Advocacy 101 Part I: Investing in Change

Join your peers in the region for a jointly sponsored program between philanthropy-serving organizations about the role private and public foundations can play in advocacy as individual foundations or with your grantees. Advocacy is one, but not the only option for engaging in policy work. Among those options, advocacy is often least understood. 

After this workshop with Bolder Advocacy, your foundation will have a clear understanding of the kinds of advocacy activities you can safely engage in and best practices for grantmaking to give your grantees the most flexibility under the law for their advocacy efforts.

Not sure how to make the case for funding advocacy? Uncertain whether you can fund grantees that lobby? Wondering whether your public or private foundation can speak out on a particular issue? This training answers these questions and more! The workshop is designed for foundation staff and trustees.

Participants will learn:

• Why public and private foundation should support advocacy;
• An overview of activities that constitute advocacy and public policy work;
• Various advocacy roles for foundations;
• The tax code’s definitions of lobbying;
• Activities that are exceptions to the definitions of lobbying, including those in which private foundations can engage in;
• Rules for private and public foundation grants to nonprofits that lobby, including general support, a specific project, and multi-year grants; and
• Grant agreement language that permits support for policy work.

This program is for members of the following philanthropy-serving organizations: Maryland Philanthropy Network, Council of New Jersey Grantmakers, Florida Philanthropic Network, Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania, Philanthropy Wisconsin, NY Funders Alliance, and North Carolina Grantmakers.