Nonprofits are feeding supporters a steady stream of petitions to sign and requests for checks. Here’s how to make them effective citizen advocates.

Since I founded the anti-poverty lobby RESULTS in 1980, I have been a staunch believer in the power of nonprofits to turn disengaged Americans into effective advocates. When citizens put down their smartphones and come together for the common good, they gain a sense of agency. Democracy itself grows stronger.

But many nonprofits shy from the training and encouragement that is the foundation of such transformation. Instead, they keep offering those petitions and fundraising requests, something I call transactional advocacy. Rather than invest in developing true advocates, they tell us our money matters to the organization and the issue — but not our voices.

Once, the head of organizing for a very large nonprofit told me, “We can’t let our volunteers write letters to the editor or op-eds, because they’ll get it wrong and misrepresent the organization.” It seems that protecting their brand was more important than empowering their volunteers.

Worse, many nonprofits are abandoning advocacy altogether. A 2023 report from the Independent Sector found that less than a third of nonprofits have engaged in advocacy or lobbying over the past five years — half the number doing so in 2000.

We are “leaving an enormous amount of power on the table,” said Independent Sector CEO Akila Watkins. “That’s power that can drive change for the communities we serve.” I know this power firsthand: Over the last 40 years, RESULTS volunteers have played a lead advocacy role in a 66% decline in global child deaths.

Of the nonprofits that are still engaging in lobbying, most offer near useless tactics like form emails. Just 3% of congressional staff said that form emails have “a lot of influence on their offices’ decisions,” according to a 2018 survey by the Congressional Management Foundation. This widespread emphasis on transactional advocacy amounts to advocacy malpractice.

Nonprofits and foundations are dedicated to changing the world for the better. But by acting out of fear that volunteers will screw things up, they push average citizens to the sidelines, weaken our civic bonds, and contribute to feelings of hopelessness about our country’s biggest problems.

What is a way forward?

I encourage organizations to commit to transformational advocacy, with members trained and encouraged to use their voices as citizens in ways they never imagined — like meeting with an elected official or a local editorial board and bringing them on board to your issue. This helps volunteers see themselves in a new light, as community leaders, and provides an antidote to civic despair.

Before joining RESULTS, Maxine Thomas said that she had a heart for service but knew nothing about advocacy. As someone who has experienced poverty, Maxine joined an Indianapolis Circles group, part of a national organization that supports participants to move out of poverty. Members of her Circles group realized they had a story to tell and joined RESULTS to help develop their stories. Maxine received a scholarship to attend the RESULTS conference in Washington, D.C., and this is how she described her first-ever meeting with an elected official, Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.):

I was a ball of emotion. It felt like an out of body experience. ... The volunteers were polished and sharp but I was scared and worried whether I would say the right thing.

Almost everyone feels that way before their first congressional meeting. But Maxine had been well trained and spoke powerfully from her own experience. After a full day of first-ever meetings with her elected officials, Maxine said, “I was euphoric. I was on this high and felt I was part of something revolutionary.”

Shouldn’t we be providing “euphoric” to our members, not just email form letters?

Elli Sparks joined Citizens’ Climate Lobby, suffering from what she called “climate trauma.” Elli had wept when she read Bill McKibben’s book “ Earth,” about the implications of climate change. Eighteen months after joining CCL and getting the training and support she needed, Elli met with 20 congressional offices over a four-day period:

I met with many folks whose view of the world was very different than mine. Going into their offices was hard. I had to let go of a lot of emotional baggage. I could no longer judge them or hold hostility in my heart towards them. I had to let go of my fear of climate change and my fear that they wouldn’t listen to me. I had to center myself in love. Releasing fear and centering in love … this is sacred and profound work.

Shouldn’t we be providing “sacred and profound” to our members, not another petition to sign? Isn’t this the experience we want for Americans — to powerfully engage in a vibrant democracy?

As volunteers feel their power grow, so too do nonprofits. CCL volunteers played a key role in the creation of the Climate Solutions Caucus in the House of Representatives. It launched in 2016 and grew within three years to 45 Republicans and 45 Democrats. Over that period, volunteers rallied key community leaders to make the case to wary elected officials that climate change was a critical local issue.

It’s time for foundations and nonprofits to acknowledge the difference they could make in healing our democracy and begin delivering transformational advocacy.

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Daley-Harris is the author of “ Reclaiming Our Democracy: Every Citizen’sGuide to Transformational Advocacy” and the founder of RESULTS and Civic Courage. This is part of a series focused on better understanding transformational advocacy: citizens awakening to their power.

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