The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) is a New York City-based non-profit organization,
led by executive director Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno and funded in
part by George Soros, with the principal goal of ending the American "War on Drugs". The stated priorities of the organization are the decriminalization of responsible drug use, the promotion of harm reduction
and treatment in response to drug misuse, and the facilitation of open
dialog about drugs between youth, parents, and educators.
The organization has offices in five states as well as a national
affairs office in Washington, D.C., which lobbies for federal reform.
Administrative and media headquarters are located in New York City, NY.
The office for legal affairs is located in Oakland,
CA, with two additional state offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The remaining three state offices are located in Trenton, NJ, Santa Fe,
NM, and Denver, CO.
Veteran journalist Walter Cronkite spoke out against the War on Drugs
in support of the Drug Policy Alliance. He appeared in advertisements
on behalf of the organization and wrote a fundraising letter, which was
also published in the Huffington Post.
In the letter, Cronkite wrote: "Today, our nation is fighting two wars:
one abroad and one at home. While the war in Iraq is in the headlines,
the other war is still being fought on our own streets. Its casualties
are the wasted lives of our own citizens. I am speaking of the war on
drugs. And I cannot help but wonder how many more lives, and how much
more money, will be wasted before another Robert McNamara admits what is plain for all to see: the war on drugs is a failure."
Main issues
Cannabis
DPA believes that cannabis
should be legal for medicinal purposes of severely ill individuals.
They are working state-by-state to educate and inform governors and the
people about their beliefs on medicinal marijuana. They present their success with the compassionate use bill which brought medical marijuana access to New Mexico in 2007.
The failed drug war
DPA
believes that the War on Drugs in America has failed. They present the
argument that the United States has spent billions of dollars on making
the country drug-free, but many illicit drugs, such as heroin, cocaine,
methamphetamine and many others, are purer and more prevalent than ever
before.
Overdose
DPA believes the growing numbers of deaths due to drug overdose should be dealt with as a medical rather than a criminal issue. They present the Drug Overdose Reduction Act as their solution.
Parents, teens, and drugs
DPA
believes that we need to give young people access to credible
information regarding decisions and information on drugs. They believe
that open and honest dialogue is the key, and with this idea started the
Safety First Project.
State by state
DPA
presents the argument that all drugs are different and pose different
risks. So, their response is to create policies for individual specific
drugs rather than bundling them. They believe that successful harm
reduction plays a pivotal role in this topic.
Health approaches
DPA
believes that harm reduction is the best solution to drug abuse and
argues that it is not a source for the promotion of drug legalization,
rather a movement to reduce the harm of drug abuse in our society.
Law
DPA believes
that many of the arrests for drug possession have been conflicting with
many areas of our constitutional rights as Americans. They have been
fighting for these rights through their Office of Legal Affairs. DPA has also provided funding for Flex Your Rights, a nonprofit organization that educates the public about their constitutional rights during police encounters.
Communities affected
DPA believes that the war on drugs does not affect all of our population the same way.
They believe that the following four groups suffer the most: Women,
Minorities, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender, and Dance, Music
and Entertainment.
Drug policy around the world
DPA
states that many countries around the world are approaching their own
war on drugs in a different way than the United States does and that
many of the countries can lead as examples for many new approaches in
the U.S.
Results
DPA was a source of support for California's Proposition 36. "Prop 36" and the formation of the Drug Courts gave non-violent drug offenders the opportunity to seek treatment in drug rehabilitation
programs rather than serve jail sentences. The Drug Courts also
removed unlicensed drug rehabs as options for fulfilling probation
requirements.
DPA was a sponsor of California’s 1996 landmark medical marijuana law, Proposition 215,
which made cannabis available to seriously ill patients as well as
reduced criminal penalties for possession. DPA continued to weigh in on
drug policy legislation with Proposition 215
in Alaska in 1998, Oregon in 1998, Washington in 1998, Maine in 1999,
Colorado in 2000, Nevada in 1998 and 2000 and New Mexico in 2007.
In 2000, DPA helped push California’s landmark treatment-not-incarceration law called Proposition 36.
It replaces jail time with substance abuse treatment for first and
second time nonviolent drug offenders. More than 84,000 people were
removed from jail and graduated from treatment.
