Issue 1 in Series, "Exploring Organizations and Advocacy"
The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.
Contents
About the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy
About the Series
List of Seminars
Executive Summary
Effective Advocacy for Nonprofits
Effective Advocacy on Limited Resources
"Issue Advocacy" in the 1998 Elections
Politicians, Nonprofits, and Opportunities for Personal Enrichment
Assessing the Current Data on 501(c)(3) Advocacy: What IRS Form 990 Can Tell Us
Social Movement Philanthropy and the Growth of Nonprofit Political Advocacy: Scope, Legitimacy, and Impact
Philanthropic Funding of Social Change and the Diminution of Progressive Policymaking
Appendix: Seminar Proceedings
List of Seminar Attendees
About the Editors
About the Contributors
About the Cohosts
About the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy
The Urban Institute's Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy (CNP) explores the role and impact of nonprofit organizations and philanthropy in democratic societies. By deepening the understanding of the multiple roles that nonprofits play—as service providers and as avenues of civic participation and public voice—CNP research endeavors to address the relationships among nonprofits, government, and the market from a variety of perspectives.
The Center strives to build the necessary research tools, contribute to sensible theory, and develop applications that illuminate both policy and practice in the nonprofit sector. CNP's research projects combine qualitative and quantitative data, the theoretical framework of civil society, and practical public policy considerations.
A major component of the Center is the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS), which serves as the national repository of statistical information on the nonprofit sector from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and other sources. NCCS's mission is to build compatible national, state, and regional databases and to develop uniform standards for reporting on the activities of charitable organizations. These data enable researchers to develop a comprehensive picture of nonprofit-sector trends as well as in-depth analyses of financial data.
Together with the IRS and Philanthropic Research, Inc. (PRI), NCCS provides scanned images of IRS Form 990, the financial information report that tax-exempt nonprofit organizations file with the IRS. Information from the scanned images is being digitized to create the most comprehensive and highest-quality database ever available on nonprofit organizations. For information visit our Web site.
Dissemination of CNP research findings includes electronic publications on the Internet as well as policy briefs, working papers, and monographs. In addition to the Nonprofit Advocacy and the Policy Process Seminar Series, CNP holds regular seminars, discussion groups, and conferences to discuss research findings and topics of current interest to the field.
Elizabeth T. Boris is the first director of the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute and was the founding director of the Nonprofit Sector Research Fund at the Aspen Institute, where she worked from 1991 to 1996. Prior to 1991, she was vice president for research at the Council on Foundations, where she developed and directed the research program for 12 years. The author of many research publications and articles on philanthropy, including Philanthropic Foundations in the United States: An Introduction, Dr. Boris is also coeditor with Eugene Steuerle of Nonprofits and Government: Collaboration and Conflict (Urban Institute Press, 1999). She is active as a board member and advisor to many nonprofits and is president of the Association for Research on Nonprofits and Voluntary Action and the Insights editor for Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly.
About the Series
The Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy is convening a series of 10 seminars—Nonprofit Advocacy and the Policy Process: A Seminar Series—that examines the current regulation of nonprofit advocacy, proposed reforms, and the impact of regulation on nonprofit contributions to civic and political participation, policy-making, and representative democracy. The series began in February 2000 and will end in December 2001. The papers presented during the seminars, as well as summaries of the seminar proceedings, are being disseminated through a series of four edited volumes.
- Volume I, Structuring the Inquiry into Advocacy, published in October 2000, covered the seminars held during the winter and spring of 2000. It introduced advocacy as a concept, examined the structure of nonprofit regulation under federal tax and election law, and discussed the evolving relationship between nonprofit organizations and money-driven elections. This volume has had considerable resonance with policymakers and leaders in the nonprofit sector.
- Volume II, Exploring Organizations and Advocacy, includes papers and findings from seminars held during the fall and spring of 2000–2001. Because of the diversity of elements that were discussed during the seminar sessions, this second volume is divided into two parts. Issue 1, Strategies and Finances, examines strategies for influencing policy and election outcomes, as well as the ways in which nonprofit organizations fund their advocacy activities. Issue 2, Governance and Accountability, examines the internal operations of nonprofit organizations and how their missions, capacity, governance, and constituencies shape their advocacy and their internal and public accountability.
- Volume III includes the findings and papers from the 2001 fall seminars. This volume focuses on constitutional and theoretical frameworks that shape the law and practice of nonprofit advocacy in America, as well as the role of groups in democratic governance today.
- Volume IV concludes the series, summarizing findings from the seminars and listing future research questions generated from the seminar papers and participants' comments.
The Seminar Series' publications are posted on our Web site, http://www.urban.org/advocacyresearch. The series is made possible by the generous support of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the Surdna Foundation, Inc.
Elizabeth T. Boris
Director of the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy
Seminars in the Series on Nonprofit Advocacy and the Policy Process
| The Spring/Summer 2000 Series: Structuring the Inquiry into Advocacy |
| SEMINAR 1 |
Nonprofit Advocacy: Practices and Perspectives |
| SEMINAR 2 |
Regulating Nonprofit Advocacy: The Rules, Rationales, and Practices |
| SEMINAR 3 |
Politicians, Parties, and Access in the Policy Process |
| |
| The Fall/Winter 2000–2001 Series: Exploring the Organizations |
| SEMINAR 4 |
Advocacy Strategies and Influence |
| SEMINAR 5 |
Financing Nonprofit Advocacy |
| SEMINAR 6 |
Representation, Participation, and Accountability |
| |
| The Spring/Fall 2001 Series: In the States, Across the Nation, and Beyond |
| SEMINAR 7 |
Nonprofit Advocacy in the States |
| SEMINAR 8 |
Nonprofit Advocacy in Global Perspective |
| SEMINAR 9 |
Constitutional Perspectives on Nonprofit Advocacy |
| SEMINAR 10 |
Nonprofit Advocacy and Democracy |
Executive Summary
Exploring the Organizations and Advocacy, the Fall/Winter 2000–2001 series, examined the operations of nonprofit organizations and their interaction with the regulatory and policy environment, funding sources, and citizens. The papers presented during the three seminars that composed the Fall/Winter series, as well as summaries of the seminar proceedings, will be published in two separate issues: Issue 1, Strategies and Finances, and Issue 2, Governance and Accountability.
