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

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Effective Advocacy at All Levels of Government

Effective Advocacy at All Levels of Government is a publication that was released in May as the result of a partnership between Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The publication is designed to prepare nonprofits for engagement at the state and local levels - where most nonprofits are likely to have the capacity to engage, and the potential to see quicker results - as well as for opportunities at the federal level.

It focuses on three elements to aid nonprofits in their advocacy at all levels of government:

• Generalized processes and principles of how to influence public policy in our federal system of government. By becoming familiar with general practices in policy development, nonprofits can better adapt to the specific ways of a particular jurisdiction's government.
• Guiding questions that will help translate an understanding of general principles into appropriate strategies for specific issues at specific levels of government.
• Case stories that bring key ideas to life and allow nonprofits to imagine themselves in similar situations.

The Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation created the publication to help answer the following questions:

• Why should your nonprofit try to change public policy?
• Is it legal for nonprofits to advocate policy change?
• How does the policymaking process work?
• What policy issues should your nonprofit address?
• How can your nonprofit influence public policy?