Non-profit Advocacy

So many organizations and their leaders shy away from “advocacy” or don’t realize that to be effective you have to advocate for the people and communities you serve. That means more than just communicating needs and solutions to each other but to funders and elected officials. Advocacy is education and outreach at all levels and we cannot allow ourselves to abdicate this responsibility. Where do decision-makers get their information? Not from silence.

I recently read a blog post, “Nonprofits Must Stand Up and Fight for Themselves, or Perish” by Tom Sheridan that highlights this issue while discussing proposed federal budget cuts. I recommend reading the post and the comments for a reminder about why advocacy is vitally important. Here’s the link.

Non-profit organizations “support programs that do the bulk of the work that most Americans expect from their government — educating children, caring for the sick, and strengthening communities. They form the basis of the American social contract.”  -Tom Sheridan

Who else better understands the problems and has recommendations for policy based in solutions and knowledge than the non-profits that serve those in need?

-Rebecca

Make Sure Your Organization Owns Its Domain

If your organization’s website is managed by a provider, check with them to make sure you are listed as the domain registrant. A small non-profit I worked with recently discovered they were not. They originally set-up their website through a  provider.  Trying to change providers or consider a self-managed program became difficult.

Read this article at In Sync Web Design to learn more. From the article:

“Here is where your business identity is at risk. The “registrant contact” is the person who literally has life and death control over your web site name. If this “contact” is entered wrong, then the life of your business identity is literally in this person’s hands.”  –Amy Kesler, In Sync Web Design

While the article is written for small business owners, the advice applies to small non-profit organizations.

-Rebecca