Advocacy Is Not Lobbying, An Introduction

If I had a dollar for every board member or executive director who told me, “we’re a nonprofit, we can’t do advocacy,” I could fund a small foundation myself.

Here’s the short version: advocacy and lobbying are not the same thing. Advocacy is a broad effort to support a cause, like awareness campaigns, public testimony, building coalitions, and media outreach. It’s generally permitted for 501(c)(3)s, and there’s no cap on how much of it you can do as long as it furthers your mission. Lobbying is a specific subset of advocacy that attempts to influence legislation, and even that is allowed in limited amounts. What’s never allowed is partisan political activity, meaning endorsing or opposing candidates.

 Here are three primary ways to think about advocacy:

• First, advocating for your organization, your community, and your clients, because nonprofits are uniquely positioned to speak for those without a voice.
• Second, advocating for your role and your profession, from tracking your own metrics to getting involved with groups like the Grant Professionals Association (GPA), National Grant Management Association (NGMA), or the Association of Fundraising Professionals. If we can’t talk compellingly about what we do, someone else will define our roles for us.
• Third, personal advocacy: voting, showing up at town halls and school board meetings, and using your skills for causes you care about.

Fear of lobbying should never stop your nonprofit from doing advocacy work. Making a compelling case for change is literally what we do every day as grant professionals and fundraisers.

Want the full conversation, including real examples and resources you can use right away? Listen to the latest episode of the Fundraising Hay Day podcast HERE.