocate or fund it. How?  general support grants  specific project grants for non-lobbying portions of the work  educate the public about the ballot measure process  communications that qualify as nonpartisan analysis  communications that are neutral urging voters to study the issue    Resources  Bolder Advocacy ballot measure toolkit  Seize the Initiative  Foundations and Ballot Measures  California Campaign Finance and Ballot Measure Guide  Ballot Measure Activities Exempt from California Disclosure Laws  Initiating Policy Change: Circulating Ballot Initiatives in California  Texas Campaign Finance and Ballot Measure Guide   

On this episode, we have issued ourselves a challenge... to make a relatively dry topic interesting for our listeners... What is that topic, you ask? The Federal Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA)! We’ll talk about what it is, why you may NOT need to worry about it (unless you do), strategies for compliance, and how it all fits into earlier episodes in our lobbying series, at least for you 501(c)(3)s.      Our Lawyers  Tim Mooney  Natalie Ossenfort  Leslie Barnes     Quick Preamble   Lobbyists are not all mustache twirling villains you read about!   They're civil rights groups trying to fight back against attempts to restrict voting for partisan gain  They're environmental groups trying to improve water quality  They're women's and LGTQ health groups fighting for access to healthcare  So remember that anytime there are proposed changes in the laws for lobbying disclosure - the selling point is often the mustache twirling oil corporations and financial institutions... but these laws impact progressive champions too.     Overview of the FLDA  The FLDA requires individuals and organizations that lobby various federal officials, to register and report their lobbying activities once they meet designated thresholds.   Important thing 1: this is a totally different law than the tax code  Important thing 2: most nonprofits don't trigger the thresholds  Important thing 3: this generally only covers direct lobbying of federal officials, so no state lobbying and no grassroots lobbying of any kind goes into the analysis. If you don't directly lobby members of the federal government, keep listening and enjoy our witty banter, but don't worry about having to register and report under this law.     Registration thresholds  An employee will make more than one lobbying contact on behalf of the organization;  An employee will spend more than 20% of their time on lobbying over any calendar three-month period; and  The organization will spend more than $14,000 on lobbying in a calendar quarter.  All three of these criteria must be met before the organization is required to register. For example, if an organization has an employee who makes multiple lobbying contacts and spends more than 20% of her time on lobbying between January and March, but the organization only spends $10,000 over that same period, the organization will not need to register.     Lobbying contacts - what counts toward that 20% and $14k?  Drafting/amending/writing/introducing any federal law (email, calls, meeting, tweets, etc)  Preparation for direct lobbying contacts such as strategizing on legislation that you are engaging on or monitoring legislation that you are activley engaging on.   But just routine monitoring of legislation w/o a plan to engage does not count toward to 20%  Nominations before the US Senate  Same thing for federal regulations (but let's put a pin in that for you 501(c)(3)s!)   Administration of federal programs (awards, contracts, grants, loans, permits, etc.) (same pin for (c)(3)s!)    What counts as a lobbying expenditure?  In-house employee compensation spent on direct lobbying of federal covered officials  Portion of organization overhead attributed to federal lobbying  Payments to outside lobbying firms for federal lobbying   Part of membership dues that goes to federal lobbying    What doesn't count for anyone?  Grassroots lobbying* (pin in this)  Testimony before Congress that is in the public record  Comments on regulations that's part of ordinary notice and comment procedures       What about that pin for (c)(3)s?  You'll notice for you 501(h) electors that the definitions of lobbying don't really match... under the FLDA there's registration and reporting requirements for advocacy before executive branch and military officials that don't count under the IRS rules.  Special rule! If you're a 501(h) elector you can use the 501(h) rules you know and love... that means you don't have to count military or executive branch contacts unless they'd otherwise count under 501(h). And that's a pretty high bar... remember it counts only if the executive branch official is "participating in the formulation" of a bill. So no regs count and really only super-high ranking officials are part of the discussion... POTUS when signing/vetoing, cabinet level officials who are writing bills that impact their portfolio. That's about it.  If you opt to use the (h) election for the FDLA, then you also have to report your state and local lobbying and grassroots lobbying.     I'm a 501(c)(4)... can we use that exception too?   NO. You have to use the broader definitions under the FLDA! This means counting your lobbying contacts with executive, administrative and military branch officials.     Lobbying Activities - are we hitting that 20%/14k threshold?  The $14,000 threshold is organization-wide  The 20% threshold is for each individual. But only direct lobbying counts toward the 20%  What counts? Lobbying plus prep time/work for lobbying  That's a pretty high bar... 1 in 5 working hours in a calendar quarter have to be lobbying in order to need to register/report  once you register, you report every quarter until you no longer work at the organization (delisting is a bit of a thing)  Strategy: if it's an unusual time for federal lobbying outreach and you don't foresee hitting the thresholds in the future, consider spreading the load out amongst staff. If this is a one-time effort, you won't have to file quarterly with zeros in the fields until the end of time!     How do we register and report?  All electronic! LD-1 to register within 45 days of first hitting the thresholds  LD-2 and LD-203 for quarterly and semi-annual reports.   The quarterly reports are all about those lobbying contact details  Semi-annual reports - registered lobbyists are required to disclose a lot about which candidates they individually donate to.   We won’t go too much into this – the House and Senate LDA sites have reasonably decent instructions.   Trivia: you report your lobbying to the nearest $10k – so it’s not a super precise report!     Anything else we need to know?  The threshold dollar amount is increased every 4 years... we just had the latest increase in January so don't look for a new one until 2025.  Some portions of HR1/S1 include lowering the thresholds but it's not clear if this will pass as is. Stay tuned.     Resources  https://lobbyingdisclosure.house.gov  https://bolderadvocacy.org/2021/04/16/federal-lobbying-disclosure-act-registration-threshold-increased/  https://bolderadvocacy.org/resource/understanding-the-lobbying-disclosure-act-2/  https://bolderadvocacy.org/resource/lobbying-disclosure-act-thresholds/ 