In 2006, DPA got the “Blood-Borne Disease Harm Reduction Act”
signed into law in New Jersey. It allows up to six cities to establish syringe access programs. This helps prevent the spread of blood-borne diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
DPA has worked across the country to pass the “911 Good Samaritan
Immunity Laws”. These laws are to help encourage overdose witnesses to
call 911. They reduce drug possession charges for those who seek medical
help. DPA led a campaign in New Mexico to pass the law and were
successful in 2007.
DPA is also working to eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing and racially biased crack/cocaine sentencing schemes at the state and federal levels.
Advocacy groups, also known as special interest groups, use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the development of political and social systems.
Motives for action may be based on political, religious, moral, or commercial positions. Groups use varied methods to try to achieve their aims including lobbying,
media campaigns, publicity stunts, polls, research, and policy
briefings. Some groups are supported or backed by powerful business or
political interests and exert considerable influence on the political process, while others have few or no such resources.
Some have developed into important social, political institutions or social movements. Some powerful advocacy groups have been accused of manipulating the democratic system for narrow commercial gain and in some instances have been found guilty of corruption, fraud, bribery, and other serious crimes; lobbying has become increasingly regulated as a result citation needed. Some groups, generally ones with less financial resources, may use direct action and civil disobedience and in some cases are accused of being a threat to the social order or 'domestic extremists'. Research is beginning to explore how advocacy groups use social media to facilitate civic engagement and collective action.
Overview
An advocacy group is a group or an organization which tries to
influence the government but does not hold power in the government.
The early growth of pressure groups was connected to broad economic
and political changes in England in the mid-18th century, including political representation, market capitalization, and proletarianization. The first mass social movement catalyzed around the controversial political figure, John Wilkes. As editor of the paper The North Briton, Wilkes vigorously attacked the new administration of Lord Bute and the peace terms that the new government accepted at the 1763 Treaty of Paris at the end of the Seven Years' War. Charged with seditious libel, Wilkes was arrested after the issue of a general warrant, a move that Wilkes denounced as unlawful – the Lord Chief Justice
eventually ruled in Wilkes favour. As a result of this episode, Wilkes
became a figurehead to the growing movement for popular sovereignty
among the middle classes – people began chanting, "Wilkes and Liberty"
in the streets.
After a later period of exile, brought about by further charges of libel and obscenity, Wilkes stood for the Parliamentary seat at Middlesex, where most of his support was located. When Wilkes was imprisoned in the King's Bench Prison
on 10 May 1768, a mass movement of support emerged, with large
demonstrations in the streets under the slogan "No liberty, no King." Stripped of the right to sit in Parliament, Wilkes became an Alderman of London in 1769, and an activist group called the Society for the Supporters of the Bill of Rights began aggressively promoting his policies.
This was the first ever sustained social advocacy group;—it involved
public meetings, demonstrations, the distribution of pamphlets on an
unprecedented scale and the mass petition march. However, the movement
was careful not to cross the line into open rebellion;—it tried to
rectify the faults in governance through appeals to existing legal
precedents and was conceived of as an extra-Parliamentary form of
agitation to arrive at a consensual and constitutional arrangement.
The force and influence of this social advocacy movement on the
streets of London compelled the authorities to concede to the movement's
demands. Wilkes was returned to Parliament, general warrants were declared as unconstitutional and press freedom was extended to the coverage of Parliamentary debates.
Another important advocacy group that emerged in the late 18th century was the British abolitionist movement against slavery. Starting with an organised sugar boycott in 1791, it led the second great petition drive of 1806, which brought about the banning of the slave trade
in 1807. In the opinion of Eugene Black (1963), "...association made
possible the extension of the politically effective public. Modern extra
parliamentary political organization is a product of the late
eighteenth century [and] the history of the age of reform cannot be
written without it.
From 1815, Britain after victory in the Napoleonic Wars
entered a period of social upheaval characterised by the growing
maturity of the use of social movements and special-interest
associations. Chartism was the first mass movement of the growing working-class in the world. It campaigned for political reform between 1838 and 1848 with the People's Charter of 1838 as its manifesto – this called for universal suffrage and the implementation of the secret ballot, amongst other things. The term "social movements" was introduced in 1848 by the German Sociologist Lorenz von Stein in his book Socialist and Communist Movements since the Third French Revolution (1848) in which he introduced the term "social movement" into scholarly discussions – actually depicting in this way political movements fighting for the social rights understood as welfare rights.
The labor movement and socialist movement of the late 19th century are seen as the prototypical social movements, leading to the formation of communist and social democratic
parties and organisations. These tendencies were seen in poorer
countries as pressure for reform continued, for example in Russia with
the Russian Revolution of 1905 and of 1917, resulting in the collapse of the Czarist regime around the end of the First World War.
