#MarchForOur Lives: How Can Advocacy Organizations Embrace a New Kind of Advocacy Campaign?

Jeanette Russell 2

Hi all,


I wanted to share a new article from Colin Delany​ of epolitics who offers timely advise on how nonprofits can combine the passion of citizen activists with the experience and resources of professional advocates. Love to know how your organization is thinking of how to partner with citizen movements.

How can nonprofits provide resources and expertise to citizen activists without getting in the way

1. Build a library of content related to your issues.
2. Build relationships with coalition partners, journalists, high-profile activists, opinion leaders and other potential allies or conduits for messaging
3. When it makes sense, provide the tools.

One of the great strengths of professional advocacy organizations is their ability to be persistent: most nonprofits are in it for the long haul. By contrast, many of these new, citizen-driven movements will prove to be ephemeral, but that’s okay: like Occupy, their influence on the political culture can outlast their formal existence. Individual activists may move on, but organizations can keep the flame alive while a new cohort of advocates find their footing.