Lobbying Series Part 5 – Recordkeeping  On this episode, our fifth in our on-going lobbying series, we’ll focus on how 501(c)(3) public charities can keep good records of their lobbying and why it is important.  Attorney Co-hosts  Quyen Tu  Tim Mooney  Natalie Ossenfort  Quick reminders: Check out the prior four episodes in our lobbying series on basics, definitions, and exceptions.  Recordkeeping! The IRS must have a thousand rules!  Would it surprise you that the answer is not really?  IRS has a “reasonableness” standard  If you are audited you are expected to be able to show your math on what you reported on your Form 990.   Why keep good records of your lobbying?  Charities must report their lobbying to the IRS every year. Exceeding lobbying limits leads to excise taxes and (eventually) jeopardizes tax-exempt status. Recordkeeping lets electing charities do more lobbying without fear. Recordkeeping helps a charity raise funds more effectively. Good recordkeeping is protection against false accusations. Recordkeeping is a good management tool.             What do you track?  Direct Costs  Travel  Printing costs  Anything with a receipt that is all or mostly for lobbying  Primary purpose is lobbying? Count it all. Less than half? Split proportionately.      Staff Time  Best option: Timesheets  Occasional lobbying: Lobbying “incident” report  One-shot lobbying: Memo to file      Overhead costs  Easiest with time sheets  Add up total hours worked and total hours spent on direct lobbying  Apply the percentage to all overhead (rent, utilities, internet access, support staff, etc.)  Repeat for grassroots lobbying      Junk drawer of final thoughts  Do not adopt a system just because it is used by another organization – use the one that is most reasonable for your organization.  Remember there are state and local reporting requirements too – make sure those are integrated into your system.  Timesheets have much more utility beyond tracking lobbying – consider that when making your decision on a system.    Resources Keeping Track: A Guide to Recordkeeping for Advocacy Charities  Being a Player: A Guide to the IRS Lobbying Regulations for Advocacy Charities  Sample Timesheets  Simpler Timesheet  Simplest Timesheet  Complex Timesheet  Simple Timesheet for Affiliated Organizations  Complex Timesheet for Affiliated Organizations  Timesheet with Lobbying Disclosure Tracking   

In this week’s edition of Tranquility du Jour, my partner Tim and I discuss navigating the pandemic, dealing with grief, celebrating 17 years, and his love of Star Wars. Direct download: Tranquility du Jour #526: 17 Years Together. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app such as Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon, or Overcast. Visit kimberlywilson.com/podcast for more episodes and the Tranquility du Jour Podcast App: iPhone and Android. New to Tranquility du Jour? Learn more here. Tim Mooney's a lawyer specializing in nonprofit advocacy and election law and his bicycle travel podcast is The Pedalshift Project. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram too. More on the Star Wars figures Tim talks about from the 1977 "empty box" release. Events TDJ Live Replay New Year's Virtual Retreat Replay Spring TDJ Live Spring Virtual Retreat Mentioned in the Show Washington Post: The Pandemic is Showing Us Which Friendships Are Worth Keeping Let's Connect Join our TDJ Insider's Facebook group. Share resources, get inspiration, make connections, be part of the online book club. Sign up for a 30-day trial of Audible and get your first book FREE. Receive weekly inbox love through Love Notes: invites, inspiration, and more. Browse my 6 Books and planner. Follow along on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Shop seasonless, vegan, locally-made, eco-friendly fashion: TDJ by Kimberly. Share a review on Apple Podcasts, Amazon, or Goodreads and you may hear it shared on the show. Deets on kimberlywilson.com/review. Techy To listen, click on the player at the top of the post or click here to listen to older episodes. New to podcasting? Get more info at Podcast 411. Do you have iTunes? Click here and subscribe to the podcast to get the latest episode as released.

  On this episode, we look at how nonprofits can continue to advocate for a fair and safe election during election days. We intentionally say “days” because many states are offering vote-by-mail (“VBM”, also known as “absentee voting”) or offer early in-person voting well before Nov 3rd, 2020. States took these measures to mitigate some of the challenges presented by the COVID pandemic that we talked about in Part 1 of this series.     Our attorneys for this episode   Leslie Barnes  Tim Mooney  Quyen Tu    Shownotes  Because voting doesn’t just happen one day this year, here are things that 501(c)(3)s, as trusted messengers, can do during the voting days to support a free and fair election.    Encourage people who are not at high-risk to COVID-19 to step up and work as poll worker and early voting officials More Than a Vote - https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=322130045738998  Educate your community and constituents about their different voting options. It is important to note that these rules will vary by states and sometimes even by counties!  Preparing for in-person voting  Vote-by-mail rules and deadlines  Provisional ballots and what that means    Facilitate voting by offering rides to polls, childcare services, translation services, pay off fines.  Promote election protection: be a poll monitor or staff voter protection hotline.  Have a game plan to address voter intimidation.  Help people understand that we likely won’t have definitive elections results the night of Nov. 3rd, especially in close races.  Litigation  Mobilize public support for safe and fair election (including protests) when anything happens that will prevent voting or the administration of voting.   A special note for private foundations:  It’s not too late, you can fund all nonpartisan efforts except for voter registration drives. This is the rainy day that you’ve been saving for!   A special note for 501(c)(4)s:  501(c)(4)s can do everything we’ve covered in this episode and you could do one of these activities in a partisan manner as long as it is your secondary activity.     Resources   Appendix B of Rules of the Game: Permissible Nonpartisan 501(c)(3) and Partisan Campaign Contact on Voter Engagement and Protection Efforts  Election Protection by c3s  Texas Civil Rights Project stopped voter “purges” that would have affected many naturalized citizens. https://www.bolderadvocacy.org/story/legal-advocacy-in-action-texas-civil-rights-project/  Bolder Advocacy’s TA hotline: 866-NP-LOBBY  Email us at advocacy@afj.org  Our website is bolderadvocacy.org       Non-Bolder Advocacy Resources:  Voter Registration Deadlines by State (Vote.org)  State Compendium of Election Worker Laws and Statutes (U.S. Election Assistance Commission)  Do you want to be a poll worker? Learn more here: https://www.powerthepolls.org/  Check out how a 501(c)(4) is feeding people waiting in line to vote! https://polls.pizza/  Election Protection: https://866ourvote.org/  Paying off fines: https://wegotthevote.org/finesandfees/ and article on Mike Bloomberg paying off fines for former felons in Florida so they can vote  Art pieces around voting: https://www.planyourvote.org/artist-works   