In the post-war period, women's rights, gay rights, peace, civil rights, anti-nuclear and environmental movements emerged, often dubbed the New Social Movements, some of which may be considered "general interest groups" as opposed to special interest groups. They led, among other things, to the formation of green parties and organisations influenced by the new left. Some find in the end of the 1990s the emergence of a new global social movement, the anti-globalization movement. Some social movement scholars posit that with the rapid pace of globalization, the potential for the emergence of new type of social movement is latent—they make the analogy to national movements of the past to describe what has been termed a global citizens movement.
Activities
Advocacy groups exist in a wide variety of genres based upon their most pronounced activities.
Anti-defamation organizations issue responses or criticisms to
real or supposed slights of any sort (including speech or violence) by
an individual or group against a specific segment of the population
which the organization exists to represent.
Watchdog groups exist to provide oversight and rating of actions or
media by various outlets, both government and corporate. They may also
index personalities, organizations, products, and activities in
databases to provide coverage and rating of the value or viability of
such entities to target demographics.
Lobby groups lobby
for a change to the law or the maintenance of a particular law and big
businesses fund very considerable lobbying influence on legislators, for
example in the USA and in the UK
where lobbying first developed. Some Lobby groups have considerable
financial resources at their disposal. Lobbying is regulated to stop the
worst abuses which can develop into corruption. In the United States the Internal Revenue Service makes a clear distinction between lobbying and advocacy.
Legal defense
funds provide funding for the legal defense for, or legal action
against, individuals or groups related to their specific interests or
target demographic. This is often accompanied by one of the above types
of advocacy groups filing an amicus curiae if the cause at stake serves the interests of both the legal defense fund and the other advocacy groups.
Influence
In most liberal democracies, advocacy groups tend to use the bureaucracy
as the main channel of influence – because, in liberal democracies,
this is where the decision-making power lies. The aim of advocacy groups
here is to attempt to influence a member of the legislature
to support their cause by voting a certain way in the legislature.
Access to this channel is generally restricted to groups with insider
status such as large corporations and trade unions – groups with
outsider status are unlikely to be able to meet with ministers or other
members of the bureaucracy to discuss policy. What must be understood
about groups exerting influence in the bureaucracy is; "the crucial
relationship here [in the bureaucracy] is usually that between the
senior bureaucrats and leading business or industrial interests".
This supports the view that groups with greater financial resources at
their disposal will generally be better able to influence the
decision-making process of government. The advantages that large
businesses have is mainly due to the fact that they are key producers
within their countries economy and, therefore, their interests are
important to the government as their contributions are important to the
economy. According to George Monbiot, the influence of big business has been strengthened by "the greater ease with which corporations can relocate production and investment in a global economy".
This suggests that in the ever modernising world, big business has an
increasing role in influencing the bureaucracy and in turn, the
decision-making process of government.
Advocacy groups can also exert influence through the assembly by
lobbying. Groups with greater economic resources at their disposal can
employ professional lobbyists to try and exert influence in the
assembly. An example of such a group is the environmentalist group Greenpeace;
Greenpeace (an organisation with income upward of $50,000,000) use
lobbying to gain political support for their campaigns. They raise
issues about the environment with the aim of having their issues
translated into policy such as the government encouraging alternative energy and recycling.
The judicial branch of government can also be used by advocacy
groups to exert influence. In states where legislation cannot be
challenged by the courts, like the UK, advocacy groups are limited in
the amount of influence they have. In states that have codified
constitutions, like the US, however, advocacy group influence is much
more significant. For example, – in 1954 the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) lobbied against the Topeka
Board of education, arguing that segregation of education based on race
was unconstitutional. As a result of group pressure from the NAACP, the
supreme court unanimously ruled that racial segregation in education
was indeed unconstitutional and such practices were banned. This is a
novel example of how advocacy groups can exert influence in the judicial
branch of government.
Advocacy groups can also exert influence on political parties.
The main way groups do this is through campaign finance. For instance;
in the UK, the conservative parties campaigns are often funded by large
corporations, as many of the conservative parties campaigns reflect the
interests of businesses. For example, George W. Bush's
re-election campaign in 2004 was the most expensive in American history
and was financed mainly by large corporations and industrial interests
that the Bush administration represented in government. Conversely,
left-wing parties are often funded by organised labour – when the
British Labour Party
was formed, it was largely funded by trade unions. Often, political
parties are actually formed as a result of group pressure, for example,
the Labour Party in the UK was formed out of the new trade-union
movement which lobbied for the rights of workers.
