http://advanceadvocacy.com/blog Nonprofit advocacy news and commentary Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:25:39 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The federal government bailout of banks and automobile companies begs the question of who is helping the millions of others suffering from the downturn in the economy.  We see pictures of depleted food pantries, longer lines of people seeking aid, and reports of state and local budget shortfalls.  How will ... http://advanceadvocacy.com/blog/2008/11/30/commonsense-philanthropy/ The presidential election is over.  The frantic pace, the campaign rhetoric and the fear mongering are fading from memory.  What remains is the promise of a revitalized America, renewed respect abroad and a re-commitment.of Democrats and Republicans to work together to solve our serious problems.  The promise of the leadership ... http://advanceadvocacy.com/blog/2008/11/17/season-of-hope/ A nation is formed by the willingness of each of us to share in the responsibility for upholding the common good.  A government is invigorated when each one of us is willing to participate in shaping the future of this nation. In this election year, we must define the common good and begin again ... http://advanceadvocacy.com/blog/2008/10/30/doing-your-part/ Nonprofits say advocacy is important, yet limited time and resources prevent a significant focus on it.  This is not a new finding, but one that was recently confirmed by a survey by the Johns Hopkins University Nonprofit Listening Post Project.  The Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest (CLPI) partnered ... http://advanceadvocacy.com/blog/2008/08/04/actions-speak-louder-than-words/ Thanks to a few bad apples using dishonest tactics and motivated by greed, the whole lobbying profession is under attack.  The campaigns of both presumptive presidential candidates have vowed not to take campaign dollars from lobbyists -- no matter who they are or what they lobby on.  As a lobbyist who has worked ... http://advanceadvocacy.com/blog/2008/06/24/lobbying-can-be-honorable/ Seems like there is a lot of secret government information collected in Washington, the country and the world with no apologies or compunction to share.  At the same time, there are calls for more openness and transparency for charities and nonprofit organizations.  Obviously, there is a need to collect sensitive ... http://advanceadvocacy.com/blog/2008/01/22/turning-tables-on-govt-sunshine-on-data/ It’s not too late to make another resolution – to make your government relations and lobbying program more active in 2008. While most of the media attention is focused on the upcoming presidential election, lots of other activity is also happening in the public policy arena.  Given the many serious issues ... http://advanceadvocacy.com/blog/2008/01/10/resolve-to-advance-advocacy/ Happy 2008 to all readers.  With all the media coverage, polls and pundits, it's hard to miss that the new year is off to a fast start with the first wave of presidential caucuses and primaries.  We’ll have 10 more months to hear about presidential candidates and the experience, views ... http://advanceadvocacy.com/blog/2008/01/03/new-year-new-opportunities-for-leadership/ Here we are on December 20 and for those who celebrate Christmas, time is running out.  As usual, like many folks, I get caught up in ensuring that everyone on my gift list is taken care of, the house is decorated and this year, cookies got baked.  My elderly father ... http://advanceadvocacy.com/blog/2007/12/20/in-the-spirit-of-the-season/ Here we are again, edging toward the end of 2007 and the Congress and the President still haven’t finalized most federal agency budgets.  In fact, they’ve only completed one – defense dept.  The government is limping along on "continuing resolutions" aimed at keeping programs going and avoiding government shut down.  ... http://advanceadvocacy.com/blog/2007/12/17/no-way-to-fund-a-country/