This issue, Strategies and Finances, contains the complete text of six papers that were presented during the Fall 2000 series. These papers consider diverse advocacy strategies and the conditions in which they succeed and fail, as well as financing advocacy and the influence of patrons on advocacy activities and strategies. The papers presented in this publication offer a useful analysis that may enlighten the planning and implementation of advocacy activities by nonprofit organizations and raise important questions for funders and policymakers about the trends in financing organizations and political activity.
Summary of Chapters
Effective Advocacy for Nonprofits
Jeffrey Berry, of the Department of Political Science at Tufts University, focuses on three attributes that are vital to effective lobbying by citizen advocacy groups. The first attribute is staying power—the commitment to work "in the trenches" on chosen issues over long periods of time. The second is policy expertise. The third essential attribute is the allocation of scarce resources to staff development and other lobbying resources that will enhance the group's potential for advocacy. Traditional nonprofits contemplating more involvement in public affairs would be wise to look at the organizational structures of citizen advocacy groups.
Effective Advocacy on Limited Resources
Susan Rees, of the McAuley Institute, bases her paper on research funded by the Aspen Institute Nonprofit Sector Research Fund. Rees shows how lessons from an examination of 12 highly effective national advocacy organizations, some of them among the largest in the country, can be applied to small nonprofits at both the national and local levels. The key is using resources strategically by focusing time and resources on a few issues and a limited number of relationships with important decisionmakers. These relationships, involving politicians and their grassroots constituents, must be built over time and have as their focus a concern for the well-being of local communities. Of additional importance is accurate, timely information that builds a logical case for the particular position an organization is advocating.
"Issue Advocacy" in the 1998 Elections
Jonathan S. Krasno, of the University of Maryland, and Daniel Seltz, of the New York University School of Law, analyze the use of issue advocacy by political parties and interest groups in the 1998 congressional elections. Using data from precise ad-tracking technology in the top 75 media markets, they show that advertisements run by noncandidates—which were not subject to federal campaign finance regulations—mimicked the themes and purposes of the candidates' advertisements—which were subject to these regulations. Political parties dominated the category of "issue advocacy." Both parties and interest groups ventured beyond the "magic words" test in the advertising messages. Krasno and Seltz examine the implications of their findings for campaign finance regulation and for American democracy, concluding that in its current form, the vices of "issue advocacy" outweigh its virtues.
Politicians, Nonprofits, and Opportunities for Personal Enrichment
Marcus S. Owens explores how personal gain remains a very real element of campaign finances. While changes in federal tax and election law, coupled with strengthened Senate and House ethics rules, preclude members of Congress from direct personal use of campaign funds, the situation often changes once the member has left office. Potentially, a former member of Congress can make use of funds from a variety of nonprofit organizations created by trusted friends and business associates for political purposes while he or she was in office. Evidence suggests that these options have been employed in various combinations.
Assessing the Current Data on 501(c)(3) Advocacy: What IRS Form 990 Can Tell Us
Jeff Krehely, of the Urban Institute, assesses the IRS data that are currently available (through the Urban Institute's National Center for Charitable Statistics) on the advocacy activities of 501(c)(3) charitable organizations. Specifically, he analyzes—from a variety of perspectives—the money these organizations devote to lobbying activities. He also critiques the advocacy-related data resources that are available, with an overview of their strengths and weaknesses. Krehely concludes that a small percentage of charities report lobbying expenses to the IRS and that the amounts spent on lobbying are relatively small, compared with total organizational expenses. Further, legislative activity is concentrated in several states and within only a few broad types of organizations, especially those related to education and health. He also gives a description of data resources currently being developed and how they can be used for improved and more in-depth advocacy research.
Social Movement Philanthropy and the Growth of Nonprofit Political Advocacy: Scope, Legitimacy, and Impact
J. Craig Jenkins, of the Department of Sociology at Ohio State University, traces social movement philanthropy from the early 1950s through 1990. He shows that it has constituted only 1 to 2 percent of total foundation giving, but has had significant impact on political advocacy. Jenkins explores how the issues and constituencies that receive funding have changed over time and the resulting impact on American democracy. Foundations typically place little priority on grassroots organizing and internal democracy; instead, they mold these movements into professionalized structures and encourage less militant tactics. This shift has strengthened the formal representativeness of the American political system, but it has contributed little to democratic participation or descriptive representation. Jenkins concludes that foundations should expand their funding for social movements and place a higher priority on grassroots organizing and internal democracy.
Philanthropic Funding of Social Change and the Diminution of Progressive Policymaking
Robert O. Bothwell, of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, examines four trends in philanthropic funding of social justice organizations and what they have meant for democratic policymaking in America. Bothwell concludes with a controversial but plausible argument—that funders created a political dilemma for progressive nonprofits today. Their program-oriented approach to funding mired groups in "policy silos," preventing these groups from forging a larger vision for public policy change.
This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF), which many find convenient when printing.
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