Pablo, let’s get our priorities straight!
I much enjoyed Pablo Eisenberg’s “A Nonprofit Agenda for the Next President” in the 10/30 issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Nice piece. I even agree with many of the six major points he raises as an agenda for the sector with the next president. But he ends with what, to me, is by far the most important point….”Maintain a strong advocacy role,” and you have to read a long way through to get there. For me, that’s the most important thing the non-profit sector can do. Speak up!
There is a certain civility that extends throughout the sector, sometimes to our detriment. Perhaps it is born of the privileged class of people who create private philanthropies, or maybe it is because the independent sector is so fearful of the government adversely reacting to criticism, but, whatever the antecedents, nonprofits are painfully polite. So when Pablo leaves until last the idea that advocacy from the sector to address the real social ills that we care about, he seems to fall into this pattern.
Instead, I wish he had led with the idea that, with a new administration, NOW is the time to make clear what we hold to be critical, and the ideas we have been working on for how best to address those things. Jim Josephs, whose tenure with the Council on Foundations brought some of the best we have ever seen from that organization, used to talk about the role of philanthropy as being “society’s ‘R&D’ department.” I loved that analogy, for it gave in such a simple fashion, a clear mission for us all. We have the privilege of sitting outside the tax system and, in response, we have an affirmative role to play in solving some of our most challenging problems. We have the resources to think, to experiment, and to imagine new solutions. We also have an obligation to act on them.
So, rather than respectfully asking for an office in the White House, I’d far rather see Bob Greenstein (Center on Budget and Policy Priority) publicly calling for HIS ideas for a new approach to taxation, or Cecile Richards (Planned Parenthood) offering new ideas on how to make reproductive health services broadly available, or Rand Beers (National Security Network) suggesting some viable ways to change our military engagement in the Middle East. That all comes first. Then, well after suggesting a higher payout for foundations, we could say it would be nice to have an office in the White House to help give the sector a higher profile, better accountability, and the like.
This is a great post and I fully agree with the importance of prioritizing advocacy. As you note, nonprofit advocacy is integral to the sector. It yields significant, broad and sustainable benefits that accrue to citizens where advocacy and organizing play a key role in strengthening communities and bolstering civic participation.
I work at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), which is about to release the first in a series of reports that illustrate and quantify the community-wide benefits of advocacy, organizing and civic engagement, beginning with New Mexico. We hope to also dispel misperceptions about this work that persist as barriers to securing substantive foundation funding necessary for groups to continue and expand their efforts.
Look for the report soon; our hope is to contribute to the new nonprofit agenda and engage with others like Tides to reposition nonprofit advocacy as one of the most effective strategies that can benefit of all society. As you note, “NOW is the time to make clear what we hold to be critical, and the ideas we have been working on for how best to address those things.” I couldn’t agree more.
Niki Jagpal
Research Director, NCRP
Comment by Niki Jagpal — November 11, 2008 @ 8:11 am