Advocacy groups also exert influence through channels that are
separate from the government or the political structure such as the mass media and through public opinion campaigning. Advocacy groups will use methods such as protesting, petitioning and civil disobedience
to attempt to exert influence in Liberal Democracies. Groups will
generally use two distinct styles when attempting to manipulate the
media – they will either put across their outsider status and use their
inability to access the other channels of influence to gain sympathy or
they may put across a more ideological agenda. Traditionally, a prime
example of such a group were the trade-unions who were the so-called
"industrial" muscle. Trade-unions would campaign in the forms of
industrial action and marches for workers rights, these gained much
media attention and sympathy for their cause. In the United States, the Civil Rights Movement
gained much of its publicity through civil disobedience; African
Americans would simply disobey the racist segregation laws to get the
violent, racist reaction from the police and white Americans. This
violence and racism was then broadcast all over the world, showing the
world just how one sided the race 'war' in America actually was.
Advocacy group influence has also manifested itself in supranational bodies that have arisen through globalisation.
Groups that already had a global structure such as Greenpeace were
better able to adapt to globalisation. Greenpeace, for example, have
offices in over 30 countries and has an income of $50 million annually.
Groups such as these have secured the nature of their influence by
gaining status as nongovernmental organisations
(NGOs), many of which oversee the work of the UN and the EU from their
permanent offices in America and Europe. Group pressure by supranational
industries can be exerted in a number of ways: "through direct lobbying
by large corporations, national trade bodies and 'peak' associations
such as the European Round Table of Industrialists".
Influential advocacy groups
There have been many significant advocacy groups throughout history,
some of which could operated with dynamics that could better categorize
them as social movements. Here are some notable advocacy groups operating in different parts of the world:
Center for Auto Safety, an organization formed in 1970 which aims to give consumers a voice for auto safety and quality in the United States.
Communion and Liberation ("Italian: Comunione e Liberazione"), it created a lot of Conflicts of Interest in many private and public companies in Italy
since 1970s till today and it has been investigated by Italian
authorities for many legal issues regarding bribery, corruption and
frauds.
Energy Lobby, an umbrella term
for the representatives of large oil, gas, coal, and electric utilities
corporations that attempt to influence governmental policy in the
United States.
Stop the War Coalition, an organization against the War on Terrorism, which organized a march of between 750,000 and 2,000,000 people in London in 2003.
The Puntland Human Rights Association, which advocates for the rights of children, women, and minority groups in Somalia and was founded on December 2006, in the Gardo, Puntland regions of Somalia.
A general theory is that individuals must be enticed with some type of benefit to join an interest group. However, the free rider problem
addresses the difficulty of obtaining members of a particular interest
group when the benefits are already reaped without membership. For
instance, an interest group dedicated to improving farming standards
will fight for the general goal of improving farming for every farmer,
even those who are not members of that particular interest group. Thus,
there is no real incentive to join an interest group and pay dues if the
farmer will receive that benefit anyway. For another example, every individual in the world would benefit from a cleaner environment, but environmental protection interest groups do not receive monetary help from every individual in the world.
This poses a problem for interest groups, which require dues from
their members and contributions in order to accomplish the groups'
agendas.
Selective benefits
Selective benefits are material, rather than monetary benefits
conferred on group members. For instance, an interest group could give
members travel discounts, free meals at certain restaurants, or free subscriptions to magazines, newspapers, or journals. Many trade and professional interest groups tend to give these types of benefits to their members.
Solidarity incentives
A solidary incentive is a reward for participation that is
socially derived and created out of the act of association. A selective
solidary benefit offered to members or prospective members of an
interest group might involve such incentives as "socializing
congeniality, the sense of group membership and identification, the
status resulting from membership, fun, conviviality, the maintenance of social distinctions, and so on.
Expressive incentives
People who join an interest group because of expressive benefits likely joined to express an ideological or moral value that they believe in, such as free speech, civil rights, economic justice, or political equality.
To obtain these types of benefits, members would simply pay dues, and
donate their time or money to get a feeling of satisfaction from
expressing a political value. Also, it would not matter if the interest
group achieved their goal; these members would merely be able to say
they helped out in the process of trying to obtain their goals, which is
the expressive incentive that they got in the first place.
