Congress has very little time to enact much-needed COVID relief before millions suffer immediate harm. Nonprofits have even less time to convince Senators and Representatives that enacting nonprofit policy priorities is in the best interest of the American People. That’s why nonprofit advocates have innovated once again and embraced social media to present real-time advocacy.
The current campaigned has been nicknamed #Relief4Charities Super Selfie Campaign because it utilizes two approaches – combining the advocacy hashtag nonprofits have been using since March with short videos (“super selfies”) in which individuals make personal appeals to their elected federal officials.
The campaign kicked off on Friday, December 11 with a message on Twitter by Danielle Clore of the Kentucky Nonprofit Network speaking directly to Senate Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY). She identifies heroic actions and struggles of nonprofits throughout the pandemic and briefly lists the nonprofit policy priorities: “We need a new round of PPP loans for charitable nonprofits of all sizes. We need relief from huge unemployment bills. We need the above-the-line deduction to be expanded and extended into 2021.” Clore then concludes, “For our Commonwealth’s nonprofits to be able to keep serving our communities at this time of unprecedented need, we need a COVID relief package that includes the #Relief4Charities priorities. Today.”
Jennifer Hutchins of the Maine Association of Nonprofits quickly got into the action, posting a video thanking Senator Collins (R-ME) for leading the bipartisan group of Senators to draft meaningful legislation. She emphasizes, “That relief cannot come fast enough. Nonprofits on the frontlines are facing higher demand for our services, higher costs for serving our fellow Mainers, and much lower revenues to pay for the vital services we provide.”
Check out these masterpieces from the state associations of nonprofits in Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington.
All nonprofits can post their “super selfie” on Twitter with a simple message like this one – tagging your Senators and Representatives:
#Nonprofits urgently need relief to continue serving our communities at a time of unprecedented need. Break the logjam and pass COVID relief, including #Relief4Charities, today! https://bit.ly/3erPrjv