5 Chapter 5 – HOW CAN AGENCIES IMPACT SYSTEMS BEYOND THEMSELVES IN A PRO-ACTIVE WAY — WHILE STAYING IN COMPLIANCE WITH IRS RULES FOR NONPROFITS?

This chapter supports Module 5 in which you will:

• Evaluate policies to see whether and how they advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice.
• Interpret and amplify scholarly sources authored by those with lived experience and from systemically marginalized communities

*****************************************************************

It’s a tough world out there for nonprofits, no question. Funding is tight, demands are high, and the spotlight can burn bright and hot when someone decides to turn it on an agency. So, it makes sense that leaders can be inclined to play it safe. But, sometimes we play it too safe and then don’t utilize our rights as nonprofits — and in so doing, discourage our clients and constituencies from knowing about and exercising their rights (there’s that micro policy advocacy again!).

This module is about learning where the lines around voter registration and engagement and issue advocacy are for nonprofits and what happens when nonprofits exercise their rights to register and engage voters. (Isn’t it cool that there are nonprofits whose job it is to help other nonprofits be even better at our jobs?) And, we spend some time learning about issues American Indian/Alaskan Native people have when it comes to registering and voting — a clear niche for nonprofits to help. Some people say nonprofits should “Stay in their lane.” Well, I say to them, “Empowering communities and helping people be fully engaged in civic and other parts of life IS our lane, so put that in your pipe and smoke it.” (Hmmm. Maybe people don’t say that now that we know more about tobacco. But, it is more polite than the first response I had, so I’ll leave that anachronism there for all of us just to enjoy 🙂 )

Also — I decided not to do a lecture this module because the more I thought about it, the more I thought that Theresa Borroughs tells us exactly what we need to hear for this one – be sure to watch the animation “A more perfect union.” Rev. Simmons who accompanied Ms. Burroughs as she tried to register to vote worked for a nonprofit. A link in the StoryCorps article takes us here, where we can learn about how Ms. Burroughs was one of the first marchers to cross the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma on Bloody Sunday and was attacked. The Black churches that helped organize the marches and spread the messages about registering to vote? Nonprofits.

*****************************************************************

Read: 

• Bolder Advocacy nonprofit Voter Assistance Practical Guidance Series – look for your state, or if it’s not there, choose another. https://bolderadvocacy.org/resource-library/practical-guidance-nonprofit-voter-assistance/
• Council of Nonprofits. Why should your nonprofit advocate? https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/everyday-advocacy/why-should-your-nonprofit-advocate
• Leroux, Kelly & Krawczyk, Kelly. (2012). Can nonprofit organizations increase voter turnout? Findings from an agency-based voter mobilization experiment. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 43. 272-292. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275432044_Can_Nonprofit_Organizations_Increase_Voter_Turnout_Findings_From_an_Agency-Based_Voter_Mobilization_Experiment
• Skim this, but pay special attention to the Table of Contents list of barriers – how could agencies address some of these barriers to increase voting access?
  • Native American Rights Fund (2020). Obstacles at every turn: Barriers to political participation faced by Native American voters. https://vote.narf.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/obstacles_at_every_turn.pdf
    • It comes from this website: Native American Voting Rights Coalition — https://narf.org/native-american-voting-rights-coalition/

Visit

• https://www.nonprofitvote.org/

Watch

• In Memoriam: Theresa Burroughs, Civil Rights Leader & StoryCorps Participant (2019). https://storycorps.org/in-memoriam-theresa-burroughs