On this episode, we discuss the unprecedented election-year challenges we face and the ways all nonprofits can help ensure a safe election. As trusted messengers, nonprofits can explain voting options and deadlines; encourage absentee voting and a new generation of poll workers; conduct election protection programs; support and join litigation and even facilitate voting and promote increased voter turnout.  This is the first of a three-part series. Part 2 on Election Day(s) Advocacy. Part 3 on Post-Election Advocacy.  Our attorneys for this episode     Leslie Barnes   Tim Mooney   Quyen Tu     Shownotes  Election-year challenges  Dangers for in-person voting  Massive poll worker shortage  Monumental increase in voting by mail  Predictions for contested elections/delayed results  Defunding the United States Postal Service  Interference in the election by foreign and domestic actors  Reminder - 501(c)(3) organizations must remain nonpartisan   When We All Vote Video – Voter Registration Drives  https://youtu.be/XNt-9v3HY30s  Created by a c3, When We all Vote  Shared by a c3, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund  Nonpartisan – no support or opposition for any candidate for elected office  Explains how schools can create and promote a voter registration drive   Explains how volunteers can share news of newly registered voters on social media  Safe for community foundations and c4s too!  Special rules exist for private foundations   Can’t buy votes. Don’t exchange anything of value for someone completing a voter registration form or voting.  Can spend money to facilitate voting – Examples   Must also follow state law regarding voter registration and drives  IRS permits targeting voter outreach for nonpartisan reasons   Fair Fight Action Video – Vote By Mail/Voter Education  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFl6AYki1B8  Encourages Georgians to vote by mail to shorten lines for those who must vote in person and reduce risk for all    Fair Fight Action is a 501(c)(4) and could engage in partisan activity as secondary activity  This video is a nonpartisan example of voter outreach/education – primary activity  Safe for c3s to share as well!    Houston Justice Coalition Post  Safe for c3s and c4s to share government messages  Nonprofits can volunteer their space for voting/polling centers  Best practices for 501(c)(3)s  Nothing can support or oppose candidates  Avoid mixing issue advocacy with voter registration/GOTV/voter education  No candidate pledges  Any interaction with candidates? Offer the same info to others running  Best practices for 501(c)(4)s  Can support or oppose candidates – track efforts – secondary activity  Be aware of state laws  Don’t coordinate efforts with federal (and usually) state candidates  Report independent efforts under campaign finance laws    Resources  Bolder Advocacy Election Activities Page  Want to Conduct or Fund a Voter Registration Drive  Election Protection Efforts Factsheet   Election Year Activities for 501(c)(4)s  How 501(c)(4)s Can Hold Elected Officials Accountable   Partisan Electoral Activity: What is it and What Can You Do?    Non Bolder Advocacy resources  Guide on how to do a school or community voter registration drive: https://www.headcount.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Booklet_Final-1.pdf  For college student looking for information on voting? Check: https://andrewgoodman.org/myvoteeverywhere/     

With national attention on the Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates, it’s a good time to cover the rules for how nonprofits can convene and comment on debates.   Our attorneys for this episode  Tim Mooney  Jen Powis  Quyen Tu    Shownotes   Public charity 501(c)(3)s can educate candidates and voters.  Many debates are run by 501(c)(3)s.  Example: Commission on Presidential Debates is a 501(c)(3) public charity  Remember 501(c)(3)s cannot support or oppose candidates.  See the Facts and Circumstances analysis from our first episode.    Nonprofits can host debates as an opportunity to educate voters  Candidate education  Host a debate with a coalition  Example from The Coalition for Environment, Equity & Resilience (CEER), a program of Healthy Gulf (c3) & BakerRipley (c3) in Houston    Invite all viable candidates (what is viable)  Prepare questions prior, and ensure an adequate moderator  No candidate pledges  Nonprofits can respond to things said in debates  Fact checking is ok, but not support/opposition to candidates  Be consistent in your language.  Example: Sierra Club, c4?    Consistency and a track record are key.  Best practices:  Think through why responding now helps its advocacy program,  Determine who is permitted to “speak on behalf of the organization,”  Focus on what is said (the issue) and not the candidates themselves, and  Ensure that the facts provided meet the above objectives.  Example: Southern Poverty Law Center (c3) responding to President Trump’s comment about the “Proud Boys”    Resources  Hosting Candidate Debates: Public Charities Can Educate the Community Through Candidate Debates  Commenting on Candidates and Campaigns: How 501(c)(3)s Can Respond During an Election Year  Responding During Election Season and Debates  Sample 501(c)(3) Organizational Policy for Election Season 

Staff, volunteers and board members of 501(c)(3)s have to make sure they avoid supporting or opposing candidates on behalf of their organization when they’re on the clock. But, those rules only apply to the organization. People that work or volunteer for a 501(c)(3) can – on their own time, and in their  individual  capacity - support or oppose candidates of their choice. But, as always, the devil’s in the details.  On this episode, Tim, Leslie and Quyen cover best practices to keep your personal partisan support separate from your 501(c)(3) work.    Our attorneys for this episode  Tim Mooney  Leslie Barnes  Quyen Tu    Shownotes  501(c)(3)s cannot support or oppose candidates for public office – see ROTG episode 01.  But those rules do not apply to individuals on their own time in their own capacity.  Important to show separation    IRS Guidance is old  Key is to ensure (c)(3) funds are not subsidizing personal partisan work   Tips for showing separation on social media   Multiple accounts I  Disclaimers    Can a (c)(3) employee go to the DNC?  Yes, in personal capacity  Employer may have policies that have added restrictions  Best practices  Acting in good faith   Don’t be cute   Do any partisan things on your own time   Be clear that it's you and not the organization – know what hat you’re wearing   Resources  Board Members and Election Year Activities   Election Activities for Individuals Associated with 501(c)(3)s   Sample 501(c)(3) Organizational Policy for Election Season   Bolder Advocacy’s TA hotline: 866-NP-LOBBY  Email us at Advocacy@afj.org   Our website is bolderadvocacy.org   

Tim Mooney, an experienced bike packer from the DC area, lives by the motto “Let’s shrink the world by bike.” On this episode of Bike Life, Tim talks about how he was initially reluctant to try Warmshowers but he says that once he did, on a tour from DC to Cincinnati in 2019, he realized that the best part about bicycle touring has very little to do with the bicycling or the touring - it's the people you meet. You can find Tim at:https://pedalshift.net/ or @pedalshift on all the social media sitesTo join our community, please visit us at https://www.warmshowers.org/ or on Instagram at warmshowers_org

Tim Mooney joins us as a perennial friend of the show and, of course, host of Pedalshift, the definitely best show on the internet about bicycle touring!  He recently completed a “wilderness style” no-contact tour of the C & O Trail near Washington, DC before the campsites were closed, and ruminates with us on the … Continue reading E513 – Tim Mooney, not touring, and SprocketShift Happy Hour #5 SCHOOL NIGHT →

At long last, we reach the 500th episode of our show, and bring it to you for your enjoyment.  For this momentous occasion, we invited long-time conspirator and friend of the show, Tim Mooney (whose voice is briefly heard on our program nearly weekly), to join.  We love the fact that we can have long … Continue reading E500 – EPISODE FIVE HUNDRED →

