Advocacy is defined as any action that speaks in favor of, recommends, argues for a cause, supports or defends, or pleads on behalf of others. This fact sheet offers a look at how advocacy is defined, what kinds of activities comprise advocacy work, and what kinds of advocacy projects several tax-exempt groups are currently leading.
How is advocacy different from lobbying?
Lobbying is only one kind of advocacy. Not all advocacy is lobbying but all lobbying is advocacy.
What kind of activities comprise advocacy work?
The following list of advocacy activities is not exhaustive. Each activity includes an example of a recent, concrete action on the part of active nonprofit groups around the country. The list and examples can serve to motivate others and suggest ideas for future advocacy on all fronts and in all kinds of struggles.
- Organizing: Build power at the base. Center for Intercultural Organizing in Portland, OR organizes the immigrant and refugee communities in their area. These meetings enable immigrant leaders to mobilize their constituencies and build power in their communities.
- Educate Legislators: Provide information on issues. NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin offers fact sheets on its Web site for distribution to state legislators so that they will be aware of issues facing women who seek abortion.
- Educating the Public about the Legislative Process: Introduce communities and constituencies to the legislators who represent them. Utah Issues: Center for Poverty Research and Action sponsors an annual Citizens Day during which the organization’s members and other Utah residents come to the state capitol to meet their legislators and learn about the legislative process. When communities have the opportunity to meet legislators face to face and discuss the issues that affect their everyday lives, not only do legislators receive the tools they need to represent their communities, but those communities are empowered to invest more heavily in the outcomes of policy debates, giving them a stronger hand in their own future.
- Research: Produce relevant resources that reflect the real story of your community. California Immigrant Policy Center released the report “Immigrants and the U.S. Healthcare System” to dispel myths and present realities in the state of California.
- Organizing a rally: Mobilize for your cause. The Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), a coalition of pro-immigrant organizations, rallied in Washington, D.C. in June 2007 to raise awareness of the need for comprehensive immigration reform and an end to immigration raids.
- Regulatory efforts: Take action at the agencies. CASA of Maryland, Inc. has pushed for the state Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) to comply with existing laws and to stop discriminating against driver’s license applicants on the basis of ability to prove legal residency.
- Public education: Educate the community on the issues. Rights for All People in Denver, CO periodically holds community forums on state and federal immigration issues.
- Nonpartisan voter education: Inform the electorate on the issues. CARECEN of Los Angeles, CA encourages civic participation in the Latino and immigration community, and educates the public about how to participate more fully in elections and civic life.
- Nonpartisan voter mobilization: Encourage citizens to vote. In 2004, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) began an ambitious campaign to register and mobilize tens of thousands of new immigrant voters in the suburban counties surrounding Chicago.
- Educational conferences: Gather, network, share information, and plan for the future. National Council of La Raza (NCLR) holds an annual conference where NCLR’s affiliate organization and other groups convene to discuss issues and strategies affecting the Latino community in the U.S.
- Training: The United States Student Association (USSA) holds Grassroots Organizing Weekends (GROW) training sessions that teach successful strategies and skills for direct action organizing on issues related to students.
- Litigation: Win in court for your cause or your community. El Centro Humanitario para los Trabajadores in Denver, CO operates a legal program that assists workers in the recovery of thousands of dollars in unpaid wages each year.
- Lobbying: Advocate for or against specific legislation. All nonprofits are permitted to lobby. 501(c)(3) public charities can engage in a generous but limited amount of lobbying. The Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC) works at the state level to pass a bill allowing undocumented high school graduates in Florida to pay in-state tuition rates.
How can your organization get more involved in advocacy?
Educate: Inform your organization about the current policies and problems affecting your community.
Evaluate: Evaluate your organization’s mission and goals, and examine whether current programs involve advocacy as a means to address problems or grievances in the community. If not, how could advocacy play a larger role in your organization’s programs?
Collaborate. Work in coalitions with groups whose philosophy and goals resonate with yours. Together, pooling staff and resources, all parties involved in the coalition should be better equipped to take on campaigns and work for change.
The staff of Alliance for Justice’s Nonprofit Advocacy Project (NAP) offers many tools for tax-exempt groups. Please see http://www.afj.org for more details.
What is Lobbying?
Federal tax law controls how much lobbying 501(c)(3) organizations can engage in. Public charities can choose to measure their lobbying under either the insubstantial part test or the 501(h) expenditure test. While lobbying is not defined under the insubstantial part test, this fact sheet provides an overview of how lobbying is defined for organizations that measure their lobbying under the 501(h) expenditure test.
Direct Lobbying
Communication with a Legislator that expresses a View about Specific Legislation.
Grassroots Lobbying
Communication with the Public that expresses a View about Specific Legislation and Includes a Call to Action.
In order for an action to be considered direct lobbying or grassroots lobbying it must contain all of the above elements. It is not lobbying if one or more of the required elements is missing.
Communication: a conversation (in person or by phone), letter, email, fax, or other creative mechanism to convey a message.
Legislator: a member of a legislative body or his/her staff. In addition, executive branch officials who participate in the formulation of legislation are considered legislators (such as the governor or mayor when vetoing or signing a bill). Members of administrative bodies, however, such as school boards, sewer and water districts, housing authorities, zoning boards, and other special purposes bodies, whether elected or appointed, are not considered legislators.
Public: anyone but a legislator or member of an organization. Communications to an organization’s members are considered direct lobbying. For this purpose, a member is someone who has given more than a small amount of time or money to the organization.
Expresses a view about specific legislation: a bill or resolution that has been introduced in a legislative body or proposed legislation such as identifying a problem and presenting a specific solution to the problem. Specific legislation includes budget appropriations and Proposed legislation may qualify as specific legislation even if it has not yet been introduced, been written down, or even fully fleshed out. Specific legislation does not include rulemakings / promulgation or regulations, executive orders, litigation, or attempts to enforce existing laws.
Call to action: a specific means of encouraging the communication’s recipient to take lobbying action. A call to action must comprise one of the following actions: 1) tell the recipient to contact a legislator: 2) provide information on how the recipient can contact his/her legislator, such as providing the phone number or address; 3) provide a mechanism for enabling the recipient to contact his legislator, such as a postcard, petition, or email form; or 4) Identify a legislator who will vote on the legislation as being opposed to or undecided about the organization’s view on the legislation, a member of a legislative committee who will vote on the legislation, or the recipient’s legislator.
Ballot measure activity is considered direct lobbying. Although ballot measures, such as referenda, bond measures and ballot initiatives, are determined at the voting booth, efforts for or against them are considered direct lobbying, not impermissible electoral activity. Efforts aimed at convincing the public to support or oppose ballot measures are direct lobbying since the voting public serves as the legislature.
February 2007
The information contained on this fact sheet and any attachments is being provided for information purposes only and not as part of an attorney-client relationship. The information is not a substitute for avoiding any penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code. Alliance for Justice publishes plain-language guides on nonprofit advocacy topics, offers educational workshops on the laws governing the advocacy of nonprofits and provides technical assistance for nonprofits engaging in advocacy. For additional information, please feel free to contact Alliance for Justice.
Alliance for Justice
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