NPAction Update
Vol 4, Issue 5
March 10, 2006

Welcome to the NPAction Update. In This Issue:

Featured Article: Empowering Communities to Implement Real Change: DC Language Access Coalition
Related Article: Building Coalitions: Broadening Your Base

*Featured Article*
Empowering Communities to Implement Real Change: DC Language Access Coalition
Nonprofits that are primarily dedicated to service delivery but also engage in advocacy often face the challenge of organizing populations unaccustomed to participation in the political process. Mobilization of these highly underrepresented groups into effective agents for policy change can be aided through collaboration with like-minded organizations. The DC Language Access Coalition - whose member organizations serve mainly low-income immigrants with little-to-no English skills - convinced the District of Columbia (DC) government to pass the Language Access Act, which requires all DC government agencies to develop and provide language services for DC's non-English speaking populations. The Coalition successfully wrote itself into the law to monitor implementation, ensuring that their legislative victory translates into real changes in people's lives. Click here to read more.

*Additional Article*
Building Coalitions: Broadening Your Base
A coalition is an organization of organizations. Coalitions are not just lists of individuals; they represent the combined influence and support of multiple organizations each of which may have dozens or hundreds of members. The most obvious reason for building a coalition is to increase your numbers. But there is a subtler reason as well. Life often feels hectic, disjointed, or too busy. Modern communities are full of families with busy lives and no close relatives living near by. That proves especially hard when tragedy or trouble strikes. It also takes a toll on the neighbors and friends who would like to help but are not sure how to get involved. Click here to read more.

*"Steal This Code": Put NPAction on Your Site*

NPAction invites organizations to share our tools on their websites. Just copy the HTML code from our site, and you're ready to go (but when you steal the code, just let us know!).

"Steal the Code" today
http://www.npaction.org/article/articleview/600/1/1988

*NPAction Update Archives*
http://www.npaction.org/article/archive/210/
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