The Value of Showing Up and Being Heard
This powerful story of nonprofit advocacy in action comes from our colleagues at Washington Nonprofits who highlight a local advocacy campaign that is in progress. As background, the City of Vancouver, Washington is considering a proposal to restructure its existing business license fee, and, as a revenue-raising exercise, impose the fee on charitable nonprofits for the first time. Specifically, the “revenue replacement plan,” as originally proposed, would repeal the existing exemption for charitable nonprofits except for houses of worship and organizations with fewer than 20 employees.
We’ll leave the action part of the story to David Streeter, Director of Public Policy and Advocacy for Washington Nonprofits:
"Our September Advocacy Success Story highlights the important local advocacy work currently being led by the Nonprofit Network of Southwest Washington. Jeanne Kojis, who leads the Nonprofit Network and serves on our Public Policy Committee, successfully rallied nonprofits from the city of Vancouver to advocate in-person and through other means against a proposed expansion of Vancouver’s business license fee.
"Several nonprofits delivered powerful testimony during the city council hearing on the proposed expansion, while others wrote letters and leveraged their existing relationships with council members to share their views. In addition, an unprecedented number of nonprofit organizations responded to the city’s online survey regarding the license fee.
"The debate over the licensing fee is still ongoing, but the scope of the proposed policy has changed thanks to Jeanne’s efforts and the nonprofits that weighed in in-person, online, and through other means. You can read more about this unfolding advocacy campaign in The Columbian’s story, and watch a recording of the City Council proceedings, which features great testimony from local nonprofits. We will continue to provide updates as this unfolds."
David Streeter’s takeaway from this campaign is straightforward and on point: “[L]ocal advocacy matters just as much as federal and state advocacy. Make sure that your nonprofit is building relationships with local officials, so that when situations like this arise, you have a direct route for weighing in.”
We agree.
