By Mary Pannier, SHIM’s Children and Youth Director
In an unofficial capacity, those of us who choose to go into the nonprofit sector are, at our core, advocates. We are choosing to invest our time, energy, education, and a lot of times, our life, to a certain cause that we truly believe in. Through that work, we are bringing attention to an issue, researching solutions, and generating support around the impact of those solutions. In more ways than one, that really is all that advocacy is.
So why do many of us in the nonprofit field feel uncomfortable formally partaking in advocacy work, especially when policy change and politics are involved? Why do nonprofit organizations feel they have to remain completely partisan neutral?
The short answer to the above questions can be traced back to the current political atmosphere that makes anything within government and policy feel incredibly divisive these days. Understandably, charitable nonprofits tend to steer away from taking a strong stance one way or another to avoid causing unintentional upset or backlash. Unfortunately, if charitable nonprofits want to further their likelihood of success, it’s even more critical they use their resources, energy, and voice to advocate for policy changes and government intervention that supports their mission and work.
In 2022, I completed my graduate program from the University of Colorado, Denver in Public Administration. When I told people I was going back to school for my Masters in Public Administration (MPA), I received many puzzled congratulations at the lesser-known degree. I quickly explained it was like an MBA (Masters in Business Administration) but for the public sector instead of the private. This was, of course, an oversimplification as the ‘public sector’ is vast and probably should not be lumped together into one category. However, once I got into the program, it was clear that my classmates did self-divide into one of two larger groups within the public sector, those of us working with nonprofits and those working within government. At first glance, it felt odd that nonprofit and government professionals would have enough similarities to share the same course material and content, however, it didn’t take long to see how interconnected the two fields were. After a year in the program, I was vastly more confident in my abilities as a nonprofit professional now that I better understood the innerworkings and intricacies of government work and policy change. I left the program truly believing the two fields should go hand in hand and let me explain why.
Our government bodies put funding, resources, and policy changes towards solving complex societal problems, such as climate change, poverty, food insecurity, substance abuse, education equity, and so on. Unfortunately, as governments are bound by public opinion and vote, there’s often not enough agreement across political parties to generate sufficient funds, resources, or policy support to enact permanent or deep-rooted change. This is where nonprofit organizations come into play. We exist to fill the gaps and work against these complex problems that governments can’t yet solve. By this definition, nonprofit and government entities are closely intertwined in both their efforts and barriers and change in one often effects change in the other. Meaning when policies, regulations, and local, state, and federal budgets are passed, they can either greatly support or obstruct our work in the nonprofit sector.
Additionally, as nonprofits are working to solve these complex societal problems, we find there are rarely simple solutions. While some nonprofits do work diligently to fight and reverse the root cause, many work in the present to fight the symptoms of the problem itself. For example, of two nonprofits fighting housing insecurity, one might focus on preventative measures around mental health access, substance use education, and financial literacy for young adults to avoid housing insecurity later in life. Meanwhile the other nonprofit may operate a shelter for individuals that are currently unhoused in the here and now. Both are effective, but one is focused on long-term change over the course of generations, while the other focuses on short-term need in the present. The two approaches are impactful but often work in silos, removed from the larger societal systems, meaning we are left with three entities (the government system, the root-cause nonprofit, and the immediate relief nonprofit) all working against the same problem but not necessarily working in tandem.
All of us in the public sector hope to one day work ourselves out of a job by permanently solving the larger complex problem that we are combating. If that’s our ultimate goal, it’s imperative that we put all the pieces together and work collectively to have a multi-tiered approach of immediate aid, long-term solutions, AND system-level change to ensure a lasting and sustainable impact. Since our work is dramatically shaped by funding opportunities, systemic policies, and public support, it is our responsibility to ensure these areas are working with us, for if they aren’t, we can only stretch our impact so far. So, if we truly want to enact real and sustainable change, nonprofits should be encouraged to influence the larger systems at play, and when those systems do not swing in our favor, what option do we have other than to advocate for them?
As the Children and Youth Director here at SHIM, I have dedicated my cause to youth development and educational equity for all children. I wholeheartedly believe a piece of the larger approach is accessible and inclusive high-quality out of school time programs with trusting and caring adults. Here at SHIM, we offer two After School programs, one for elementary students and one for secondary students, and one small way we advocate for this work is through participating in the annual event, Lights on After School. This is a national event that celebrates the importance of After School programs and helps bring attention to the critical work. Lights on After School occurs on October 24th and many larger cities will participate by lighting up local landmarks, while After School programs across the nation host events for their students, communities, and even elected officials! Anyone looking to partake in this day of awareness should go to the Afterschool Alliance website to find a public event near you or sign the pledge advocating for the work we do.
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