Policy Advocacy: Taking Action through Advocacy to Propel Climate Policy
October 2009
With pressing problems and unprecedented opportunities, now is the time for donors to advocate for effective policy responses to climate change.
The Strategy
A common myth says that foundations can’t support advocacy. In fact, they can and even should. According to experts, advocacy is a defining characteristic of high-impact charities, and supporting it can provide big bang for a donor’s buck. Yet few support it: in fact, only 12 percent of foundations do.1
Advocacy is often confused with lobbying, which is only one form of advocacy—the one that focuses on convincing legislators to take certain positions on particular pieces of legislation. Advocacy also includes community organizing, working with coalitions, media outreach and nonpartisan voter engagement. By informing and empowering multiple voices, all of these activities can have a tremendous impact on society’s biggest challenges.
Advocacy is most powerful when done at the right time. All it takes is a window of opportunity like growing public support around an issue, a piece of legislation under consideration or a change in the political climate—like the one we are currently witnessing around climate change.
The Problem
Climate change is a far-reaching problem that must be addressed now. If current greenhouse gas emissions persist, we could see irreversible changes to our climate with grave consequences, including more extreme weather, decreasing water supplies and rising threats to human health.2
Addressing this enormous issue will require smart policy responses at multiple levels and in multiple areas, from international carbon emissions treaties to local green building codes. Too few such policies currently exist: the United States needs effective federal climate policies to supplement local efforts, and the world needs policies that enable coordinated global responses.
Public support to address climate change has recently grown significantly, and the current political context is amenable, too. That makes this a good time to advocate. Yet it’s also crucial to recognize that no single treaty or policy will solve the problem. The effort to devise and implement sound climate policies will be ongoing, and it will require effective advocacy not just now, but for years to come.
The Opportunity
- Stay connected. Remember that the right timing is key to successful advocacy. Be sensitive to opportunities as they emerge in your community, across the country and globally. Also, consider the potential effects on climate of policy changes in other areas, from agriculture to energy to local building codes.
- Engage key influencers. Focus your grants on specific communities that influence decision-making. For example, the evangelical community has been a key supporter of environmental issues while being an important influence on policymakers on Capitol Hill.
- Empower through knowledge. Use your resources to support efforts like events, media or other activities that educate and enable voters to take action around climate change policy.
- Support local advocates. Mobilize nonprofits in your community to expand their climate change advocacy activities, or support learning opportunities for nonprofits pursuing such advocacy for the first time.
Additional Resources
- The Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest promotes, supports and protects 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocacy and lobbying. Its website offers easy-to-understand information on how foundations can support advocacy.
- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for 21st Century Energy provides a cheatsheet on key terms and questions around the current climate policy debate in Washington.
- ClimateWorks is an international network of donors dedicated to reducing global emissions by promoting climate-friendly policies.
1. Foundation Center, Social Justice Grantmaking II, Highlights, (New York, 2009), http://foundationcenter.org/gainknowledge/research/pdf/socialjustice2009_highlights.pdf.
2. Pew Center on Global Climate Change, “Climate Change 101: Understanding and Responding to Global Climate Change,” http://www.pewclimate.org/global-warming-basics/climate_change_101.