The types of interest groups that rely on expressive benefits or
incentives are environmental groups and groups who claim to be lobbying
for the public interest.
Latent interests
Some public policy interests are not recognized or addressed by a group at all. These interests are labeled latent interests.
Theoretical perspectives
Much
work has been undertaken by academics attempting to categorize how
advocacy groups operate, particularly in relation to governmental policy
creation. The field is dominated by numerous and diverse schools of
thought:
Pluralism:
This is based upon the understanding that advocacy groups operate in
competition with one another and play a key role in the political
system. They do this by acting as a counterweight to undue
concentrations of power.
However, this pluralist theory (formed primarily by American
academics) reflects a more open and fragmented political system similar
to that in countries such as the United States.
Neo-pluralism: Under neo-pluralism, a concept of
political communities developed that is more similar to the British form
of government. This is based on the concept of political communities in
that advocacy groups and other such bodies are organised around a
government department and its network of client groups. The members of
this network co-operate together during the policy making process.
Corporatism or elitism: Some advocacy groups are backed by private businesses which can have a considerable influence on legislature.
Social media use
A study published in early 2012 suggests that advocacy groups of varying political and ideological orientations operating in the United States are using social media
to interact with citizens every day. The study surveyed 53 groups, that
were found to be using a variety of social media technologies to
achieve organizational and political goals:
Facebook was the social media site of choice with all but one group noting that they use the site to connect with citizens.
Twitter was also popular with all but two groups saying that they use Twitter.
As noted in the study, "while some groups raised doubts about social
media’s ability to overcome the limitations of weak ties and
generational gaps, an overwhelming majority of groups see social media
as essential to contemporary advocacy work and laud its democratizing function."
Grassroots fundraising is a common fundraising method used by political candidates, which has grown in popularity with the emergence of the Internet and its use by US presidential candidates like Howard Dean, Barack Obama, Ron Paul, and most recently Bernie Sanders. Grassroots fundraising is a way of financing their campaigns
for candidates who don't have significant media exposure of front
runner status, or who are perhaps in opposition to the powerful lobby groups which influence the political party nominating process. It often involves mobilizing grassroots
support to meet a specific fundraising goal or sets a specific day for
grassroots supporters to donate to the campaign. Grassroots fundraising
can also be a method for organizations to get as many people as
possible to give and strategically get people involved. This method
encompasses the efforts to reach out to the community being served and
gaining connections and resources for one's campaign.
Strategies of Grassroots Fundraising
There are several methods of undertaking grassroots fundraising, including:
Reaching Donors
Peer-to-peer
fundraising growth has been promoted by the increased use of
affiliations and donor networks. Amongst a younger peer group that views
their age mates as role models who they can trust for advice. Peer
networks have continued to expand in many ways, extending towards the
traditional door-to-door or solicitation at the places of work.
Grassroots in the modern age involves extensive use of e-mail
communication, internet websites, and for monetary support.
Recurring Contributions
Non-profit
donors benefit effectively from a system that contributes monthly.
Accepting little amounts can reduce the absolute financial burden and
anxiety that a donor experiences, yet amounting to large amounts over
time.
Mixing Advocacy and Grassroots Fundraising
Most
people prefer to support in different ways hence this strategy provides
them with multiple calls-to-action in the campaign communications. For
example, a campaign was done from the international Rescue Committee to
reach out to their supporters as a response to presidents Donald Trump's
refugee ban. They gave their supporters a variety to get into the
campaign:
Advocacy: to tell the president to end the refugee ban.
Fundraising: Donate to help support the refugee family relocation fees.
Timely Campaigns
These
aspects go hand in hand with the present events and the news cycle.
Research has shown that the content are most viral if the message makes
people angry. normally the call-to-action and campaign should be:
Specific
Inspiring
Timely
Urgent
Easily Understood Data
Understanding
what inspires the supporters is key to engaging effectively with them.
Such information when targeted to them causes support gained from them
to improve, the opportunities they'd enjoy and the kinds of
communications they prefer. Some demographics such as gender and age are
easy to understand while others are not. Therefore one should keep
track of data as much as possible. Ultimately, this strategy allows you
to understand what is best for the supporters.
Segmented Campaign Outreach
Since
not all of the campaign messages should be sent to every supporter
group. Therefore, the organizations data can be used to segment the supporters into sensible groups.
