September 20, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
NEW BOOKS
Hardball Lobbying for Nonprofits: Real Advocacy for Nonprofits in the New Century
by Barry Hessenius
“Nonprofits, if they want to have any chance of competing for access to decision makers and influence decision making, need to play the game by the same rules that the private-sector special interests do,” writes Barry Hessenius, a charity consultant and activist.
“It is time to use the private sector’s own tools to advance a bigger agenda, and perhaps, in the process, begin to change the very priorities of society,” he adds.
In his book, Mr. Hessenius provides both an argument for and a guide to increased advocacy by nonprofit organizations. In eight chapters, he describes the legal and political context in which charities operate, his perspective on how lobbying and legislation really work, how to create and manage an advocacy coalition, how to influence legislation, and how to dissect a lobbying effort after it has succeeded or failed.
“Nonprofits can no longer afford the genteel approach that has reduced them in large part to acting like Oliver Twist with their hands gripping their little bowl, begging, ‘Please sir, may I have some more?’” writes Mr. Hessenius.
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010; http://www.palgrave-usa.com; 209 pages; $65; ISBN 1-4039-8202-3.
