A 501c3 is able to take stands on political issues; not more than 25% of their budget can go towards lobbying. It is common for non-profits to take money from all sorts of sources. There are several non-profits who have contracts with the High-Speed Rail Authority for example, such as the Transit and Land Use Coalition for outreach. Some, such as the 'grassroots' Coalition Against Bigger Trucks, is largely funded by the railroads. Non-profit does not always mean legitimate grass-roots, even when the URL is "org"! And some (by no means all) non-profit execs make a pretty decent salary; some have made whole careers in the non-profit world. There's nothing wrong with the Bike Coalition having a contract like this -- more power to them. It's very unlikely anyone in a Bike group is making a killing off a $20,000 contract, and who better than avid bicyclists to assist with the specs for a bike path or outreach to bike riders . . . compare this to the kind of money an agency would spend on your average transportation consultant or marketing firm and you can only call this sum 'peanuts'.