Focusing on a Single Campaign
There
are very many legislative actions taken every year (more than 1.5
million). Therefore there is the need to be picky when it comes to
advocacy and grassroots campaigns.
History in the United States
In
the 2000 elections, 66.1% of campaign contributions of $200 or less
came from American households earning less than $100,000, who make 86.6%
of the general population, but only 14.3% of the contributions over
$200 come from these households.
2004 Democratic presidential primaries
In 2004, presidential candidate Howard Dean built up his campaign around grassroots fundraising. In an interview with Jeff Howe, Dean described a $2,000-per-plate fundraising lunch organized by Vice President Dick Cheney for George W. Bush's
re-election. In response, Dean challenged his supporters to come to
their computers with him "for lunch". Dean was able to match the amount
raised by Cheney's fundraiser. He remarked, on his use of the Internet
to raise funds for his campaign, "The Internet isn't magic, it's just a
tool that can be used to do things differently."
2008 presidential primaries
According to Spencer A. Overton, a professor at George Washington University, Obama's
presidential campaign received the most grassroots fundraising of
presidential candidates in the first Quarter 2007 based on contributions
under $200 with $5.77 million, more than double the nearest candidate,
John McCain, who got $2.54 million. Out of Obama's quarter fundraising
total, 22% came from contributions under $200 with McCain again second
at 19%. However, candidates outside the top tier received larger
portions of their funds in contributions under $200 with Tancredo at
78%, Brownback 61%, Paul 39% and Kucinich at 68%.
In the 2008 Republican primaries, presidential candidate Ron Paul has made significant use of the Internet to organize grassroots fundraising efforts. His campaign is unique in seeing many grassroots fundraising events begin completely independent of the campaign. The most notable of these was the November 5, 2007 "moneybomb", spread virally through forums like YouTube and Myspace.
It managed to earn Paul $4.2 million in one day, breaking the online
fundraising record as well as raising more than any other Republican
candidate in the election. Ed Rollins,
the manager of Ross Perot's 1992 presidential campaign, said of Paul's
grassroots support, "What he's done – what his supporters have done – is
astonishing. You can't dismiss his anti-war vote. You can't dismiss the
power of one man standing up with a powerful message. I'll tell you,
I've been in politics for 40 years, and these days everything I've
learned about politics is totally irrelevant because there's this
uncontrollable thing like the Internet. Washington insiders don't know
what to make of it."
Door to door fundraising frequently involves a hand-held collection box
Fundraising or fund-raising (also known as "development" or "advancement")
is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial
contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable
foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically
refers to efforts to gather money for non-profit organizations,
it is sometimes used to refer to the identification and solicitation of
investors or other sources of capital for for-profit enterprises.
Traditionally, fundraising consisted mostly of asking for donations on the street or at people's doors, and this is experiencing very strong growth in the form of face-to-face fundraising,
but new forms of fundraising, such as online fundraising, have emerged
in recent years, though these are often based on older methods such as grassroots fundraising.
Some of the most substantial fundraising efforts in the United States are conducted by colleges and universities.
Commonly the fundraising, or "development" / "advancement," program,
makes a distinction between annual fund appeals and major campaigns.
Most institutions use professional development officers to conduct
superior fundraising appeals for both the entire institution or
individual colleges and departments (e.g. School of Art, School of Math,
School of Science, etc... as well as campus institutions like athletics and libraries.). The number of people involved will vary widely depending on the size of the institution.
Equally important are fundraising efforts by virtually all recognized religious groups
throughout the world. These efforts are organized on a local, national,
and global level. Sometimes, such funds will go exclusively toward
assisting the basic needs of others, while money may at other times be
used only for evangelism or proselytism. Usually, religious organizations mix the two, which can sometimes cause tension.
Fundraising also plays a major role in political campaigns. This fact, despite numerous campaign finance reform laws, continues to be a highly controversial topic in American politics. Political action committees (PACs) are the best-known organizations that back candidates and political parties, though others such as 527 groups also have an impact. Some advocacy organizations conduct fundraising for-or-against policy issues in an attempt to influence legislation.
While public broadcasters are completely government-funded
in much of the world, there are many countries where some funds must
come from donations from the public. In the United States less than 15%
of local public broadcasting stations' funding comes from the federal
government. Pledge drives,
a type of annual giving, commonly occur about three times each year,
usually lasting one to two weeks each time. Viewership and listenership
often decline significantly during funding periods, so special
programming may be aired in order to keep regular viewers and listeners
interested.