In this extra edition of Tranquility du Jour, Tim Mooney and I discuss our 15 years together. Hear about our anniversary surprise (omg, Gloria Steinem), why we're unmarried and childless by choice, our passion for pugs, how we manage working together and living in a tiny space, and more. New to Tranquility du Jour? Learn more here. Join me bi-weekly Love Notes and access Tranquil Treasures.  Direct download: Tranquility du Jour #440: 15 Years Together Upcoming Events Tranquility in the Topics: February 16-23, 2019 in Costa Rica {3 spots left} TDJ Live: March 24 at 8pm {Free, online} Tranquility in Tuscany: July 13-20, 2019 in Italy {8 spots left} Guests: Me + Tim Mooney Tim Mooney is a Washington, DC-based attorney and entrepreneur with a passion for technology and the law. Tim’s legal career began in Oregon where he was a co-founder and legal counsel for Columbia Riverkeeper. In 2001, Tim relocated to Washington, DC and served as senior counsel at Alliance for Justice. There, he worked with nonprofits across the United States to strengthen their ability to influence public policy. Tim’s next decade was spent as General Counsel and Director of Operations for Tranquil Space, Hip Tranquil Ventures and TranquiliT. He helped grow the yoga studio from a single location in Dupont Circle, to multiple locations and eventual sale to YogaWorks in 2017. Tim continues to serve as attorney and advisor for Hip Tranquil Venture and TranquiliT, and he also runs online media and designs e-courses for the businesses’ owner, creative entrepreneur Kimberly Wilson. Tim also serves as a board member of Tranquil Space Foundation, a public charity that champions caregivers and advocates that support animal welfare. He provides legal advice and design work for the Pigs & Pugs Project of the Foundation. Tim maintains a solo law practice focusing on a small number of nonprofit clients. He is also the founder of Nineball Media, an independent podcast and social media production outfit based in Washington, DC. Most recently, Tim has discovered the joys of bike touring and has launched an online community and podcast devoted to bike touring lifestyle, Pedalshift. He was also one half of the 2013 book tour -slash- 11,000 mile North American RV adventure that was Tranquility Tour. Tim received a B.S. from Syracuse University/SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry and a J.D. from Pace University School of Law. He splits time between the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC and his cabin retreat in Berkeley County, West Virginia with his multi-talented girlfriend Kimberly Wilson and their pugs, Mookie, Belle Starr, and Gizmo, and their cat Jackson. Savvy Sources Website: Tim-Mooney.com Instagram: instagram.com/timm00ney/ Mentioned in the Podcast Year of Tranquility is now available and comes with four bonuses! Share your Year of Tranquility photos using #yearoftranquility Tranquility du Jour app Social Media Eye candy on Instagram Pin along with me on Pinterest Let’s connect on Facebook Follow moi on Twitter Watch via YouTube More Tranquility Shop seasonless, vegan, locally-made, eco-friendly fashion: TranquiliT Browse my 6 Books Tranquility-filled E-courses Download the Tranquility du Jour Podcast App: iPhone and Android Read about my passion for animals Favor Pen a review on iTunes and/or share this podcast via social media. Pen a review of my books on Amazon or Goodreads. Techy To listen, click on the player at the top of the post or click here to listen to older episodes. New to podcasting? Get more info at Podcast 411. Do you have iTunes? Click here and subscribe to the podcast to get the latest episode as released. Get the Tranquility du Jour apps to download the podcast "automagically" on iOS or Android

A new year and a new beginners series! On the 150th edition of the Pedalshift Project, we kick off the Bicycle Touring Beginners Series by meeting this year's cyclist and road map some of the topics we'll cover as we check in over the next several months. Plus, updates on meetups and the Pedalshift Project is number one... where? Housekeeping XFL Tour: I'll be rolling my own route across central Florida from Tampa on the gulf coast to Cocoa Beach on the east. Preview episode drops in two weeks! Podcast sponsor slots are available starting in the new year... check out pedalshift.net/sponsor for more info. Meetups & Live Shows Miles of Portraits touring the US - join us at the DC REI on 1/24, 6:30-8:30pm, followed immediately by a meetup at Wunder Garten. XFL Orlando meetup Saturday 2/9, time TBA - pedalshift.net/orlando. Pedalshift LIVE Friday February 22 at 9pm ET! It will be the wrap up show for the XFL tour... takeways and a whole lot more. We'll do another AMA session too, so send me your bike touring or non-bike touring questions to pedalshift@pedalshift.net or come and ask in the chat box the night of.   Five Stars I've just not realized that my five-star review reads have been limited to US Apple Podcasts because that's what I can see... until now! Canada, Australia and the UK, I can see you! Newest five star shouts: Dale Maclaren A fantastic podcast that motivates me to get in the saddle and turn the crank FAB_5000 via Apple Podcasts ·Canada ·01/02/2019   From someone with no business considering touring An enjoyable and informative blog. I’m not fit for any bike tour that extends past my local ice cream shop, but this is inspiring me to go farther. fatguygetsskinny via Apple Podcasts ·United States of America ·01/02/2019   International five stars that deserve belated shouts: Great new podcast I really like this new touring podcast. It seems to tick all the boxes: some cool interviews, information about gear and life in the road. Can't wait to see how it progresses. Andyfromorange via Apple Podcasts ·Australia ·11/02/2014   Such a great podcast! I really am enjoying these podcasts. So much information and very well executed. JasonBikeboy via Apple Podcasts ·Canada ·06/14/2018   Top Touring Talk The Pedalshift Project is a refreshing change from a lot of the bicycle touring podcast's i've listened to, and Tim Mooney obviously puts a lot of thought and effort into creating a show that is both informative and entertaining, his enthusiasm for bicycle touring is infectious and will make you want to load up your bike and head off on tour ... very inspirational Devon Wilfy via Apple Podcasts ·Great Britain ·01/23/2016 Pedalshift: Huge in Slovenia Also, I'm learning the Pedalshift Project may not be the most highly ranked outdoors podcast in the States (we're in the rearview of a lot of hunting and fishing pods!) BUT just this month the show hit #1 in Slovenia and #2 in Jamaica! If you are from one of those countries and found this show, man I want to hear about bike touring there! ;) Bicycle Touring Beginners Series Meet Steve Martin, the beginning bicycle tourist for our 2019 bicycle touring beginners series!   In Steve's own words... IN SEPTEMBER 2017 I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH YOUNG ONSET PARKINSON'S DISEASE AT AGE 41. It changed my life. I don’t know why I have Parkinson’s. It’s a total mystery. I have no family history of it, I’ve not been exposed to the chemicals known to cause it, and have no other risk factors. No clue. But I’m not going to let this be a meaningless disease. I’m going to use this to make a difference. Learn more about Steve. Steve, your backstory is an important element to this 2019 tour and it starts with your plans for a cross-Colorado bike tour in 2017. What were your plans and what intervened? What have been some of the challenges you're overcoming with Parkinson's and the treatments you're...

