I found chapter 2 of the Forces for Good to be rather interesting in the fact that the authors say that the best non-profits both advocate and serve (p. 32). I believe that for srue, local non-profits that I am familiar do not do both. They either advocate OR serve, but very few do both.
I hate to harp back on the debate regarding the Heritage Foundation, but I guess I cannot resist. The Heritage Foundation is perhaps what the authors are looking for in terms of effective non-profits. After only reading two chapters, it might be safe to say that none of the other non-profits advocate anymore than the Heritage Foundation. Their strong advocacy efforts certainly helped cause change (either for the good or worse, it's your opinion) but it did cause change to say the very least.
The idea of advocating and not being afraid to be political is intriguing to me. Crutchfield and Grant state that "engaging in policy research, analysis, and reform, organizations can influence legislation and identify new opportunities for programs" (p. 53). I state will say again, that I have very little experiance with working in non-profits, but my best guess is that a lot of the local organizations do not engage in polcy research or analysis at all. Which in turn could be why some are not effective.
I am happy to hear from your experiences or knowledge anyone here in class has with non-profits and if they do or do not engage with any sort political entity in an effort to formulate new programs.
Hi Matt,
ReplyDeleteThe Tioga County Historical Society does not currently engage in any advocacy, but we have applied for, and received, various grants from the government. The other organizations I am associated with, the Apalachin Library and the Fine Arts Society of the Southern Tier have also applied for and gotten grants. Again, there was no pro-active advocacy role taken on by either. I think this is because two of these organizations have not had the capacity to advocate, or simply do not know where to start. Apalachin Library is part of the Finger Lakes Library system (a cooperative library system chartered by the state) http://www.flls.org/, which takes on advocacy roles for the libraries in the system.
I think this is a problem with local small organizations; they do not have staff or board members who are knowledgeable about various issues related to law or management. From my readings for my B.S. in Arts management this is very common in small cultural organizations; the staff works there because they either have a background in history, art or cultural studies. Board members volunteer because they either have cultural background or are interested in the mission of the organization. It cannot be assumed that these individuals necessarily have backgrounds in public policy or cultural administration. Dr. Campbell of course mentioned how some organizations do not know there is a difference between lobbying and advocacy. I plan to bring to subject up at the TCHS and perhaps find out how they have viewed advocacy.
Andrea,
ReplyDeleteYour comments solidify my thoughts on the subject. I think putting a stronger focus on advocacy can make a big difference for an organization such as the Tioga County Historical Society. Although applying for, and receiving grants is a step in the right direction, I think you hit it right on the head by mentioning that advocating proactively, could help immensely.
Matt,
ReplyDeleteYou pointed out the fear of being political as one hindrance non-profits face with the idea of advocacy.
I have many thoughts about this. Most non-profits serve a specific population and just by existing the agency is advocating for that population. Obviously, this does not speak to activity in the community or with policy, so yes, I agree that the fear to be political often stands in the way of further steps of advocacy in non-profit work.
Last year I worked at an agency that was creative in getting around this. The idea of advocating for better community services came up in some support groups I was co-facilitating. When I told my supervisors about the idea, they suggested we encourage the support group members to organize and do this on their own. This solved many things: a) the agency did not have to become "political" and b) the voices of many people would be expressed to politicians in the area, rather than an agency, which can (but not always) take away the personal touch.
Advocacy looks different in many cases. When I worked for a home visiting program we definitely served the population while also advocating for them. (For example in court cases, custody) Also, we advocated for the population we served when our grants were running out. Advocacy can be frustrating at times when others do not recognize the importance for such services especially when programs are getting cut. I do not think advocacy and service can be separated. You can not do one without the other.
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