Is Advocacy Funding Finally Hitting the Mainstream?

Thursday, October 15, 2009 by Betsey Russell
Advocacy funding has long been a taboo subject for many foundations. It's not that they're not interested, per se, but that the rules about how foundations can and can't fund advocacy have been somewhat complex. Maybe it's a real fear of overstepping the line, maybe just an unwillingness to wrestle through the process - at any rate, advocacy funding hasn't been common.

Don't get me wrong: there are some great examples of foundations that DO engage in advocacy funding, like Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, Healthcare Georgia Foundation and others. But it's not a pervasive practice in the field.
 

However, there are some indications of late that the tide may be turning. The IRS recently sent a private letter ruling  to the Alliance for Justice that says community foundations can now fund advocacy under the same rules that private foundations follow. Perhaps this is the beginning of a new era of advocacy funding. Community foundations are typically more willing and able to break into the forefront when it comes to engaging in "messy" community issues like advocacy. Perhaps they'll now be able to take the lead in working together with private foundations and other funders and nonprofits to advocate about community issues.
 

A second indication that the seas may be changing is a new report from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Whether you love 'em or hate 'em, NCRP does a great deal to push for shifts in foundation behavior. The newest report from NCRP's "Grantmaking for Community Impact" project examines the relative benefit derived from investments in 15 local advocacy organizations in Minnesota.
 

According to NCRP, " For every dollar invested in their advocacy and organizing work ($16.5 million total), the groups garnered $138 in benefits for Minnesota communities."
 

The aggregate total monetary benefit, according to NCRP, was more than $2.28 billion.
 

Is that argument alone enough to encourage more funders into the realm of advocacy? Not by itself. Many funders will choose - and rightly so - to focus their work in the microcosms of local communities and build change from the grassroots up. But perhaps more will also feel at home addressing social problems at the macro level of state and federal public policy.
 

Is the tide beginning to turn? Or is it just me? What has YOUR experience been with advocacy? What do you think may be different in the future?

Comments for Is Advocacy Funding Finally Hitting the Mainstream?

Monday, October 19, 2009 by Melissa Johnson:
What a timely and critical question to pose to foundations in the South: "Is Advocacy Hitting the Mainstream?" It is a question that, as mentioned, NCRP has dedicated a great deal of our time and resources. Our Grantmaking for Community Impact Project, in fact, is a nationwide effort to research, analyze, and assess the impacts of advocacy and organizing work and to highlight foundation practices and investments that is supporting the work across a continuum – from education and research to capacity building and collective action. To date, we have conducted outreach and released reports in the states of New Mexico, North Carolina, and Minnesota. What we are finding is that there is room and a need for foundations to support this work on all levels – local communities, state, regional, and national strategies. For foundations who want to learn more, please attend a session at the upcoming SECF annual conference on Thursday, November 13, 2009, 4:30-5:30pm where NCRP will share highlights from the NC report and hear from NC foundations about their own evolvement and understanding of supporting advocacy work. - Melissa Johnson, Field Director, NCRP
Monday, November 23, 2009 by Suzanna Stribling:
The Foundation Review is sponsoring a webinar on public policy strategies for grantmakers on Wednesday, December 2 at 2-3:30 pm EST. The event is free for subscribers to the Review and The Grantmaking School and is $15 for non-subscribers. This webinar will introduce two tools that support realistic thinking about foundations' public policy strategies. The first is a visual framework that asks foundations to consider which audiences they need to engage and how far they need to "push" those audiences toward action, and then suggests which strategies may be most effective in moving those audiences forward. The second is a foundation engagement tool that identifies what is important to consider and communicate when developing a public policy strategy. Julia Coffman, Director of the new Center for Evaluation, will lead the webinar. She will be joined by Rob Geen, Director/Manager of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Policy, Research, and Communications Group to discuss his experiences with and views on the tool. This webinar is based on the article "Tools to Support Public Policy Grantmaking" by Martha Campbell and Julia Coffman, which appeared in the latest issue of The Foundation Review (Vol. 1, Issue 3) on Advocacy and Policy Change.

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