Understanding Advocacy Rules

To the Editor:

The letter from Nan Aron, Gary Bass, Rick Cohen, and Elizabeth Heagy (“Confusion Over Charity Lobbying,” January 12) in response to Leslie Lenkowsky’s December 8, 2005, opinion article (“How to Protect the Rights of Charities to Speak Out”) was a thoughtfully reasoned response to Mr. Lenkowsky’s opinions, which were stated as something approaching fact when there is evidence that indicates otherwise.

The debate in The Chronicle underscores that too few nonprofit organizations and even fewer philanthropies seem to understand that advocacy is not only a fundamental (and still legal) right, it is also central to the mission of nonprofits, which serve as important vehicles through which ordinary citizens are able to become engaged in an array of diverse cultural, social, political, and religious interests.

Such engagement, in turn, is not only the hallmark of our democracy, it is an essential part of doing business — something that the private sector understands, given the considerable resources it allocates toward lobbying and advocating for its own interests. Why shouldn’t the nonprofit sector do likewise within the letter and spirit of the law?

Those who assert that nonprofits have no business engaging in advocacy may be forgetting what they learned in their history and civics classes, which stressed pluralism as a founding tenet of our society — one in which people hold a richly diverse mix of beliefs, commitments, and public priorities.

The founding fathers, most notably James Madison in the Federalist Papers, recognized that such pluralism would need outlets and advocated the right of all people to have a strong voice in the crafting of public policy.

While Madison might be legitimately distressed at the factionalism and “special interest” mentality that has developed as a result of this ethos, there is no reason to believe the nonprofit sector is fraught with so much political abuse that new restrictions on advocacy are needed.

Nor are they legitimate reasons to promulgate misinformation about how and to what extent nonprofits are allowed to lobby, advocate, and, yes, engage in political activism. Stating that advocacy is a legally forbidden activity is only one example of this kind of misinformation, which has been disturbingly effective in intimidating nonprofits, their boards, and foundations to the point of paralysis on this issue. Another problem is lumping together lobbying and voter education.

The potential danger in not distinguishing between the legal definitions and rules governing legislative lobbying and voter education is greater confusion and less compliance as to what is and is not permitted under the law.

Auspiciously, the current charity lobbying regime was created in a bipartisan manner and, although complicated, is becoming more widely understood by nonprofits, which perhaps begs for more coaching of, rather than Congressional mandates for, these organizations.

Attempts to divert nonprofits from engaging in consistent, forceful, and legal advocacy are particularly pernicious at a time when the state budgets on which many nonprofits depend to provide services for the underserved are in dramatic flux, civil liberties are on the line, and Americans want results from government and the nonprofit sector.

As a result, learning how to advocate effectively and legally for sufficient funding to meet the needs of organizations’ beneficiaries and constituents is not a luxury anymore for nonprofits: It’s a necessity.

We believe that what is needed is less misinformation, finger-pointing, and ideology and more discussion and awareness about how we can help nonprofits become more educated about how lobbying and other forms of advocacy complement charitable purposes.

Further, they need to learn what is and is not allowed under the law so they can become the best advocates they can be for those whom they serve.

Perhaps the letter writers and Mr. Lenkowsky, all of whom are passionate supporters of the nonprofit sector, might find ways to work together to achieve this goal, which will be critical to the health, growth, and productivity of our sector, now and in the future.

David F. Arons
Editor
Funder’s Guide to Public Policy, Civic Engagement and Advocacy
Fieldstone Alliance
St. Paul

Joe Breiteneicher
President
The Philanthropic Initiative
Boston

Cynthia Gibson
Cynthesis Consulting
New York