Rules of the Game: The Bolder Advocacy Podcast

Advocacy Check Up


Listen Later

For those who caught our most recent podcast on Nonprofit New Year’s Resolutions – Resolution #2 was to conduct an Advocacy Check Up. In this episode, we’re deeper into how to do that. We released new Nonprofit Self-Assessment tool, designed to help nonprofit organizations assess your overall compliance with federal and state advocacy-related tracking and reporting requirements, and to identify opportunities to build your organization’s advocacy capacity.

Attorneys for this Episode

Quyen Tu Sarah Efthymiou Susan Finkle Sourlis

 

ü   Governance & Administration: Strengthen your nonprofit’s compliance and operational efficiency

·      Having legal and accounting support from professionals with knowledge of nonprofits can help safeguard against unnecessary risk and prevent costly errors

·      The IRS recommends, and some states require, that certain organizational policies are maintained, such as document retention & destruction and conflict of interest policies.

·      Most states have registration and reporting requirements when nonprofits solicit funds from their state’s residents. Nonprofits should regularly review their fundraising activities (including online) to determine whether they need to register.

 

ü  Funding Sources: Once your legal house is in order, we suggest that you look at your funding sources.

·      The type of funder will help determine what type of funds you are dealing with, e.g., general support vs. project specific grants, single-year vs multi-year grants.

·      Determining the funding source will help you understand how you can spend the funds, whether there are limitations, and how you pay for the day-to-day operational costs for your nonprofit.

 

ü  Advocacy Activities, including lobbying

·      Important to understand if an activity or communication is lobbying or nonlobbying advocacy.

·      Whether your nonprofit has taken the 501(h) election will help you know your lobbying limits as a 501(c)(3), as well as how to define lobbying.

·      Don’t forget that many activities may look like lobbying but fall under an IRS exception. The checklist has you covered there, too.

·      State and federal lobbying disclosure rules may apply to your work, too.

 

ü  Coalition and Affiliate Work

·      The checklist also raises questions to consider when establishing and setting up a coalition and affiliate relationships. For example, Do you have a cost sharing agreement? Do you share staff, how do you keep track of the programs that are distinct to each organization? Are staff aware of the difference between the two orgs? These questions are important to the foundational principles of how c3s and c4s can work together – or in broader coalitions.

·      The basic principle is in regards to the flow of money and assets, we refer this as riding a bike up the hill – money or shared assets (like sharing staff) from the c3 to a c4 is slow deliberate process and you need to have the systems in place to ensure that the c3 is not supplementing or supporting the allowable c4 political activity.

·      Having the appropriate documentation and keeping track are also important principles to follow.

ü  Nonpartisan Election Activities

·      Although one election cycle just ended, another one is underway – there will be many local and state elections in the odd year. Thinking about and preparing for election-season activities should be part of every nonprofit’s check-up.

·      Do staff or volunteers understand the rules around nonpartisan activity? Do staff or volunteers know what hats they are wearing – what can they do in their official organizational capacity or as an individual on their own personal time?

·      In this section, think about your activities your nonprofit might participate in, e.g., will you conduct town halls, candidate questionaries, or voter education?

Resources: The primary resource that we highlighted today is our new Advocacy Check-Up: Nonprofit Self-Assessment. Within the checklist, you’ll find links to Bolder Advocacy and other helpful resources that will help you complete your assessment and be in the best position to advocate for your organization, your mission, and your communities.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Rules of the Game: The Bolder Advocacy PodcastBy Bolder Advocacy

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

26 ratings


More shows like Rules of the Game: The Bolder Advocacy Podcast

View all
Reveal by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

Reveal

8,074 Listeners

Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts by Slate Podcasts

Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts

3,488 Listeners

The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker Radio Hour

6,666 Listeners

The Gray Area with Sean Illing by Vox

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

10,655 Listeners

Playbook Deep Dive by POLITICO

Playbook Deep Dive

1,535 Listeners

Code Switch by NPR

Code Switch

14,516 Listeners

Pod Save America by Crooked Media

Pod Save America

86,250 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

112,758 Listeners

Today, Explained by Vox

Today, Explained

9,995 Listeners

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat by New York Times Opinion

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

7,577 Listeners

Throughline by NPR

Throughline

15,801 Listeners

Strict Scrutiny by Crooked Media

Strict Scrutiny

5,498 Listeners

Tradeoffs by Tradeoffs

Tradeoffs

383 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

14,859 Listeners

The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart by Comedy Central

The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

9,759 Listeners