this episode is a rebroadcast of our friend Tim Mooney's first appearance on the show in 2013! Hope you enjoy – next week we will bring you another seasonal classic. Aaron & Guthrie return to the studio in the new year. Tim Mooney is working on a concept we like: how can you have a “grown-up … Continue reading E445 – REBROADCAST E140 Tim Mooney: Pedalshift →

It's the Tim Mooney Show! Tim drops into the trailer on an especially rainy night.  While the compressor plays games with the rain noises, you can listen to the guys talk about comedy, aging, aging comedy, and the comedy of aging!  Tim went to Seattle, they talk about a bunch of movies and television, the … Continue reading E444 The Tim Mooney Show! →

Tim Mooney, host of bicycle touring podcast The Pedalshift Project returns to the studio for the tenth time to talk about a variety of topics, including Paris & France, flying with your bike, e-scooters, getting your bike fixed, and his latest Oregon coast bicycle tour!  We keep having him back because he's so much fun!  This … Continue reading E426 – Tim Mooney X →

Howdy Joyriders! WELCOME TO SEASON THREE! I'm joined on episode 31 by reformed backpacker-turned-bikecamper Dana Kroeck of the blog Blisters and Bugbites! We chat about her love of rail trails, a magical car-free island in..Michigan, and the most unlikely group ride you can possibly imagine. But first.. UPDATES:  Bikequity: Money, Class, and Bicycling I'm honored to have been included with some excellent voices in Elly Blue's 14th installment of her feminist bicycling zine Taking The Lane called Bikequity: Money, Class, and Bicycling: Bicycling has the radical potential of equalizing our transportation system, creating more equitable opportunities from the personal to the societal, and being a vehicle for protest and social justice. But that isn't how it always works. The contributors to this volume of Taking the Lane zine tackle of the potentials and realities and unintended consequences of trying to create a better world using human-powered transportation. Edited by Elly Blue and featuring work by Tamika Butler, Adonia Lugo, Do Jun Lee, Gretchin Lair, V.K. Henry, Lauren Hage, Tammy Melody Gomez, Phill Melton, Cat Caperello, Joe Biel, Julie Brooks, Kassandra Karaitis, Katura Reynolds, Rebecca Fish Ewan, Rhienna Renée Guedry, and Adrian Lipscombe. Order it direct from Microcosm Publishing! (If you insist on ordering through Amazon, click here.) The Pedalshift Project: Episode 100! Big thanks to Tim Mooney from the Pedalshift Project for the invitation to join him and the guys from the Sprocket Podcast for a live recording at Stream PDX for the 100th episode of the Pedalshift Project! I was starting to get suuuper sick (hence the jar of orange/ginger/turmeric elixir) but still had a great time chatting with the Tim, Aaron, Guthrie, and Brock (not pictured, on account of him being the photographer) about type 2 fun, bike-it list items, and the future of bike touring. Check it out and let me know what you think!   Inspired to Ride Inspired to Ride follows the inaugural TransAm bike race from Oregon to Virginia which took place in 2015. It is an ultra-endurance self-supported race across the entire country. It's mind-blowing what these athletes do to themselves. Y'all. In digging up the trailer for this I discovered that Mike Hall was killed in 2017. He's prominently featured in the film and trailer below. He strikes me as a guy who did exactly what he wanted. May we all have the power to harness our own capabilities. Also the gal who I referenced as a BADASS WOMAN ON A BIKE in the pod is named Juliana Buhring, the Guinness World Record for being the fastest woman to circumnavigate the world on a bicycle and she wrote about Mike in this article for Outside. Here's the trailer. Ride in Peace, Mike.   Joyriders, Meet Dana Kroeck Friends, t Topics & Links Berks County, Pennsylvania http://bikebuckscounty.com/ Lancaster County, Pennsylvania https://lancasterpa.com/bicycling/ Rail Trails! A rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway track into a multi-use path, often including cycling and sometimes horse riding. Rail trails are typically flat and long, frequently running through historical areas, parks, or string together several of each kind. The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is a 501(c)3 non-profit here in the States that is dedicated to working with communities to preserve unused railways and convert them into to rail trails and trail networks. Good stuff! Here's a great resource they made for finding a railtrail or multi-use trail near you.  PA Rail Trails https://www.traillink.com/trailsearch/?state=PA York County Heritage Rail Trail https://www.traillink.com/trail/heritage-rail-trail-county-park/ Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Towpath https://www.nps.gov/choh/index.htm Pedalshift Project's C&O Canal guide Molly Futterman's Joyride Episode JR003: http://thejoyridepodcast.com/2016/03/23/joyride003/ MapMyRide http://www.mapmyride.com/app/ Strava http://www.strava.com Here's a feminist POV on Strava's privacy settings. Megan Hottman's Joyride Episode JR019: http://thejoyridepodcast.com/2017/01/20/joyride019/ Presta bike valve adapter http://amzn.to/2ABmrlw Free Classes at REI https://www.rei.com/learn.html   Dana's Mom's “Famous” Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup oats 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup butter, room temperature 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup granulated sugar 3/4 cup canned pumpkin 1 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 large egg 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels PREHEAT oven to 350° F. COMBINE flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl with electric mixer on medium until well blended. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined. Stir in flour mixture. Batter will be soft. Fold in morsels. Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets about 2 inches apart. BAKE for 15-20 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Store what you don't NOM NOM NOM in an airtight container. Jim Thorpe Jim Thorpe was the first Native American to win a Gold medal for his country. In Pennsylvania, there is a town named for him with controversy surrounding the circumstance. http://visitpa.com/pa/jim-thorpe/outdoor-recreation/biking Lehigh Gorge Rail Trail http://poconobiking.com/the-trail/ Mackinak Island Check out Dana's great blog post https://blistersandbugbites.com/2017/12/06/mackinac-island/ KymNonStop https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM6cd0hPii_FJOzZaxqGj7w Bill Nye http://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/why-i-bike Ed Pratt http://www.worldunicycletour.com/ Great Allegheny Passage (GAP Trail) https://gaptrail.org/ Ohio's Tour de Donut!! https://runsignup.com/Race/OH/TROY/TourDeDonut Bike MS: City to Shore Ride 80 miles from Cherry Hill to Ocean City, New Jersey http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/PAEBikeEvents?pg=entry&fr_id=29704 Big thanks to Dana for hanging out and sending her mom's cookie recipe over!! Also, here's a pic of her dog Jojo. I can't wait to take Ziggy bike camping this summer. Make sure you check out her blog and follow her up on all the socials! Here are links to her Instagram and Twitter. Let her know you enjoyed the show! Friends, you know I believe in the transformative power of the bike, in our personal lives, our communities, and the world at large. I would be super grateful if you'd leave a rating or review in iTunes, Stitcher, or via whatever method you listen. It helps more gals find the show, and I believe the more stories we share, the more women who ride, we make this world - both our internal and external worlds - better with every revolution. Also, I read 5-star reviews out on the show because I love you. Ratings and reviews help with that, but nothing is better than a personal referral, it'd be rad if you would share the show with even just one woman who you think might dig it. Never forget, "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." Keep moving forward and until next time I hope you enjoy the ride. Forever Forward, ~C  

