ENGAGING YOUR CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION IN HUNGER RELIEF

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ENGAGING YOUR CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION IN HUNGER
RELIEF

• George Braley
• Senior Vice President of
• Government Relations Public Policy

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Charities The Law Lobbying

• Myth Charities cant lobby.
• Reality 501(c)(3) charities can lobby and are
  even encouraged to lobby by federal law and IRS
  regulations.

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Charities The Law Lobbying

• Two ways to lobby under federal law.
• Spend insubstantial amount of time and money on
  lobbying.
• Elect to file IRS Form 5768
• Allows your organization to spend up to 20 of
  the first 500,000 of your budget on lobbying, up
  to 1 million total
• Creates a safe haven of activity and eases
  Board fears.

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Charities The Law Lobbying

• Myth Do not send materials to our elected
  representatives because that is lobbying.
• Reality Responding to inquiries from govt
  officials, testifying, sending promotional
  materials, or providing research is not lobbying.
  
• Lobbying only occurs when your agency attempts to
  affect the outcome of specific legislation or a
  specific policy change.

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Charities The Law Lobbying

• Myth We dont want to be political.
• Reality Lobbying and advocacy are inherently
  political activities, but they should not and
  cannot be partisan political activities.

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Charities The Law Lobbying

• Myth I dont have time to get involved in public
  policy.
• Reality You will benefit greatly from
  establishing relationships with your federal,
  state, and local representatives. There are
  simple things you can do to establish these
  relationships
• Invite them to visit your facility
• Send them your newsletters and publications
• Send them a note or make a call.

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Charities The Law Lobbying

• Myth Im not a policy expert I dont know
  enough to lobby.
• Reality YOU ARE THE HUNGER EXPERT. You know
  more about hunger and food policy than nearly
  anyone else in your community. Your voice is
  valuable and your experiences will help inform
  the debate.
• There are also resources that can help you
  understand the current debates.

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Resources

• For A2H members
• www.insidesecondharvest.org
• Legislative Harvest E-Newsletter
• For Everyone
• www.hungeractioncenter.org

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Realities of Public Policy Advocacy

• The nature of the political system is one of
  incremental change compromise.

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Realities of Public Policy Advocacy

• Changes in the Political Environment Alter How
  Legislative Decisions are Made
• To be an effective advocate, one must adapt to
  reflect the new and ever changing politics.

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Realities of Public Policy Advocacy

• The federal level especially the Congress is
  extremely partisan.
• Our issues combined with grassroots advocacy
  create coalitions and broad support that can
  overcome partisan politics.

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GRASSROOTS

• The Trump Card in a Partisan Era
• All Politics is Local.
• Local concerns, local issues, local stakeholders
  can have more impact than Washington interests.

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GRASSROOTS What you can do

• Familiarize yourself, your ED and your Board with
  the relevant information on lobbying dos and
  donts.
• Create an advocacy role within your organization,
  ideally with an Agency Relations focus.

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GRASSROOTS What you can do

• 3) Create a committee of agencies or partners
  that can serve as a coalition or organizing
  committee on hunger policy.
• Local organizing and coalition building
• Media outreach
• Strengthening ties to the front-line agencies.
• 4) Keep up-to-date on issues and who the players
  are.
• One voice and one message
• A2H resources
• Our vision and agenda

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GRASSROOTS

• 5) Understand the legislative process and leaders
  in the process.
• Learn how the legislative process works
• Get to know your Congressional Representatives
• Each congressional district (CD) averages 650,000
  people
• 1000 people on average in each CD have very
  specific influence you and your agency can be
  one of the top 1000.

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Strengthening Your Involvement

• Send promotional items, newsletters, and press
  clippings to your elected representatives on a
  regular basis.
• Invite local Congressional staff Members to
  visit your facility and to visit various
  agencies.
• Visit D.C. and your state capital to meet your
  legislators in their own environment.
• Stay updated.

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Strengthening Your Involvement

• Regularly communicate with your representatives
  (but dont be a crank) regarding hunger to your
  members and their staffs.
• Become involved as a private citizen in the
  political process by volunteering, contributing,
  writing Letters to the Editor and giving public
  thanks.

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COALITION BUILDING

• The best way to a legislators vote is through
  his or her constituency. Lobbying Congress
• A Food Bank or Community Agency can serve as a
  hub by capitalizing on relationships.

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GRASSROOTS OUTREACH

• Types of Grassroots Activities
• Quantitative
• (postcards, emails, phone calls)
• Qualitative
• (Member visits, letters and faxes, media)

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