Nonprofits in Policy Advocacy

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XXVIII

   PDF

2. Nonprofit Policy Advocacy in the United States

   • Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright

   Pages 1-21

3. Tactics and Strategies

   • Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright

   Pages 23-44

4. Public Lobbying

   • Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright

   Pages 45-71

5. Institutional Partnership

   • Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright

   Pages 73-96

6. Inside-Outside

   • Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright

   Pages 97-120

7. Direct Reform

   • Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright

   Pages 121-150

8. Indirect Pressure

   • Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright

   Pages 151-169

9. Popular Power

   • Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright

   Pages 171-190

10. Considerations for Strategic Policy Advocacy

    • Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright

    Pages 191-211

11. Correction to: Nonprofits in Policy Advocacy

    • Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright

    Pages C1-C1

12. Back Matter

    Pages 213-238

    PDF

Policy advocacy is an increasingly important function of many nonprofit organizations, as they seek broad social changes in their concerning issues. Their advocacy practices, however, have often been guided by their own past experiences, anecdotes from peer networks, and consultant advice. Most of their practices have largely escaped empirical and theoretical grounding that could better root their work in established theories of policy change. The first book of its kind, Nonprofits in Policy Advocacy bridges this gap by connecting real practices of on-the-ground policy advocates with the burgeoning academic literature in policy studies. In the process, it empirically identifies six distinct policy advocacy strategies, and their accompanying tactics, used by nonprofits. Case studies tell the stories of how advocates apply these strategies in a wide variety of issues including civil rights, criminal justice, education, energy, environment, public health, public infrastructure, and youth. This book will appeal to both practitioners and academicians, as each gains insights into the other’s views of policy change and the actions that produce it.

• Nonprofit advocacy
• non-profit management
• Public Policymaking
• Policy process
• policy theory
• public service
• policy advocacy
• advocacy strategies
• Q-methodology
• survey research
• Public Lobbying
• Reform
• institutional partnership
• the public lobbying strategy
• public policy
• policy advocacy organizations
• the direct reform strategy
• the inside-outside strategy
• the public lobbying strategy
• the popular power strategy

“Sheldon Gen and Amy Conley Wright have written both a solid academic work, which includes a great deal of original research, and a valuable supplementary text for classroom use. … they also frame advocacy behavior within the theories of public policy scholarship, making Nonprofits in Policy Advocacy a useful supplementary text for graduate classes in nonprofit management or advocacy, but equally valuable for graduate or upper level undergraduate public policy classes, as well as political science classes that focus on interest groups, lobbying, and advocacy.” (Shelly Arsneault, Nonprofit Policy Forum, May 7, 2021)

“Better engagement between scholars in the not-for-profit and policy advocacy fields is long overdue. In their book Nonprofits in Policy Advocacy, Sheldon Gen and Amy Conley Wright pursue just that. Based on a rich multi-year study of US not-for profits, they offer a set of six advocacy strategies illustrated by case examples. This is a must-read for researchers and students in public administration, political science, public policy and sociology.”

—Darren R. Halpin, Professor of Political Science, Australian National University, Australia

 “Blending theoretical insights, a new data set, and real-world examples, Gen and Wright provide a detailed look at six advocacy strategies successfully used by nonprofits.  It also focuses on advocacy evaluation, a topic of considerable importance for the field. Readers will come away with a renewed sense of appreciation for the difficulty of advocacy and its continued importance to protect organizations and their service recipients.”

—Richard Hoefer, Roy E. Dulak Professor for Community Practice Research, University of Texas at Arlington, USA

 

“Gen & Wright have produced a fantastic resource for students, practitioners, and researchers alike. Theirframework is conceptually rich and grounded in empirical evidence as well as hard-won lessons from the field.  The cases embedded in each chapter make for a volume that is as interesting and accessible as it is scholarly. I’m grateful for this important contribution to the field.”

—Jennifer Mosley, Associate Professor, University of Chicago, USA

• Public Administration Program, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, USA

  Sheldon Gen

• Sydney School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

  Amy Conley Wright

Sheldon Gen is Associate Professor in the Public Administration Program at San Francisco State University, USA. He teaches courses on policy processes and civic engagement as part of the MPA curriculum, and studies public engagement in policy making processes with a focus on environmental and education policy issues. These interests stem from his prior employment and consultancies with many public and nonprofit organizations in the areas of environment, education, transportation, and development.

Amy Conley Wright is Associate Professor in Social Work at the University of Sydney, Australia. She received her PhD from University of California, Berkeley. She studies effective advocacy for creating policy change for children and families and her publications include peer-reviewed journal articles on the topics of child maltreatment prevention, parent peer support, social investment, and policy advocacy.

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