Advocacy 101
Advocacy IS Impact
2015 Southern Institute
Megan Tracz, Director of Public Policy, United Way Worldwide
Today’s Agenda
• Nuts & Bolts: What is advocacy? Is it legal?
• Why, How, What of United Way Advocacy
• Real examples
• Local Focus: Getting Started
• Spotlight on National EITC Advocacy Campaign
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Introductions
• Name, Position, United Way
• Personal/Organizational Experience in Advocacy
• I chose to attend this workshop because…
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Advocacy…
Brings Program Solutions to Scale
Engages Individuals in Making a
Difference
Improves the Conditions of
the People We Serve
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The Advocacy Continuum
Public
Awareness
and
Education
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Raise public
awareness
about an issue
Grassroots
advocacy
and
organizing
• Grassroots
organizing and
communication
with local
leaders
Lobbying
Lobbying for or
against
legislation
Nonprofit Lobbying 101 Questions
Question: Can a nonprofit (501c3) engage in lobbying?
a. A nonprofit cannot engage in any lobbying
b. A nonprofit can engage in some lobbying, but too much lobbying
risks loss of tax-exempt status
c.
A nonprofit can engage in lobbying on the third Tuesday of every
month
d. A nonprofit can engage in lobbying, without any restrictions
Answer: b
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Nonprofit Lobbying 101 Questions
Question: What percentage of a nonprofits revenue can
be spent on lobbying?
a. 20%
b. 80%
c.
50%
d. 5%
Answer: a
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 Learn More from the
National Council of Nonprofits
https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/federal-rights
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We Can – And Must – Advocate
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• Community and systems-level change requires
public policy
• Policy is already impacting (hurting or harming)
nonprofits’ abilities to improve lives
• Volunteers and donors (esp. millennials) want to
be engaged in making a meaningful difference
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Because government is a critical decision-maker and the
major provider and funder of health and human services,
United Way must actively engage in public policy.
United Way Worldwide Standards of Excellence 1.4
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June 1, 2015
Local Value
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•
Impact
•
Exposure
•
Engagement
How does United Way engage in policy?
Approach:
 practical long-term solutions
 non-partisan/non-ideological
 consensus
 …as a network!
Based on:
 relationships
 convening ability
The most successful United Ways engage Boards
in the advocacy work
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Engagement Opportunities
High Engagement
•
Meet with elected officials
Leading
•
Testify before a legislative
committee
Owning
Medium Engagement
•
Write a letter to the editor
Low Engagement
•
Social media
•
Sign a petition
•
Share a fact sheet
Contributing
Endorsing
Following
Observing
Individual Engagement Pyramid
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@lindsaytorrico @megtracz #UWSLC
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@lindsaytorrico @megtracz #UWSLC
Role of the United Way Worldwide Policy Team
Move key policy priorities forward by:
•Direct lobbying of Congress and the Administration
•Educating state and local United Ways about strategies for direct and
grassroots advocacy
•Supporting state and local United Ways’ public policy capacity
building work
•Building partnerships and coalitions with national allies
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June 1, 2015
Where to Turn…
Sara Kerrigan
Early Childhood,
Prevention
Patrick McIntyre
Health Care,
EFSP, 2-1-1
Steve Taylor
Charitable Giving,
Nonprofit Sector
Megan Tracz
EITC, CTC, VITA
Lindsay Torrico
Workforce,
Human
Trafficking
Patty Hall
Team Support
Soncia Coleman
K-12, Higher Ed
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Caitlin Carey
Income Supports,
Nutrition
Questions?
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Growing Local Efforts
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United Way Public Policy Readiness Inventory
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Take-Aways from the Inventory?
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Core Themes from Inventory
 Importance of the Board!
 Commitment, Oversight, Engagement
 Importance of establishing a process and structure
 Multitude of Stakeholders and Variety of Forms
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It’s about Impact…Not Just for the Sake of Advocacy!
•
Proactive Strategy that aligns with Impact Goals
•
Addresses core challenge/need in community
•
Often requires systems-change
Start thinking about your top community impact goal
 What is the root of the problem/opportunity?
 What needs to happen to make progress?
 Who has authority to decide?
 How can you influence them?
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Advocacy Checklist
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•
Mission fit: Is the issue closely
related to one of our impact goals?
•
Alignment: Can we be involved in
ways that are nonpartisan?
•
Capacity: Could we add value? Do
we have the capacity to do so?
•
Risk assessment: Would our
involvement cause harm to critical
donor /stakeholders or to our brand
and reputation?
•
Citizenship: Are there other
United Ways in our region, state or
nationally that may be affected?
Who should we consult with?
07-22-14 High-Performing Boards: Advocating for Impact
Growing
Local
Advocacy
Structure is
helpful!
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Board is Key!
