Turn Passion into Action: How Nonprofit Advocacy Engages Communities and Drives Lasting Change

Through their unique missions, every nonprofit is dedicated to creating positive change in their mission space. From climate change to elevating arts and culture to ending homelessness, organizations use advocacy for movement-building and, ultimately, moving towards fulfilling their visions. Advocacy for nonprofits involves raising awareness and outlining the actions needed to create lasting change. But nonprofits can’t do this alone—they need their community’s support to drive the movement forward. They need the support and passion of community members who are willing to take action alongside the organizations, groups and activists that are leading the movement. 

By galvanizing your community to take action (both online and beyond), you’ll help to further illustrate the true need for this movement and the need for organizations like yours, who are instrumental in driving the work forward. Combining your organization’s resources and networks with your community’s passion and leadership is necessary to make a real difference in a way that’s sustainable. Advocacy and grassroots activations can also play an important role in longevity of your organization. 

Engaging your audience to take action can seem like a daunting task, especially when trying to cut through the noise in digital spaces like social media where every minute billions of people are receiving an influx of content. That’s why nonprofits should build advocacy and grassroots activations into their communications strategy to engage key audiences. Keep reading to learn more about how advocacy engages communities and plays a key role in fundraising, and discover how you can start incorporating advocacy into your organization’s strategy. 

For nonprofits registered as a 501(c)3 here are some restrictions around legislative advocacy and activities like lobbying but don’t let that stop you from leveraging this powerful engagement toolAccording to the IRS, “no organization may qualify for section 501(c)(3) status if a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation (commonly known as lobbying). A 501(c)(3) organization may engage in some lobbying, but too much lobbying activity risks loss of tax-exempt status.” Translated not all advocacy is lobbying — and not all lobbying is prohibited. In fact, depending on 501(c)3’s annual expenses, an organization could spend 5% – 20% of its annual resources on direct advocacy or lobbying (Source: MediaCause). 

How Advocacy Engages your Community 

Advocacy and grassroots activations give your community a tangible, actionable way to make a difference while increasing visibility for your organization. Advocacy opportunities bring your community deeper into the organization’s mission and help to educate community members about the impact of the issue area that your organization is dedicated to solving. Grassroots activations can also bring a community closer together and make people feel like they’re part of something larger than themselves. Consider offering grassroots activations to your audiences as a direct way for them to create meaningful impact.

Grassroots activations can range from asking your community to advocate for a piece of legislation, participate in a rally or volunteering. Think of the viral Ice Bucket challenge created by the ALS Association, which garnered over $100m for ALS research and expanded their annual research funding by 187%. Organizations like Common Great client Mary’s Place have also approached advocacy through hosting “Lunch and Learns”, which provide donors with advocacy opportunities and a space to learn more about the organization. 

There are many ways to build advocacy efforts into your nonprofit’s communications strategy, but it’s important to choose activities that align with your nonprofit’s mission, have a clear purpose and have a strong call to action. 

Grassroots Activations as Donor Engagement

Donors are a core part of your audience and they’ve invested in your organization for a reason; solving the problems your nonprofit addresses. They’re passionate about your work, know your impact, and are committed to the mission. Grassroots activations can be a powerful way for donors to directly contribute to that impact and greater systemic change. According to a report published by Blackbaud in collaboration with M+R Strategic Services, donors who participated in an organization’s advocacy activation were seven times more likely to donate to the organization than those who did not participate. 

Consider engaging (or re-engaging) donors with advocacy opportunities. Grassroots activations that you share on social media can also be shared with your donor audience via personalized emails. Remember to tailor your message to each audience. 

How to Engage your Audience through Advocacy 

Ready to introduce grassroots activations to your audiences? To build engagement through advocacy, you’ll need to harness the power of marketing and development. You can introduce grassroots activations the same way you approach launching new campaigns or initiatives by leveraging the mass communications tools at your disposal: 

• Social media 

• Email marketing 

• Website 

• Events 

• Direct mail 

For example, your organization can launch a campaign that encourages individuals to contact their representatives and encourage them to pass legislation that addresses the issue that your nonprofit is dedicated to. The campaign can be promoted via social media and email, and it can direct individuals to your website. Build a landing page on your website for individuals to learn more about how they can contact their representatives, provide scripts, share tips etc. Your nonprofit may even consider adding a tool to the landing page that makes it easier for individuals to contact their representatives directly via your website. Whichever combination of communications channels your nonprofit would like to prioritize to launch these advocacy efforts, make sure to first clearly map out the SMART goals, objectives and KPIs to serve as a roadmap. 

Also be sure to consider the role of partnerships for advocacy work. Instead of taking on the bulk of the organizing work, look at a 501(c)4 that specializes in advocacy that your organization can partner with. By choosing a partner that aligns with your nonprofit, you can exponentially maximize the impact of your efforts. Traditionally, nonprofits may consider collaborating with corporate partners and organizational partners, but also consider the rising superstar the power of influencers, who could also transform your efforts to increase awareness and build engagement. 

As you decide if advocacy serves your strategic plan and aligns with your nonprofit's mission, consider collaborating with a consulting firm or marketing agency to help your organization launch these grassroots activations. An agency can work with you from start to finish, including developing the strategy for building engagement through advocacy, introducing the grassroots activations, building partnerships and optimizing your efforts for success. 

Reach out to us here at Common Great to schedule a free consultation and get started with building engagement to make a difference through advocacy. 

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This blog post was authored by Common Great Consultant, Deshani Semaan. Learn more about Deshani here and click here to book a Power Session with her. A Power Session is a 60-minute, on-demand meeting that can be used to address your nonprofit’s priorities, ask questions, discuss barriers, and more.

Common Great is a woman-owned, woman-led collective that was created specifically to help nonprofits innovate, fundraise and reach their goals. We offer fundraising and marketing strategy and implementation services, technology selection and implementation, and hiring and talent management services. Common Great works with nonprofits of all sizes, and we’ll work with you to create a budget that works for an organization of any size.