Advocacy in Action

This article is part of an occasional series encouraging nonprofits to use the powers that they already have to advance their missions

Next time you wonder if time spent filling out another survey is worth it, consider the impact your information can have in informing and influencing people. Completing a survey means that your story gets told, sheds light on challenges, helps develop solutions, and can even determine whether legislation or regulations get drafted in ways that are most beneficial to your mission.

The founding organizations of the Team Up Project have joined together in recognition of the need to foster service and human connection, particularly when faced with rising polarization, causing deepening divides between individuals and communities.

Nonprofits have to create their own opportunities through effective advocacy. Accessing the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds and earmarks are examples of how advocacy can prompt government support.

Late last year, the Census Bureau proposed changes to its American Community Survey’s questions on disabilities. The backlash was swift and profound.

Congress may be on the verge of enacting a package of tax breaks that would help low-income families and many businesses, but currently fails to include restoration of the non-itemizer (universal) charitable deduction, a major priority of the nonprofit sector.

Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that legislative victories, while important, are only the beginning of the process to make real progress. Advocates must turn quickly to implementation, education, and evaluation to ensure the law lives up to and/or exceeds expectations.

Here at the beginning of the New Year, we remind ourselves and share with you why we write this publication and reiterate the principles on which it stands.

Thousands of webpages are devoted to explaining every nuance of lobbying limitations and advocacy activities. This simple post by the Florida Nonprofit Alliance cuts through all of that clutter to make the basic point that yes you can advocate on behalf of your mission.

New York nonprofits are taking to social media with a two-pronged plan to get the facts and finances used to justify the draconian cuts and raise awareness about who they are and what they do.