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Foundational Elements for
Successful Board Strategy
1. Effective Board governance model and practices
2. The right Board members
3. Board & CEO partnership for high-performance and
results
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07-22-14 High-Performing Boards: Advocating for Impact
The Right Board Members
Board Leadership Competency Model
Strategic Thinker
Connects Leaders to Leaders
Advocates for Community
Future Focused
Steward of Brand and Trust
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07-22-14 High-Performing Boards: Advocating for Impact
Attributes of High-Performing CEO & Board Partnership
 Measures performance on strategic priorities (Impact,
Revenue, Supporters, Trust)
 Connects impact to revenue, leverage own relationships to
grow resources
 Engaged on and seeks to be informed about broader
community issues, including advocating and/or influencing
public policy as a critical function
 Prioritizes strategic/generative over operational work
(80%/20%)
 Leverages Board as a key talent asset
 Values the network and connects with Board leaders from
other United Ways
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07-22-14 High-Performing Boards: Advocating for Impact
Continuum of Board Engagement on Advocacy
Opposed /
Apprehensive
Neutral
Supportive of
Staff
Engagement
Movement Usually Happens When…
•Make-up of the Board Changes
•CEO Moves the Board
•Board Member Drives Change
•Catalyst Presents Opportunity
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07-22-14 High-Performing Boards: Advocating for Impact
Directly
Engaged
It starts with a small action…
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•
Sign up for the Advocacy
Connection newsletter and
PPN-L. Email:
[email protected]
•
Take action on alerts & share
with your networks
•
Connect with your state orgs
•
Build relationships with your
elected officials
•
Talk with your leadership about
advocacy and expand your
local efforts
From VITA & MyFreeTaxes Impact to
Advocacy Success
Spotlight on the EITC & CTC
May 21, 2015
Celebrating Network Impact: Free Tax Prep
380+ United Ways and hundreds of partners engage on VITA & MFT
2015 Topline Data:
Free Tax Prep: 3.3 million returns filed at 9,400 sites with $3.96B
coming back to local communities
•United Way areas: 2M returns for $2.35B – WAY TO GO!
•MyFreeTaxes.com: 200,000 returns!
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June 1, 2015
Celebrating Network Impact: Free Tax Prep
In local communities, the reality is
that more individuals and families
are able to:
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Pay for food, child care,
housing, & transportation
costs
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Get out of debt
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Save for the future
June 1, 2015
A Big Part of Our Programmatic Success Relies on the
Credits…
And unfortunately, unless action is taken, some 50 million Americans
will lose all or part of their Child Tax Credit or EITC at the end of
2017…
Pushed into / deeper into poverty: 16M Americans, 8M children!
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Impact of the Credits on Education, Income and Health
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June 1, 2015
EITC: Without action, after 2017…
Many married
couples would
face higher
marriage
penalties and
cuts, and
many larger
families would
have a cut
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June 1, 2015
CTC: Without Congressional Action, after 2017…
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The threshold for accessing the
credit would jump from $3,000
to $14,700
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Many low-income parents
would lose their entire CTC
June 1, 2015
Together: If the EITC & CTC improvements expire…
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50 Million Americans Impacted
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16 Million Americans would
be pushed into poverty or
made poorer
 8 Million of them children!
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State-by-State Impacts are
drastic
http://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/chart-book-the-earned-income-tax-credit-and-child-tax-credit#PartThree
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That’s why we’re rallying for action
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June 1, 2015
United Way EITC & CTC Advocacy Campaign Goals
Expand economic opportunity and financial stability for individuals and
families across the United States by:
 Making recent improvements to the EITC & CTC permanent!
 Protecting and strengthening the refundable credits and VITA for
working individuals and families
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June 1, 2015
Success Strategies
Here’s what we know will work:
“It takes a nation”
-Aligning our voices to elevate the credits, especially in key districts
and states (Senate Finance Committee, House Ways & Means)
-Sharing stories and data about the power of the credits with our
elected officials
-Engaging CEOs, Board Members, Women Leaders, VITA
Volunteers, Partner Agencies, and Community Advocates
-Generating public awareness about the success of the credits and
harmful impacts on the community if Congress doesn’t act
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June 1, 2015
What you can expect joining the effort
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•
Timely updates and meaningful
opportunities to act on the
EITC, CTC and VITA
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Ideas & tools to engage your
supporters
•
Notices of in-person and online
advocacy training opportunities
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Communications resources that
make advocating easy
June 1, 2015
Local Action Steps
 Learn More About the Campaign
 Stay Informed of the Work
LEVERAGING TAX PREP WORK
 Immediately: Collect 2-3 Local Stories
 Off Season: How can you educate and engage VITA volunteers
and others in this work?
 Planning Tax Season 2016: Build in a VITA Site visit for your
Elected Official
IN-PERSON OPPORTUNITY
 Join us at the Advocacy Forum, Hill Day and EITC & CTC
Campaign Kick-Off, June 16-18 in Alexandria, VA
https://uwa.emeetingsonline.com/emeetings/websitev2.asp?mmnno=753&pagename=SITE120439&sessionid=302948836
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June 1, 2015
YOU on
June
16-17
Join Us at United Way’s Advocacy Forum & Hill Day
REGISTER TODAY:
http://bit.ly/registertoliveunited
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June 1, 2015
Thank you