Nonprofits Should Reach Out to Candidates, Urges Klobuchar Campaign Representative

A representative of Amy Klobuchar’s presidential campaign urged nonprofit groups to reach out to political candidates — even those running for president — to help them understand the issues and what nonprofits need, during a discussion at the Upswell conference here, which was organized by Independent Sector.

What was supposed to be a forum for representatives from multiple political campaigns turned into two extended discussions when people representing other campaigns did not show up. First up, New York Times columnist David Brooks, who is also the executive director of Weave: the Social Fabric Project, a program of the Aspen Institute, interviewed Myron Frans, a representative of Amy Klobuchar’s presidential campaign and the Commissioner of Minnesota Management and Budget.

Frans said that even presidential campaigns are looking for input, but groups need to be assertive. “In order to get your message into these campaigns, you have to be persistent,” he said. “You have to be really concise, and you have to have an ask. What is it that you’re looking to do? What is it that you want the candidate to do?”

In those interactions, it helps if groups can tell a good story about how a policy can change lives. “All the presidential candidates are thinking about these things, but it’s that connection to the humans, to the community, that really is where it tugs at the heart,” Frans said. “If you can show the real value to human beings, that’s what it’s all about.”

Frans said that he personally enjoys engaging with nonprofit leaders. It keeps his job interesting and helps him see the real-world impacts and possibilities of government work.

“Be a strong advocate,” he told conference participants. “Don’t be afraid to share the passion of what it is that you’re doing and why you’re doing it. It’s hard to hear on the inside what’s going on out there.”

Data and Stories

In the second half of the presentation, Dan Cardinali, the CEO of Independent Sector, interviewed Helene Gayle, CEO of the Chicago Community Trust, about the most pressing challenges facing the nonprofit sector.

Economic inequity was at the top of her list, particularly as it affects African American and Latinx populations. If current trends continue, she said, in a matter of decades the average net wealth of these two groups will reach zero.

“We can’t have a society where, if you look at the average, it looks like we’re doing good, but it means we have such extremes, and so much of our population is left out of wealth creation,” she said.

Nonprofits, she said, are important for more than simply the services they provide. Communities that have nonprofits have greater social cohesion. “It’s a way of engaging and making bridges and connections in our society that might not be there otherwise,” she said. “I think that having a strong nonprofit sector is incredibly important.”

She called on foundations to take bigger risks on organizations and to get over their fear of failing. She also stressed the need to improve health, education, and job creation. But that would likely not be enough. “We have to think about what some of these structural issues are that we have to fix if we’re going to have a society that works for all of us extremely well,” she said. To do that, she said, groups need to harness both data and the voices of those in the communities they serve.

“The more we’re able to provide things that give voice to real people’s stories, but also have the data to support it, I think we can start changing the debate,” she said. “And hopefully we can move forward on public-policy issues that matter to the work that we all do.”