Mission-based Advocacy Toolkit from Alliance for Children & Families

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iv © January 2006 The Alliance for Children and Families
© January 2006 The Alliance for Children and Families v Executive Summary The Alliance for Children and Families and its member agencies have had a long and abiding interest in helping the nonprofit human services sector participate fully in promoting the rights and enhancing the advancement opportunities of children and families. Its Mission spells this commitment thus: To strengthen the capacities of North America’s nonprofit child and family-serving agencies to serve and to advocate for children, families and communities The Alliance was fortunate to be able to secure funding from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund to undergird its efforts to attract the clout and concern of the hundreds of committed board members and volunteers serving nonprofits and this effort coincides with the foundation’s priority area of enhancing civic participation in our society. Thus an alliance of interest and resolve resulted in what we have termed the “Building Community Voices” project, an effort to engage human service providers in advocacy that enhances and implements the mission of our agencies as well as our own. The project seeks to promote the resurgence of nonprofit leadership in values-driven public policy, engage the valuable contributions of board members and volunteers and motivate the whole structure of human service agencies to utilize their potential in achieving better policies that enhance their organizational capacity to serve their clients more effectively. The Toolkit, therefore, focuses on mission-based advocacy, the process by which organizations harness the political potential of all the individuals, board members, trustees, volunteers and staff committed to the organization’s mission to, in concert, take actions that can lead to more effectively achieve or advance the organization’s goals. This effort gives salience to the concept of civic participation, an essential value of our democratic society. So, the Toolkit, by providing valuable, tangible tools to educate you, your staff, volunteers and board members to organize and implement your advocacy agenda, helps you to participate tangibly in the democratic decision making process by voicing ideas and opinions that can result in the improvement of the lives of the vulnerable in our society and sound and just public policies. The Toolkit posits that Advocacy is as easy as 1,2,3! It provides reminders to the readers about what makes the advocacy process glide by highlighting three principal sections or “legs of a stool” that support effective citizen action: 1. The Basics of Government: the first part of the Toolkit is designed to be a resource to the reader on the process of making laws, points out the difference between advocacy and lobbying, and delves into various aspects of advocacy. 2. Addressing Common Barriers: the second part of the Toolkit addresses ways to overcome six barriers that nonprofit agencies have indicated hold them back from advocacy and lobbying. It helps dispel some myths that exist about nonprofit advocacy.
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Page 3: Where Can I Find … © January 200
Page 7 and 8: Welcome to “mission-based advocac
Page 9 and 10: Nor will it be accomplished by redu
Page 11 and 12: © January 2006 The Alliance for Ch
Page 15 and 16: How a Bill Becomes a Law © January
Page 19 and 20: Part (h) provides authority for wha
Page 31 and 32: Part III: Helpful Advocacy Techniqu
Page 41 and 42: Lobbying by Telephone Part III: Hel
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Part III: Helpful Advocacy Techniqu
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Thinking About Media Part III: Help
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Framing a Story Part III: Helpful A
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As you embark on your advocacy effo
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Once you’ve identified any gaps i
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FEDERAL SEASON: From Early Summer t
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Review the Coalitions you belong to
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In 2002, within the context of dram
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Sometimes the advocacy potential of
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agency built diverse coalitions of
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The Board unanimously endorsed the
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programs. FSW joined a coalition of
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FSW is already meeting with editori
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have an influential voice and they
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the two groups. Hurricane Katrina v
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public policy. The agency will prom
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Expanding Health Care for Children
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• Independent Sector’s Web site
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Hill, Frances R., “Public Benefit
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© January 2006 The Alliance for Ch
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Guidance for 501 (c)(3)’s During
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Committee on Public Policy A. PURPO
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Lobbying Issues Dates Lobbying Cont
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Sample Documents Model Charter for
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The following draft Job Description
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Providing Parity for Mental Illness
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Alert on Health Savings Accounts an
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Sample Press Release Release Date:
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• Through experience, trauma rese
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The Alliance for Children and Famil
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Alliance for Children and Families,
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Legislative Reports, the internal t
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Mission-based Advocacy Toolkit from Alliance for Children & Families

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