MPs are set to debate new rules on lobbying amid a warning from charity leaders they could be "damaging".
Ministers have held talks with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), which believes the proposals will prevent charities speaking out in policy debates.
The talks failed to alleviate their concerns, NCVO director of public policy Karl Wilding said.
But the government said it was not "setting out to constrain" charities.
The Transparency of Lobbying, non-Party Campaigning, and Trade Union Administration Bill would introduce a statutory register of lobbyists and set a £390,000 cap on the amount any organisation - excluding political parties - could spend across the UK during elections.
It also aims to alter the legal requirements on trade unions' obligations to keep their list of members up to date.
'Should be limits'The House of Commons will debate the legislation on Tuesday at second reading, when MPs consider its general principles.
Oxfam, the Royal British Legion, and the Salvation Army are among organisations voicing fears that the government's proposed bill is so complex and unclear that it is likely to be "impossible" to follow.
"We are clear that this bill is damaging," Mr Wilding said, following the talks with Commons Leader Andrew Lansley and constitutional reform minister Chloe Smith.
"It would be fair to say that the leader of the House and the minister continue to have a different interpretation," he added.
"I am not still entirely clear what they are trying to achieve," Mr Wilding added.
But Mr Lansley told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We are not setting out to constrain any charity or organisation who wants to campaign on policy issues."
He added that if an organisation wanted to "spend a significant amount of money trying to influence an election directly... pertaining to an individual candidate or party, then that should be registered and there should be limits on that, just as political parties have limits on their expenditure".
'Dog's breakfast'The statutory register would cover only lobbyists working as consultants for companies or organisations, rather than their in-house staff.
Alexandra Runswick, director of the campaign group Unlock Democracy, said this would exclude 80% of lobbyists from the list.
But Mr Lansley said: "It's complementary to the work being done in the industry, establishing a voluntary code."
He added: "We are not attempting in this proposal to regulate the lobbying industry as a whole. We are not proposing to create a bureaucratic monster."
For Labour, shadow Commons leader Angela Eagle said: "David Cameron promised to fix our broken politics, but this bill makes things worse and not better."
It would "gag" charities and campaigners, she predicted, urging ministers to "go back to the drawing board".
But a spokesman for the prime minister said: "My understanding is that, provided the charities are not promoting the electoral success or otherwise enhancing the standing of a particular party or political candidate, they will not be affected by this legislation."
Political and Constitutional Reform Committee chairman Graham Allen, who has previously described the bill as a "dog's breakfast", is urging MPs to reject the bill at this stage and instead create a special committee to develop "improved legislation".
The majority of the bill would apply to the whole of the UK, although the provisions on trade unions' membership lists would not affect Northern Ireland.
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