Hardball Lobbying for Nonprofits Real Advocacy for Nonprofits in the New Century

by Hessenius, Barry

• ISBN13: 9781137475640
• ISBN10: 1137475641
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2099-11-19
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Hardball Lobbying for Nonprofits is a plea for nonprofit leaders to embrace lobbying as a necessary and appropriate part of their jobs. It is also a tutorial on how nonprofits can begin to lobby effectively, providing in-depth details on issues such as how to fund a lobbying machine; the legal framework for nonprofit lobbying; the basics of meeting with elected officials; how to delegate responsibility; effective fund raising; and even how to motivate people to work hard on a lobbying campaign. Importantly, the book also asks nonprofits to confront the way government really works. The author explains how government decisions are made, confronting head-on the issue of money, the absolute necessity for politicians to raise campaign funds, and the need for nonprofits to involve themselves in this process.

This is a no-holds-barred, comprehensive, real-world guide to building political power and successfully lobbying for nonprofits in the 21st century, written by an insider who has been in the trenches as both a lobbyist and a government official.

Lobbying in America has everything to do with money and elected officials' need for campaign funds. Hardball Lobbying for Nonprofits recognizes this reality, and is both a tutorial for nonprofit organizations on how to effectively advocate and lobby, and a plea for the nonprofit leaders to embrace the lobbying function as part of their job descriptions.

Author Biography

An author, consultant and public speaker, Barry Hessenius published his work: Hardball Lobbying for Nonprofits in 2007 (Macmillan & Company, New York). Since then he has been conducting seminars and workshops for nonprofit organizations on the topic of Advocacy and Lobbying, developed a mini-course curriculum in public policy, advocacy and lobbying for university nonprofit and business school degree programs, and has been a panelist and keynote speaker on the topic at nonprofit conferences and meetings. He also conducted a two phase study with reports released in 2007 and 2009 for the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation on the issue of youth involvement and generational management & succession in the arts, culture and environmental fields, and has developed a workshop training module for managing the generations in the workplace.

He is the author of BARRY'S BLOG – 'news, advice and opinion for arts administrators' - hosted by the WESTERN STATES ARTS FEDERATION - with a 10,000 subscriber base.

Barry was appointed Director of the California Arts Council by Governor Gray Davis in March 2000 and was a member of his Cabinet for nearly five years. At the CAC he managed a budget of $70 million, an annual $32 million grants pool, and supervised a staff of 54. Mr. Hessenius was previously the President and Chief Executive Officer of the California Assembly of Local Arts Agencies, a nonprofit statewide service provider organization for 250 local arts councils. He has been an advisor to the National Policy Committee of Americans for the Arts and the President's Committee for the Arts & Humanities (Clinton Administration). A founding member and Vice-Chair of California Arts Advocates and the United Statewide Community Arts Association, Mr. Hessenius has also been a board member of the National Association of State Arts Agencies (NASAA), the California Alliance for Arts Educators (CAAE), California CultureNet, the California State Summer School for the Arts, the California Travel Industry Association (CalTIA), and a member of the State Superintendent's Task Force on Arts Education. He has authored several studies including the California Arts Advocacy Handbook, the Local Arts Agency Funding Study for the Aspen Institute and the City Arts Agency Tool Kit. He served a term as Executive Director of Alonzo King's LINES Ballet Company in San Francisco in 2005 / 2006. He is currently on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Architectural Foundation.

Table of Contents

FOREWORDACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION: The Value of Nonprofit Lobbying to Democracy

1. Framing the Context

2. Toward a New Paradigm for Nonprofit Advocacy/Lobbying

3. The Decision-Making Process

4. Advocacy, Lobbying, and the Law

5. Building an Advocacy Foundation

6. Managing the Lobbying Effort/Organization

7. Influencing the Decision-Making Process

8. Postmortem