If you are getting too close to your limit, you can alter things you send out so they don't constitute lobbying. Plus, if you don't elect, the IRS says you are subject to the lobbying definitions applicable to business lobbying, which are broader. The new rules offer nearly all organizations a higher lobbying limit. The new rules also count fewer activities as lobbying expenditures. Most important, they do not count the activities of volunteers as lobbying.
Organizations are less likely to lose their tax-exempt status under the new rules .
You could lose it by doing too much lobbying in just one year. You lose your tax exemption only if you exceed the limits by more than 50 percent over a 4-year period. Your expenditures are averaged over these four years, which means you won't be killed if your organization has to lobby like crazy one year. Two reasons many organizations have chosen not to elect are myths, say the authors. The first is that electing organizations are more likely to be audited.