Tim Mooney runs the bicycle touring themed website & podcast The Pedalshift Project.  His theme for this playlist was "The Dream of the 90s is Alive In Portland," based on live shows he attended while living in Portland, Oregon - launch it at tiny.cc/pc00four (right click to open in new tab) and press play when we cue you on the podcast. Sync playlist start to podcast timepoint 03:45 playlist preview: This week's commentary brought to you by the upcoming album from Lumberjack, Portland Oregon's original vagabond americana trio - stay tuned for its release!

Tim Mooney of The Pedalshift Project returns to help us light up another episode of the however-many-timers' club, chat a bit about his upcoming coastal bike tour, and provoke us to maximum jackassery.  And apparently he was a child actor?!?!   Also: It's Brock's last show, and he passes a literal four foot torch to … Continue reading E379 – Mooney, & A Four Foot Torch →

I had a great conversation with Tim Mooney on the Pedalshift Project podcast. I shared my thoughts and experiences traveling as a vegan (and why I'm vegan), bike touring on a Brompton folding bike, incorporating public transportation into a bike tour, and much more. Check it out at pedalshift.net/077 or listen below.If you haven't heard the recordings from my fall 2016 tour of Maine and Vermont, find those here. Listening to last week's episode of Pedalshift reminded me I hadn't shared my own winter bike overnight audio journal. It was perhaps more successful than Tim's ride on the C&O Trail, albeit shorter, a few degrees warmer and solo (sans dog). It's easy to travel light when you're only going one night, and your end-of-tour meal is at an all-you-can-eat vegan buffet. Have you done any bike touring? Share your experiences below, via Twitter or using the contact form and I'll share it on an upcoming episode.

I made an appearance on this week's episode of Pedalshift with Tim Mooney, which reminded me I hadn't shared this episode from my winter bike overnight in February on my Brompton folding bike. It was perhaps more successful than Tim's most recent ride on the C&O Trail, albeit shorter, a few degrees warmer and solo (sans dog). Notice how there was no snow in Denver but about four feet at my apartment just 75 miles west (and 4,000 feet higher) in Breckenridge. Breakfast in Morrison, CO Red Rocks Park Waiting for the Bus in Frisco, CO Snacking in Red Rocks Park Bear Creek Trail Red Rocks Amphitheater Roundabout on the bike path Home in Breckenridge (photo from same week)

One Month Post-Detox with Tim Mooney. We talk about our recent 10-day detox (confessed through my Detox Diaries), how we're doing one month later, and what changes we've incorporated from the experience. Tune in for tips on going through a detox, our love/hate relationship with sugar, and an intro to intermittent fasting. Direct download: Tranquility du Jour #391: One Month Post-Detox   Upcoming Events Virtual Retreat: March 11 Tranquility du Jour Live: March 30 Yoga + Art in West Virginia: May 19-21 Writing in the Woods in West Virginia: October 20-22 Featured guest: Tim Mooney serves as General Counsel and Director of Operations for Tranquil Space, Hip Tranquil Ventures and TranquiliT. He also serves as a board member of Tranquil Space Foundation. Tim maintains a solo law practice focusing on a small number of nonprofit clients. He is also the founder of Nineball Media, an independent podcast and social media production outfit based in Washington, DC. Most recently, Tim has discovered the joys of bike touring and has launched an online community devoted to bike touring lifestyle at Pedalshift. He was also one half of the 2013 book tour / 11,000-mile North American RV adventure that was Tranquility Tour. Tim received a B.S. from Syracuse University/SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry and a J.D. from Pace University School of Law. He splits time between the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC and his cabin retreat in Berkeley County, West Virginia with his girlfriend Kimberly Wilson and their pugs, Mookie and Belle Starr. Tranquility du Jour Savvy Sources 30-Days of Plant-Based Whole Foods 3-Day Detox 21-Day Cleanse (Oprah) Instagram: Tim Tim-Mooney.com Mentioned in the Podcast Documentary: Eat, Fast, and Live Longer Social Media Eye candy on Instagram Pin along with me on Pinterest Let’s connect on Facebook Follow moi on Twitter Watch via YouTube Tranquility Tips + Tools Browse my 5 Books New to Tranquility du Jour? Peruse the FAQs Tranquility-filled E-courses Download the Tranquility du Jour Podcast App: iPhone and Android Shop slow locally-made, eco-friendly fashion: TranquiliT Sign up for bi-monthly Love Notes and access Tranquil Treasures Read about my passion for animals Request Pen a review on iTunes and/or share this podcast via social media, s‘il vous plaît Ask questions, share what you do while listening, or how this podcast has helped you. I love hearing from you! Techy To listen, click on the player at the top of the post or click here to listen to older episodes. New to podcasting? Get more info at Podcast 411. Do you have iTunes? Click here and subscribe to the podcast to get the latest episode as released. Get the Tranquility du Jour apps to download the podcast "automagically" on iOS or Android.

