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NPAction Update: Vol 1, Issue 1
Welcome to the debut issue of NPAction Update. This bimonthly newsletter highlights new content and useful features available on NPAction, answers questions about nonprofit advocacy, and also features information on noteworthy resources from across the nonprofit sector.
In this issue:
What's New
This section will feature anything new and exciting in the world of nonprofits and advocacy, or even an interesting tidbit that doesn't have to do with anything.
For this inaugural issue, what's new is the whole site, so check it out at . Make sure you register by clicking "Login" on the front page, then "Register New User." Registration not only allows you to receive the NPAction Update, but also to participate in all of the forums, vote in polls, and be a full member of the NPAction community.
Featured Articles
"So You Want to Make a Difference" by Nancy Amidei is a great introduction to advocacy for nonprofits. It covers everything from getting started to the nuts and bolts of interacting with all branches of government, with specific tips for different types of advocacy. Read the artcle here.
Another interesting article, "Internet-Based and 'Internet Only' Coalition Building" compares the benefits and pitfalls to organizing diverse interest in the online and offline worlds. This article can be found here.
Featured Forum
Have a question or opinion regarding nonprofit advocacy? Share your thoughts in the NPAction Forums. Anonymous posting is allowed, but we encourage everyone to register, so that people know who's who.
There is an interesting discussion on the roles of nonprofits in elections. This is of particular importance for 501(c)(3) organizations, which are prohibited from any activity that explicitly calls for the election or defeat of any candidate. Check out expert opinions, and then weigh in with your own thoughts here.
Another discussion of note involves the difference between advocacy and activism. Are they truly different, or merely the same activity under different names? Check out the discussion here.
Featured Resource Links
The NPAction Resource Links Directory is a human-edited compendium of tools and references, contributed by nonprofits for nonprofits. Our set of 2000+ (and growing) links includes nearly everything a nonprofit advocate might need to find, from African-focused grantmakers to congressional schedules to "Z" best places to find progressive media resources. Available here.
Charity Lobbying in the Public Interest, an NPAction partner site, answers the question, "Why Lobby" for nonprofits considering their first lobbying activities:
The Center for Community Change also features "Advocacy 101," a good, quick introduction to nonprofit advocacy.
More "Capacity Building" resources available at NPAction's resource links.
A resource called "Online Compendium of Federal and State Regulations for US Nonprofit Organizations" pretty much speaks for itself. It's a great resource for everything from the law on nonprofit political activities to special nonprofit postal rates.
More "Reference" links here.
"Hey, You Asked"
This forum features questions about advocacy posed by nonprofits, and answered by nonprofit advocacy experts. Our latest question comes from someone at a nonprofit service provider who asks: "Why should I be an advocate too?"
The short answer is that becoming an advocate allows you to more fully address the needs of the people you serve. Government can have an impact on your organization and the people you serve in many ways, so it pays to become involved with policymakers. Service providers know a great deal about the day-to-day lives of the people they care for, and can be very powerful when representing their interests before government.
Advocacy work does not need to take up a great amount of your organization's already busy schedule. Often, a few letters or phone calls can make a difference.
To check out the full answer, you have to go to the NPAction Forums (you didn't think we'd give it all away in the email, did you?).
To ask a question for the experts behind "Hey, You Asked" click here.
"Steal This Code": Put NPAction on Your Site
NPAction invites organizations to share our tools on their websites. Choose a logo that best meets your needs, whether you want to link to our site, incorporate our search engine with results from a range of nonprofit sources, add the ability to connect to federal lawmakers and national media, or state-level policymakers and media. Just copy the HTML code from our site, and you're ready to go (but when you steal the code, just let us know!): Click Here
That's it for this edition of the NPAction Update. More to follow in two weeks!
NPAction Update is a service for NPAction subscribers. If you received this message from another party, and wish to subscribe, go to www.npaction.org and hit "Login" then "register new user." Registration not only allows you to receive the NPAction Update, but also to participate in all of the forums, vote in polls, and be a full member of the NPAction community.
NPAction, an online resource hosted by OMB Watch, provides access to tools and information for nonprofit advocacy from a wide range of organizational partners and sources in order to encourage greater participation by nonprofits in the policy arena. Funding for this project was provided by Atlantic Philanthropies, the Ford Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Surdna Foundation.
For more information, contact:
NPAction
1742 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.,
Washington DC 20009
(202) 234-8494
E-mail:
Web: www.npaction.org
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