BLOG for ADVOCATES

We created this blog to share interesting advocacy related items that cross our desks. It can be anything from new research on funding for advocacy to examples of unusual advocacy strategies. If you have an item to share please send it to npaction@npaction.org.
NPAction Staff

Thursday, November 29, 2007

1. Work with wonderful people on something that matters.

2. Learn self-discipline (when to speak up and when to remain silent)

3. Learn how to do research (Knowledge by itself is not power.)

4. Gather great stories and experiences

5. Understand how society really works

6. Strengthen your self-respect (Organizers get feedback and their work shapes not only their own lives but the lives of others.)

7. Strengthen your personal belief system (Organizers not only hold values, they act upon them.)

   For more detailed information on these personal benefits or to read the entire article, click here.
   
   
   
   
   

   Tuesday, November 27, 2007

   Upcoming Workshops and Events
   
   From workshops explaining the federal laws governing 501(c)(3) lobbying to workshops which help you calculate your lobbying limits under the insubstantial part test and the 501(h) expenditure test, the Alliance for Justice has several upcoming events and workshops that will provide just the insight needed to inform your organization's approach towards advocacy. Upcoming workshops, across the nation and online, also provide information on federal rules for electoral activities for 501(c)(3)s (including voter registration drives, candidate questionnaires, candidate forums and legislative scorecards).

   For more information on these workshops and many others, click here.
   
   
   
   
   

   Tuesday, November 20, 2007

   Who Will Lead Social Change Nonprofits?
   
   What's Next?, an online publication of the Building Movement Project, focuses in on the work and contributions of 27 social change nonprofit leaders and how they view their lives, organizations and the future of their work. As these baby boom age leaders approach traditional retirement ages, many worry not only about their own lives but the lives of their very own organizations.

   What’s Next sets forth four key recommendations which may help alleviate Baby Boomers’ apprehension about how new leaders will gain the skills and experience they have gathered over the past thirty years. These recommendations may help facilitate smoother intergenerational leadership transitions:

   1. Support the Leadership and Life Planning of Baby Boom Social Change Leaders

   2. Seek Continued Involvement from Baby Boomers

   3. Facilitate Cross Generational Discussions to Transfer Information and Share Experience

   4. Explore Different Types of Organizational Leadership that Promote Mutual Learning and Shared Leadership

   *To read the entire report or view the executive summary, click here.*
   
   Posted by Andrea Wilson
   
   
   
   

   Friday, November 16, 2007

   Building A Movement
   
   Can nonprofit service organizations build movements? Of course they can. An online process guide published by the Building Movement Project gives detailed information for both boards and staff members seeking to incorporate more progressive social change projects. From assessing organizational readiness to providing additional movement building resources and identifying the underlying causes for constituent problems, this guide delivers just what nonprofit service organizations need to launch successful social change movements. To download the process guide, click here.
   
   
   
   
   

   Tuesday, November 13, 2007

   Get Involved: Local Advocacy Tips
   
   Have you ever wanted to become more involved in local advocacy efforts? If so, The Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania provides 10 useful tips that will surely jumpstart your local advocacy efforts. These tips can get you started but for more detailed information, click here.

   The Women & Girls Foundation's Top 10 Tips for Advocacy:

   1. Know your rights

   2. Get your board on board.

   3. Build a Coalition/Join other people’s coalitions

   4. Make friends with the media.

   5. Attend City Council, County Council Meetings, and Public Board Meetings/Hearings

   6. Cultivate relationships with all of your elected leaders and their staff.

   7. Know what board relationships you can leverage

   8. Research and Learn about the Local Political Landscape, Landmines, and Buzzwords

   9. Figure out who has the power to make the decision or make the change you want to see happen.

   10. Be persistent and consistent.

   *For more information on each of these tips, click here.*
   
   Posted by Andrea Wilson
   
   
   
   

   Friday, November 09, 2007

   What Makes A Nonprofit Great?
   

   In a recent podcast from Stanford University’s Center for Social Innovations, the authors of Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits discuss what makes the best nonprofits great. After surveying thousands of executive directors across the country, Heather McLeod Grant and Leslie Crutchfield found that high impact nonprofits do not perfectly fit popular conceptions. In fact, according to the authors, being a great nonprofit is not always about having a great board, a great idea, a large budget, perfect management or even the most profound mission statement. Survey results from 3,000 executive directors in nine different fields reveal the following about high impact nonprofits:

   Great Nonprofits…

   1. Don’t focus solely on internal operations

   2. Engage the government through advocacy

   3. Work with the private sector

   4. Inspire evangelist/create whole social movements

   5. Work through nonprofit networks

   6. Share leadership and create more leaders

   7. Are Highly Adaptive

   To listen to the podcast and get further information on what makes a nonprofit great, click here.
   
   
   
   
   

   Tuesday, November 06, 2007

   Vote Naked
   

   Are you looking for ways to increase voter turn-out? If so, perhaps “voting naked” will make a difference. Vote Naked , a campaign led by several student organizations, encouraged Spring-break bound students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to cast their absentee ballots before leaving campus. Such a creative campaign may indeed attract young, apathetic or pessimistic voters. While the entire process can not be completed naked, since ballots must be mailed in, the slogan may entice more voters to think about actually voting. If they think about it, maybe they will do it. For more information about “voting naked,” click here.
   
   
   
   
   

   Friday, November 02, 2007

   Cell Phones & Citizen Engagement
   In today’s busy world, many people claim they are too busy for advocacy. Can cell phones change this? The answer for many organizations has been a resounding yes. A recent article on The Agitator site provides several examples of how organizations have used mobile phones to extend the reach of their messages/missions.

   Here are a few examples:

   • A text messaging help line in India helped spread instant answers on HIV/AIDS to over 25,000 people

   • In Sierra Leonne , nearly 500 citizens used text messaging to report irregularities at polling stations

   • A conservation group in New Mexico tripled its email listing by introducing endangered species ringtones

   To find out more about the extended reach provided by nearly 3 billion cell phones, click here. For more innovative cell phone advocacy approaches, click here.
   
   Posted by Andrea Wilson