Advocacy: Can We Do That?
Yes – the strategy that pays significant dividends to mission achievement!
ADVOCACY – A KEY STRATEGY TO MOVE THE NEEDLE ON MISSION
One of the most important decisions I made as an executive of a nonprofit organization was to hire an outstanding staff person to lead our advocacy efforts. It didn’t let me or the board “off the hook” but focused our time on the highest value policies that needed to be changed or improved. The investment was a small component of our overall budget but resulted in major progress on key policies that significantly advanced our mission.
As part of their oversight role, some on our board were understandably cautious when we discussed allocating our organization’s time and resources to this. “Advocacy? Couldn’t that impact our organization’s tax exempt status?” It’s important for staff leaders and board members of nonprofit organizations, especially 501(c)(3) organizations, to know that the IRS has done a good job of clearing up what nonprofits are allowed to do and not do with respect to advocacy and lobbying. This has given more groups the confidence to explore whether advocacy could help them better achieve their mission. With clear guidelines, nonprofit organizations can navigate this work carefully within the IRS’s guardrails.
WHAT IS THE FOCUS OF YOUR ADVOCACY?
To be effective in this realm, you need to be crystal clear on why you think advocacy would benefit your organization’s clients and/or your organization’s effectiveness. Just like creating any new program, think through some basic questions, such as: What is the rationale for advocacy? How will advocacy positively impact your clients or the people and/or groups served by your organization? What do you want to accomplish through advocacy and possibly lobbying? How would this effort contribute to advancing your organization’s mission? If the answers to these questions are compelling, having a laser-focused advocacy strategy may be an area for further exploration.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADVOCACY AND LOBBYING?
It’s important to know the difference between these two strategies. Advocacy is like a “megaphone” – raising general awareness about issues in communities, such as public education or adult literacy. Lobbying is more like a “conversation,” one on one, with city, county, state or federal officials on the laws or regulations that your organization is concerned about. Advocacy, in general, has few restrictions, but lobbying has clear restrictions and is regulated by the IRS which limits the amount of time and money nonprofits can spend on it.
Advocacy can cover a wide range of activities intended to influence public policy without reference to specific legislation.
Lobbying is a specific type of advocacy that involves direct communication with legislators to influence specific legislation.
While there are a number of categories of nonprofit organizations listed within the IRS code, nonprofit tax-exempt charitable organizations fall under section 501(c)(3) of the code. The IRS limits are generous in terms of resources that can be dedicated to lobbying. For example, a 501(c)(3) organization with a budget of $500,000 could spend up to 20% of their budget, or $100,000 on lobbying, far more than most nonprofits would be able to spend on this.
GET OVER THE FEAR OF ADVOCACY
Two reasons that nonprofit organizations may be anxious about venturing into advocacy are: 1) they fear losing financial support if they do so, and 2) they don’t think they can afford the resources needed to make a difference. Doing a little research at this early stage of exploration will pay off in the long run and will lead to a better decision on whether to take this step.
Start with a conversation with your board to determine their support for exploring advocacy as one of the strategies to achieve your mission. If board members are open to the idea or want more information, develop a planning process that your leadership endorses so that the board and staff are in the loop as a plan is developed. Ask the board what key questions they will want answered before they would consider supporting an advocacy component. A budget including the estimated expenses related to advocacy and lobbying should be included in the plan with different levels of expenditures during the years the Texas Legislature is in session (every other year).
Possible questions for interviews:
How long have you had an advocacy component in your services?
Why did you create an advocacy focus?
Does your organization have a state or national component that leads on lobbying? How does that work?
What has been the impact of adding this component (both positive and negative) to your effectiveness on mission movement?
Did you lose any funding as a result?
How much does it cost on an annual basis?
Interview a few nonprofit organizations that have experience in the advocacy and lobbying space using four or five questions to get a sense of why they invest in advocacy and lobbying and whether it has paid off in outcomes and/or financially. Children at Risk would be one organization to research given that advocacy is what they do, full time, across the state of Texas. From my experience, there was significant “return on investment” to have an experienced lobbyist to partner with us. It was important to select someone who was respected by both Democrats and Republicans. Experienced lobbyists already have relationships with legislators and the Chief of Staff in legislators’ offices, which was very important in getting appointments to meet with either the legislator or the legislative aide with responsibility for your organization’s policy area.
