Last month Barry Hessenius did a rather lengthy entry on his blog regarding lobbying for non-profits. I haven’t seen any mention of it elsewhere and felt it important to call attention to some of what he mentions.
Hessenius recently completed his book, Hardball Lobbying for Non-profits, so the topic is fairly close to his heart and thoughts. His thesis essentially is that like it or not, lobbying and the expenditure of money that accompanies it is absolutely necessary to maintain stable governmental funding and legislative support. There are plenty of other causes as worthy as yours out there so success on an emotional or logical appeal is going to be less likely to succeed. And if the other worthies bring money into the picture, the job becomes that much more difficult.
“Rather than acting like a $160+ billion a year industry, the national nonprofit arts field has ceded the power of its economic clout by its failure to engage in serious advocacy and lobbying efforts in comparison to other special interest groups.”
Contrary to what you may believe given the amounts involved in the recent campaign financing and lobbying scandals, he states that it doesn’t take that much money to effectively lobby legislators. However, it would behoove the industry to have a well-organized and funded lobby apparatus in place at all times keeping its interests on law makers’ radar at all times.
The worst thing that can happen, Hessenius says, is to be in the position of trying to marshal your forces in times of funding and legislative crisis. Many performing arts people are familiar with the maxim, “cheap, quick, quality, pick two” so the benefit of financing a consistent effort can be apparent.
Personally, I’d as concerned about getting my money worth from the lobbyist as I am from the legislator. I suspect that there will be a steep learning curve from mistakes made initially. Much of what he says makes sense. Organizations are urged to create a Crisis Public Relations plan in advance because there is little chance of manufacturing an effective one during one.
Hessenius says he is going to try to create the lobbying machinery for all non-profits, regardless of urban, suburban or rural setting. I don’t know what his exact plan is, but he wants to do advocacy and lobbying workshops across the country and explicitly asks for his readers’ help in arranging and hosting them. If you are in a position to help him out, read over the entry and contact him.
**He says to email him a reply to the message but there is no email listed which makes me believe he was referring to the fact many have the column automatically emailed to them. If you really want to participate, perhaps contact WESTAF which hosts his blog.
