Nonprofits: How to Quickly and Effectively Communicate Your Value to Legislators

As fed­er­al shifts and threats chal­lenge the very exis­tence of many non­prof­its, many orga­ni­za­tions find this is a try­ing time. The non­prof­it are­na was one of Bell­mont Part­ners’ first areas of exper­tise, and we’ve helped hun­dreds find their way through chal­lenge and oppor­tu­ni­ty. While today’s cli­mate may be unique, it’s not total­ly unprece­dent­ed. Dur­ing the pan­dem­ic, we helped many mis­sion-dri­ven, ser­vice-ori­ent­ed orga­ni­za­tions who were fac­ing con­stant uncertainty.

In tur­bu­lent times, it’s more impor­tant than ever for non­prof­its to take a fresh look at how they com­mu­ni­cate the val­ue they bring to their com­mu­ni­ties, their clients or end users, their staff and vol­un­teers and even tax­pay­ers. Donors, ben­e­fi­cia­ries, elect­ed offi­cials and com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers need to under­stand the crit­i­cal role they play.

As an exam­ple, in Min­neso­ta, accord­ing to the Min­neso­ta Coun­cil of Non­prof­its, the state would have to dou­ble its work­force to cov­er all the ser­vices non­prof­its pro­vide – with less effi­cien­cy, the report sug­gests. Non­prof­its are also an impor­tant part of the state’s econ­o­my, not only pro­vid­ing ser­vices, but also jobs to 13% of the Minnesota’s total workforce.

In this envi­ron­ment, com­mu­ni­cat­ing with leg­is­la­tors has nev­er been more impor­tant. As always, though, be sure to con­sult legal coun­sel before engag­ing in any direct lob­by­ing activ­i­ties if you’re unsure what your 501(c)(3) tax sta­tus per­mits. The good news is that most forms of advo­ca­cy are per­mis­si­ble, espe­cial­ly when sim­ply artic­u­lat­ing your val­ue-add. Keep in mind, too, the cli­mate and com­po­si­tion of your state and fed­er­al admin­is­tra­tions when decid­ing how best to approach and frame your work.

So how do you quick­ly and effec­tive­ly com­mu­ni­cate your val­ue to your elect­ed offi­cials? We have five tips to get started:

• Align your mes­sag­ing – Now is a good time to take a fresh look at your mes­sag­ing and ensure it’s not only up to date, but also com­pelling. Hone your mis­sion state­ment, orga­ni­za­tion­al val­ues and the ben­e­fit you bring to those you serve. Add or update lan­guage about how changes in fund­ing could be harm­ful to the recip­i­ents of your services.
• Devel­op a one-pager – A sum­ma­ry sheet, referred to as a “one-pager,” that high­lights your mes­sag­ing can be an extreme­ly use­ful tool in meet­ings with elect­ed offi­cials, donors, and oth­er influ­encers who need or want to know about your issue but don’t have the depth of knowl­edge or time to absorb many details. Forc­ing your­self to fit every­thing on one page and mak­ing it graph­i­cal­ly appeal­ing ensures it will be eas­i­ly scannable. In addi­tion to quick­ly com­mu­ni­cat­ing your val­ue and your con­cerns in this moment, it should also have a clear and com­pelling call to action for elect­ed offi­cials (i.e. “Vote no on XXXX”).
• Be rel­e­vant to oth­ers – Beyond the one-pager, reit­er­ate your mes­sag­ing on your web­site so those clos­est to you know where you stand and can raise their hands to get more involved. Make it easy for those look­ing for like-mind­ed part­ners to find you. Go fur­ther and con­sid­er a let­ter to the edi­tor, OpEd or oth­er earned media tac­tic to reach new audiences.
• Link arms with oth­ers – There is pow­er in many, and Min­neso­ta has a long his­to­ry of coali­tion build­ing and col­lec­tive action. Reg­u­lar­ly con­nect with oth­er non­prof­it lead­ers around areas of com­mon ground and solu­tions. One way to eas­i­ly find oth­ers in your area is by join­ing inter­est groups like the Min­neso­ta Coun­cil of Non­prof­its that exist for this very pur­pose. You can also ask your rep­re­sen­ta­tives who else is active on the issues you care about.
• Tap your net­work – Reach elect­ed offi­cials effec­tive­ly by tap­ping those close to them. If you know of some­one in your net­work (includ­ing your board mem­bers) who can help advo­cate on your behalf, now is the time to lever­age those relationships.

While the cur­rent cli­mate is dif­fi­cult, it may be serv­ing as a cat­a­lyst for non­prof­its to ensure they’re com­mu­ni­cat­ing clear­ly about the vital role they play in their com­mu­ni­ties and the indis­pens­able val­ue the non­prof­it sec­tor col­lec­tive­ly brings to the state. At Bell­mont Part­ners, we’ve worked with non­prof­its large and small to exe­cute all five tips, and more, in the way that is most appro­pri­ate and val­ues-aligned for each orga­ni­za­tion and its goals. We’d be hap­py to chat with you about an approach that would work best for your orga­ni­za­tion. Con­tact us to get started.