Celebrating 11 Years of Tranquility du Jour with Tim Mooney. We talk anniversaries, the evolution of this podcast, tools for podcasting, and updates on our rescues.   Upcoming Events Writing in the Woods: October 28-30 {sold out} Hip Tranquil Chick 10-Year Online Celebration: December 4 New Year's Eve Mini Retreat: December 31 Yoga, Creativity + Mindfulness in Costa Rica: February 18-25   Tranquility du Jour Guest Moi and Tim: Tim Mooney serves as General Counsel and Director of Operations for Tranquil Space, Hip Tranquil Ventures and TranquiliT. He also serves as a board member of Tranquil Space Foundation. Tim maintains a solo law practice focusing on a small number of nonprofit clients. He is also the founder of Nineball Media, an independent podcast and social media production outfit based in Washington, DC. Most recently, Tim has discovered the joys of bike touring and has launched an online community devoted to bike touring lifestyle at Pedalshift. He was also one half of the 2013 book tour / 11,000-mile North American RV adventure that was Tranquility Tour. Tim received a B.S. from Syracuse University/SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry and a J.D. from Pace University School of Law. He splits time between the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC and his cabin retreat in Berkeley County, West Virginia with his girlfriend Kimberly Wilson and their pugs, Mookie and Belle Starr. Savvy Sources Instagram: Belle Starr, Mookie, Tim Tim-Mooney.com Daybook 5.0 pre-sale Download Fall Tranquility du Jour Live TranquiliT’s fall look book Sign up for Love Notes and access Tranquil Treasures Weekly Doga videos featuring Mookie and Belle Starr Eye candy on Instagram Pin along with me on Pinterest Let’s connect on Facebook Follow moi on Twitter My 5 Books New to Tranquility du Jour? Peruse my FAQs Tranquility Tools E-courses Shop slow fashion: locally-sewn, eco-friendly TranquiliT clothing line Tranquility du Jour Podcast App: iPhone and Android Read about my passion for animals Pen a review on iTunes or your other social media outlets, s‘il vous plaît More Tranquility Tranquility University E-courses. Shop my locally-sewn, eco-friendly TranquiliT clothing line. Read along on Goodreads. Tranquility du Jour Podcast App: iPhone and Android. Read about my passion for animals. Pen a review on iTunes or your other social media outlets, s'il vous plaît. Techy To listen, click on the player at the top of the post or click here to listen to older episodes. New to podcasting? Get more info at Podcast 411. Do you have iTunes? Click here and subscribe to the podcast to get the latest episode as released. Get the Tranquility du Jour apps to get the podcast "automagically" on iOS or Android.

Meet.. me, Cat! Howdy Joyriders! This week on the show you'll meet me, in conversation with Tim Mooney from the Pedalshift Project! I definitely recommend you pop over to his place and check things out. Especially Episode 13 featuring Annie Londonderry. In this episode we're going to talk about courage, riding solo, my touring origin story, and more. Here are some of the topics discussed in this show: Bad Ass Women on Bikes: Evie Stevens is retiring! Annemiek van Vleuten is back in the saddle. What I'm Loving this Week: View from the Handlebars: Riding home from work on a summer night BIKE SNACKS: Justins nut butter packets. Friggin yum. Tag me in a selfie while you're listening to the show! Or email me with your bike snack recommendations! Let's get to know.. me! Losing Weight, Finding Fitness Midway to Cape May: Part 1, Part 2 Again, follow me via The Joyride on Instagram - and why not follow Joyride on Facebook  while you're at it?! Wanna chat with me about bikes on the show? Have a recommendation for a guest? I'd love to hear from you! Click here!   Forever Forward >> xo ~C What do you think about the show? Any questions, comments, or guest recommendations? I'd love to hear from you! Email me at thejoyridepodcast[at]gmail.com!  

Celebrating Mookie + Belle Starr with Tim Mooney. We talk Mookie's first year, the adoption of another pug, veterinary social work, and life at the moment. Direct download: Tranquility du Jour #375: Celebrating Mookie + Belle Starr Share with me where you're listening from and what you're doing while listening. Laundry, commuting, gardening, running? Thank you for being part of Tranquility du Jour! I don't remember how I first discovered your podcast, but I'm sooooooo very glad I did.  What I do remember is you were and continue to be my walking companion.  At that time I was trying to get back to a daily habit of walking for exercise and you and your guests helped me get there. I loved it!  It was so motivating for me.  I believe when I started listening you had been recording for at least a year if not more, so it was really fun to start at episode 1 and then proceed from there.  I couldn't wait to walk the next day so I could listen to the next episode and it's still that way to this day.  Now my favorite thing to do is ride my bike while listening.  The longer the episode, the longer the bike ride. So relaxing. Of course, I have to stop and take notes quite often, ha!! I absolutely love your podcast.  It is by far my favorite.  Thank you so very much for what you do.  Through you and your guests I have learned and grown so much in my life in the most positive way.  - Cindy, Texas You are my ear buddy on runs. It makes it go by so fast. You were my first (and best) podcast. Loved how authentic you were on the Lisa Sonora Beam podcast sharing your own struggles. Just adore you! - Lara, Washington Upcoming Events Fall TDJ Live: September 22 Writing in the Woods: October 28-30 {6 spots left} Hip Tranquil Chick 10-Year Online Celebration: November TBA New Year's Eve Mini Retreat: December 31 Yoga, Creativity + Mindfulness in Costa Rica: February 18-25   Tranquility du Jour Guest Moi and Tim: Tim Mooney serves as General Counsel and Director of Operations for Tranquil Space, Hip Tranquil Ventures and TranquiliT. He also serves as a board member of Tranquil Space Foundation. Tim maintains a solo law practice focusing on a small number of nonprofit clients. He is also the founder of Nineball Media, an independent podcast and social media production outfit based in Washington, DC. Tim has taught the laws of lobbying and campaign finance throughout the country. Tim also went to the microphone to share helpful hints on the popular Nonprofit Law Podcast, which was a fixture in the top 20 of iTunes’ nonprofit podcast directory. Most recently, Tim has discovered the joys of bike touring and has launched an online community devoted to bike touring lifestyle at Pedalshift. He was also one half of the 2013 book tour -slash- 11,000 mile North American RV adventure that was Tranquility Tour. Tim received a B.S. from Syracuse University/SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry and a J.D. from Pace University School of Law. He splits time between the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC and his cabin retreat in Berkeley County, West Virginia with his multi-talented girlfriend Kimberly Wilson and their pugs, Mookie and Belle Starr. Savvy Sources Instagram: Belle Starr, Mookie, Tim Weekly Doga videos with us on WooFDriver's Facebook page I was interviewed on Squam's Morning On the Dock Podcast Summer's TDJ Live Webinar Replay My eye candy on Instagram Pin along with me on Pinterest Let's connect on Facebook Follow moi on Twitter My 5 Books Sign up for Love Notes and access Tranquil Treasures New to Tranquility du Jour? Peruse my FAQs More Tranquility Tranquility University E-courses. Shop my locally-sewn, eco-friendly TranquiliT clothing line. Read along on Goodreads. Tranquility du Jour Podcast App: iPhone and Android. Read about my passion for animals. Pen a review on iTunes or your other social media outlets, s'il vous plaît. Techy To listen, click on the player at the top of the post or click here to listen to older episodes. New to podcasting? Get more info at Podcast 411. Do you have iTunes? Click here and subscribe to the podcast to get the latest episode as released. Get the Tranquility du Jour apps to get the podcast "automagically" on iOS or Android.

