CIAO DATE: 11/99

Effective Nonprofit Advocacy

Table of Contents

• Executive Summary
  • Strategies of twelve national organizations named highly effective in six federal policy areas.
     

• Survey of Congress and the Executive Branch:
  • 98 organizations cited—different types dominating different issues.
     

• Structure and Qualities of Effective Policy Organizations:
  • Type and size.
    Focus on top priorities.
    Pro’s and con’s of paid membership.
    Democratic processes used in agenda-setting.
     

• Direct Advocacy Trumps Public Education:
  • Getting policy maker attention by issuing credible information, informing their member-voters, knowing the players and legislative process, and sometimes, making campaign contributions. Only a few stress public education and mobilization.
     

• Message Development and Supporting Arguments:
  • The kinds of messages that sell in today’s political climate.
     

• Communications Techniques:
  • It’s still person-to-person contact that counts most, made easier with modern communications technology.
     

• Legislative Strategies:
  • Examples of roundabout ways to legislative goals.
     

• Budget Policy
  • Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
  • Concord Coalition
     

• Environment
  • National Federation of Independent Business
  • Sierra Club
     

• Family and Welfare
  • Children’s Defense Fund
  • The Christian Coalition
     

• Foreign Aid Funding
  • American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)
  • Center for Strategic and International Studies
     

• Health Policy
  • American Medical Association
  • American Association of Retired Persons
     

• Housing and Community Development
  • National League of Cities
  • United States Conference of Mayors
     

Copyright ©1998 Susan Rees, Washington, DC. All rights are reserved. Content may be reproduced, downloaded, disseminated, or transferred, for single use. The statements and conclusions in this report are those of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the Aspen Institute’s Nonprofit Sector Research Fund or its Funders.