Investing in Change: How Funders Can Engage in and Support Advocacy

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RSVP
Advocacy event graphic

Dear friends, 

The Social Innovation Forum invites you, our friend, to join us virtually at “Investing in Change: How Funders Can Engage in and Support Advocacy,” on Wednesday, January 11th, 2023 from 10:30-11:45 am. We’d like to extend our gratitude to Philanthropy Massachusetts for hosting this important conversation, and for their continued partnership in this work. 

Private and public foundations can play an important role in advocacy by engaging in advocacy themselves and funding their grantees to advocate on their issues. Not sure how to make the case for funding advocacy? Uncertain whether you can fund grantees that lobby? Wondering whether your public or private foundation can speak out on a particular issue? This training answers these questions and more! 

After this workshop, your foundation will have a clear understanding of the kinds of advocacy activities you can safely engage in and best practices for grantmaking to give your grantees the most flexibility under the law for their advocacy efforts. The workshop is designed for foundation staff and trustees.

Participants will learn:

  • Why public and private foundation should support advocacy
  • An overview of activities that constitute advocacy and public policy work
  • Various advocacy roles for foundations
  • The tax code’s definitions of lobbying
  • Activities that are exceptions to the definitions of lobbying, including those which private foundations can engage in
  • Rules for private and public foundation grants to nonprofits that lobby, including general support, specific project, and multi-year grants
  • Grant agreement language that permits support for policy work

If you have any questions about the event, or for more information about Philanthropy Massachusetts, please contact Kelton Artuso, Associate Director of Programs, at kartuso@philanthropyma.org. 

For more information about SIF and our Funder Education program, please contact Aditi Dholakia, at adholakia@socialinnovationforum.org. We look forward to seeing you at this program!

Sincerely,

Aditi Dholakia

Funder Education Program Manager