Bonjour. Welcome to the 345th edition of Tranquility du Jour: Meet Mookie with Tim Mooney. Follow along on our recent transition from losing Louis to welcoming our new pug Mookie into the family. Direct download: Tranquility du Jour #345: Meet Mookie   Featured Guests: Moi + Tim Mooney + Mookie   Him: Tim Mooney is a Washington, DC-based attorney and entrepreneur with a passion for technology and the law. Tim’s legal career began in Oregon where he was a co-founder and legal counsel for Columbia Riverkeeper. In 2001, Tim relocated to Washington, DC and served as senior counsel at Alliance for Justice.  Tim currently serves as General Counsel and Director of Operations for Tranquil Space, Hip Tranquil Ventures and TranquiliT. Tim is also the founder of Nineball Media, an independent podcast, website, e-course and social media production project. Most recently, Tim has discovered the joys of bicycle touring and launched Pedalshift, a podcast devoted to bike touring lifestyle. Tim received a B.S. from Syracuse University/SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry and a J.D. from Pace University School of Law. He splits time between the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC and his cabin retreat in Berkeley County, West Virginia with his multi-talented girlfriend Kimberly Wilson and their pug, Mookie. Her:   I'm a writer, creative entrepreneur, and therapist who founded Tranquil Space—named among the top 25 yoga studios in the world, penned four books, and designs  the TranquiliT lifestyle line using organic bamboo fabric.   You'll typically find me sipping fragrant tea, practicing yoga on a leopard-print mat, or leading retreats around the world.   I live in the petite Pink Palace in Washington, D.C. with two rescue kitties, a rescue pug, and a beau. I dream of Paris and global animal welfare.   Indulge in "tranquilosophy" via my blog and podcast, Tranquility du Jour.   Mookie:   A black pugish, aged 3ish, from Oklahoma. Likes to jump, steal cat food, and burrow under covers.   Savvy Sources: Pug Rescues: Homeward Bound Pug Rescue, Mid-Atlantic Pug Rescue, Houston Pug Rescue Adopt: Overstock, Petfinder Why Adopt?: Best Friends Society, HSUS, Global Animal Join my complimentary 52 Weeks of Tranquility Program Seasonal online book club: I Know How She Does It by Laura Vanderkam Tranquilosophy Seasonal Podcast: Monday, September 21 at 3pm ET Podcast app: Tranquility du Jour iPhone and Android Leaving Oklahoma en route to DC after adoption in July Stay Connected: New? Peruse my FAQs. Join moi for a retreat, workshop, e-course, or seasonal podcast. Read along on Goodreads. Connect on Facebook. Follow on Twitter. Pin along on Pinterest. Eye candy on Instagram @tranquilitydujour. Browse my books. Receive weekly Tranquility du Jour Love Notes. Read about my passion for pigs. Pen a review on iTunes. Techy: To listen, click on the player at the top of the post or click here to listen to older episodes. New to podcasting? Get more info at Podcast 411. Do you have iTunes? Click here and subscribe to the podcast to get the latest episode as released. Get the Tranquility du Jour apps to get the podcast automagically on iOS or Android.

Rev. Tim Mooney, Sermon: Humble Like a Child - Really?

131-Dos & Don'ts at Art Openings with Annette Coleman  & Co-Host: Suzanne Frazier  Call in with your suggestions on how to enjoy an art opening either as the artist or as a patron. What works for you as you prepare for your opening? Featured artists: Claudia Roulier, claudiaroulier.com Meg Ingraham, megingraham.com Ryan Rice, RyanRiceFineArt.com Tracy Weil, TracyWeil.com, Mary Barron, adagioartglass.com, Lola Montejo, LolaMontejo.com, Annette Coleman, annettecolemanartist.com, Daniel Gonzalas, danielsartwork.com, Keith Howard, Spark Gallery, Meg Ingram, megingrahamart.com, Tim Mooney, timmooneystudio.com Sponsored by: 88 88ArtLook, 8888ArtLook.com LisaBellMusic.com  All the best for your art career, Annette Coleman, Artist and founder 88 88 ArtLook 303.941.8887 8888ArtLook annette@8888ArtLook.com

How to prepare for your art opening?   Practical advice from fellow artists help you have a successful stress free art opening or reception. Nap the day of, press release early, social media constantly and being present at the event are some of the tips shared tonight. Join the conversation. Artists pre-interviewed:  Meg Ingraham, MegIngrahamArt.com Lola Montejo, lolamontejo.com Tracy Weil, WeilWorks.com Tim Mooney, timmooneystudio.com Keith Howard, SparkGallery.com Amy Odorizzi, linkedin.com/in/aodorizzi  Mary Barron, www.adagioartglass.com Claudia Roulier, claudiaroulier.com Daniel Gonzalas, ArtworkNetwork.com Ryan Rice, ryanricefineart.com Carol Garnand, CarolSilks.com Annette Coleman, AnnetteColemanArtist.com,  88 88 ArtLook.com,  Jim Caldwell, Artwork Network.com,

the bicentennial, featuring an interview of host Kimberly Wilson by producer/beau Tim Mooney

Artists discuss what has been working for getting the word out to old and new patrons. Traditional media has cut back their art coverage so where have you turned? Email invitations, social networking sites, posters, word of mouth or mailings. Artist interviews featured: Tim Mooney, timmooneystudio.com, Daniel gonzalez, danielartwork.com, Jean Smith, jbsmith.com, Keith Howard, sparkgallery.com, Leah Bradley, leahbradley.com, Mary Barron, adagioartglass.com, Sue Crosby Doyle, artworknetwork.com, Jim Caldwell, artworknetwork.com, Annette Coleman, annettecolemanartist.com Other artists and artist resources mentioned: www.corenewartspace.com, Alyson B. Stanfield, artbizcoach.com, Katie Hoffman, katiehoffman.com, Aletta de Wal, artistcareertraining.com, Joe Higgins, squishtoid.blogspot.com