Other possible people to reach out to for their opinion would be your CPA and two or three of your long-term funders. Your CPA can advise you on how to set up a system to track your staff time and resources spent on advocacy. This is critical if you spend resources on a lobbyist or if a staff member registers as a lobbyist. My guess is that your expenses in this area will be well within the IRS requirements. Your long-term funders will most likely be willing to have a conversation with you about this from their perspective. I remember one funder telling me that not to explore a strategy that might have a significant impact on whether our nonprofit could be more effective, would not demonstrate good stewardship.
HOW TO FUND ADVOCACY AND LOBBYING ACTIVITIES
With respect to funders, nonprofits may use unrestricted funds to lobby. Your safest bet would be to seek funding from individuals who are passionate about your mission and would be willing for a portion of their unrestricted financial support for advocacy and lobbying. What other sources of funding could be used to pay for advocacy and lobbying? The two other main sources of nonprofit funding are corporations and foundations. Corporations may be less likely to give funding specifically to advocacy or lobbying activities in 501(c)(3) organizations but may give unrestricted grants to nonprofit organizations that have an advocacy and/or lobbying component as part of their overall services. With respect to foundations, the Texas Commission for the Arts says that “private foundations cannot earmark grant funds for lobbying. Community foundations can earmark grants for lobbying (as they are exempt under 501(c)(3) and not private foundations).” However, like corporations, foundations may give unrestricted grants to nonprofit organizations that have an advocacy/lobbying component. For more information, click on this link to the Texas Commission for the Arts story.
GO SLOW TO GO FAST
I’ve never forgotten what a Leadership Houston colleague and past Texas State House Representative Scott Hochberg told me one time. I asked him what it takes to be effective in advocacy in Texas. He said, “Go slow to go fast.” Start no later than the summer before the beginning of the January legislative session to get your ducks in a row. If you wait until January, legislators have already identified what they are going to be championing, bills have already been filed, and you will be scrambling to get anything done.
One example of where Scott’s advice paid off was related to the multi-year process to develop a quality rating system for childcare programs in Texas. It took careful planning, state-wide partnerships, relationship building with legislators and regulatory leaders to make it happen. Now parents have a data-driven system, the Texas Rising Star system, to inform them on childcare programs that exceed state standards in how they care for and educate young children.
INCORPORATE ADVOCACY INTO YOUR STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS AND TAKE THE FIRST STEP
If you don’t prioritize advocacy, it will get pushed to the side. If you have a strategic planning process that focuses your organization on what you want to accomplish this year and next, how might advocacy/lobbying fit into this process? If you don’t have a strategic plan, develop a list of 3-5 priorities that you and your board want to work on to measurably improve client and organizational outcomes. Again, be intentional about exploring whether advocacy/lobbying could move the needle on achieving these outcomes.
If there is support for an advocacy and/or lobbying effort, plan for the meetings with your elected officials. Develop a “leave behind” that summarizes the purpose for the meeting, your goal for strengthening policies, regulations, etc., that would help you better serve clients and/or your community. If you don’t have internal communications expertise, it would be a good investment to seek professional input on creating such a one-page “leave behind.” You will get your money’s worth.
If you want to advocate for a legislative change, identify and meet in person with your state legislators about how your organization is continuing to have an impact in a time of great change. Between now and January 2027, you should be able to meet with them in their home office. Your meetings (yes, more than one!) could move from introducing what your organization does and how it impacts their constituencies, to what legislative changes need to be made. They want to hear from you! Set a goal right now to meet with your state representative and senator this fall.
SUMMARY:
Nonprofits can truly benefit from having a strong advocacy and lobbying component. Think of it as an investment that multiplies the impact of your client-focused or community services, better serving individuals across the state, not just in the Greater Houston region.
Be planful in taking this on, involving your board and staff leadership, seeking counsel from your CPA and your funders, and clearly spelling out what you want to accomplish through advocacy and lobbying efforts.
Track advocacy and lobbying activities and measure progress.
Start with face-to-face meetings with the state representative and senator in your district. Always ask who else you should meet with next.
In your next group of meetings, always be on the lookout for that champion who will help you be successful in the upcoming legislative session!
Make the meetings worth the legislator’s time. Know what you want to say. Provide a one page, easy-to-read document that clearly lays out your legislative goal. You want your elected and appointed officials to view you as a reliable resource for information, that in turn, helps them be better informed and a better representative for the people of Texas.
SOURCES:
The Fine Line Between Nonprofit Lobbying and Advocacy, Carr, Riggs and Ingram, July, 2023
Lobbying and the Law for Nonprofits under IRS section 501(C)(3), Texas Commission for the Arts, 2025