Advocacy 101: Transforming Nonprofits into Effective Changemakers

Every nonprofit can and should have a policy advocacy strategy that advances its mission and helps nonprofits be effective allies to grassroots social justice changemakers. Advocacy is one of the important strategies nonprofits can take to bring the community’s attention to the issues they care about and bring about meaningful change for the people they serve.

One of the greatest myths about nonprofits is that they cannot participate in advocacy or lobbying. However, with the right tools and information, you can make policy advocacy work for your organization and your community. Advocacy can include numerous activities such as policy research, public education, lobbying elected officials, educating the media, and voter engagement.

In this workshop, attendees will learn:

• High-level but essential information about how nonprofits can legally get involved in issue-based advocacy work and the key differences between advocacy and lobbying;
• The essential components of nonprofit advocacy, including a recap of how to establish an advocacy shop, analyzing and prioritizing issues, campaigning, coalition work, among others;
• How to include the community you serve and your Board in setting organizational advocacy priorities and in advocacy activities; and
• Tips and tricks from expert panelists as they share their advocacy stories from the field.

This workshop is the first workshop in the Nonprofit Advocacy Series—brought to you by Thrive Alliance and Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits, thanks to a grant from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.