For me, this week's readings really struck a chord. First, I was not aware of the extent that nonprofits, specifically 501 (c) (3)'s, could advocate or lobby in seeking to spread their mission or interests. As I commented Xiaofei's blog, I think that a lot of nonprofits are successful in instigating social impact on a local level, but lack the means to bring broaden their mission or ideas (another problem of resources). Indeed, a lot of the 'social entrepreneurs' we read about last semester were not using ground-breaking innovations to achieve broad social change, but rather, were successful in organizing and advocating for their cause on a bigger stage. To me, an idea is only as powerful as the people support it, either through influence or number. An idea can be great and revolutionary, but if it remains in obscurity, it might might not gain the respect and attention it might deserve. Thus, advocacy is a necessary component to disseminate and mobilize support for socially progressive ideas or "blueprints"(Bornstein book) that could achieve broad social impact.
I am interested to hear what you guys think about this. Do you think it is more important for nonprofits to participate in advocacy, especially considering the higher level and amount of lobbying in contemporary society? Should similarly oriented nonprofits band together to advocate for social change, especially considering their substantial financial disadvantage in comparison with the for-profit sector?
Personally, I think advocacy will become more important as we move into the future. This obviously has implications for all of us, who hope to serve the public through nonprofits.
I agree with you, Dan. It is important for nonprofits to combine advocacy into their work, and it would be necessary for similarly oriented nonprofits to band together to make their appeal become more forceful and cover a larger scale so that people in legislation may see the urgency of the proposal.
ReplyDeleteIf advocacy is to increase, I hope it occurs outside the established political realm. Using social media, organizations may acquire support directly, rather than through the hegemonic intermediary of politics. With more open and democratic use of the digital communication realm, we can hope that our political institutions will favorably adapt with the changes. Wouldn’t we prefer this than the continuous appeal to adversarial political interests? What would a government without politics look like? It sounds humanely non-human.
ReplyDeleteDan,
ReplyDeleteI also believe that advocacy plays a significant role in the Not-For-Profit sector. I think that organizations like United Neighborhood Housing can have a positive impact. They are there to remind people of what their member organizations are working to accomplish. This could be highly beneficial if politicians, or those in the local communities surrounding these organizations, begin to take the efforts of these organizations for granted. Additionally, as funding cuts continue to be implemented advocacy efforts may be required in order to maintain financial support for those organizations that deserve it most.