Why Advocacy Efforts Are Good for Grantmakers & Grantees

onPhilanthropy: Articles:

"The potential of this influence is significant - the more than one million public charities in the United States comprise over 7.2% of the country’s GDP, and in a 2008 survey by Charity Lobbying in the Public Interest (CLPI) and Johns Hopkins University Center for Civil Society, nonprofits that reported an interest in and duty toward lobbying still only dedicate 2% of their budget to doing so. In addition to fiduciary impact, nonprofit organizations can provide a perspective and insight into the root causes of issue areas, with which legislators are not necessarily familiar. Thus, nonprofit organizations truly do have the capacity to effect change in an impactful way through advocacy efforts."