Sources
Fundraising
is just one of several revenue sources for a nonprofit organization.
Fundraising revenue can come in the form of grants from government
agencies, non-profit foundations or corporations; donations from
individuals; and sales and services. Income from endowment is not
strictly fundraising but rather the fruits of the investment of previous
fundraising.
Grants from agencies, foundations or corporations
Non-profit organizations also raise funds through competing for grant funding. Grants
are offered by governmental units and private foundations/charitable
trusts to non-profit organizations for the benefit of all parties to the
transaction. Charitable giving by foundations in the U.S was estimated
to be $66.90 billion in 2017.
Charitable giving by corporations in the U.S was estimated to be $20.77 billion in 2017. This consists of corporate grants as well as matching gift and volunteer grants. 65% of Fortune 500 companies offer employee matching gift programs and 40% offer volunteer grant programs.
These are charitable giving programs set up by corporations in which
the company matches donations made by employees to eligible nonprofit
organizations or provides grants to eligible nonprofit organizations as a
way to recognize and promote employee volunteerism.
Individual donors
The
donor base (often called a file or simply "constituents") for higher
education includes alumni, parents, friends, private foundations, and
corporations. Gifts of appreciated property are important components of
such efforts because the tax advantage they confer on the donor
encourages larger gifts. The process of soliciting appreciated assets is
called planned giving. Charitable giving by individuals in the U.S. was estimated to be $286.65 billion in 2017.
The classic development program at institutions of higher learning include prospect identification, prospect research
and verification of the prospect's viability, cultivation,
solicitation, and finally stewardship, the latter being the process of
keeping donors informed about how past support has been used. When goods
or professional services are donated to an organization rather than
cash, this is called an in-kind gift.
A number of charities and non-profit organizations are
increasingly using the internet as a means to raise funds; this practice
is referred to as online fundraising. In addition, crowdfunding has begun to be used as a method to engage small-donation donors for small, specific opportunities.
Sales and services
While
fundraising often involves the donation of money as an outright gift,
money may also be generated by selling a product of some kind, also
known as product fundraising. Girl Scouts of the USA are well known for selling cookies in order to generate funds. It is also common to see on-line impulse sales links
to be accompanied by statements that a proportion of proceeds will be
directed to a particular charitable foundation. Tax law may require
differentiating between the cost of an item versus its gift value, such
as a $100.00 per person dinner, for a $25.00 cost meal. Fundraising
often involves recognition to the donor, such as naming rights or adding
donors to an honor roll or other general recognition. Charity Ad Books
are another form of donation for recognition, sponsorship or selling of
ads often in an event related program or group directory.
Purposes
Organizations raise funds to support capital projects, endowments, or operating expenses of current programs.
Capital fundraising is when fundraising is conducted to raise
major sums for a building or endowment, and generally keep such funds
separate from operating funds. This is often done over a period of time
(in a capital campaign) to encourage donors to give more than they would
normally give and tap donors, especially corporations and foundations
who would not otherwise give. A capital campaign normally begins with a
private phase before launching a public appeal.
Many non-profit organizations solicit funds for a financial endowment, which is a sum of money that is invested to generate an annual return. Although endowments may be created when a sizable gift is received from an individual or family, often as directed in a will upon the death of a family member, they more typically are the result of many gifts over time from a variety of sources.
Fundraising methods
Fundraising events
A fundraising event (also called a fundraiser) is an event or campaign whose primary purpose is to raise money for a cause, charity or non-profit organization. Fundraisers often benefit charitable, non-profit, religious, or non-governmental organizations, though there are also fundraisers that benefit for-profit companies and individuals.
Special events are another method of raising funds. These range from formal dinners to benefit concerts to walkathons. Events are used to increase visibility and support for an organization as well as raising funds.
Events can feature activities for the group such as speakers, a dance,
an outing or entertainment, to encourage group participation and
giving. Events can also include fundraising methods such as a raffle or
charity auction. Events often feature notable sponsors or honoree.
Events often feature a charity "ad book" as a program guide for the
event, but more importantly, as another fundraiser providing members,
supporters and vendors to show their support of and to the group at the
event by way of placing an ad-like page, 1/2 page, 1/4 page, stating or
showing support. Events and their associated fundraisers can be a major
source of a group's revenue, visibility and donor relations.
One specific type of event is the "ad book" fundraiser, where
those who wish to give funds to a fundraising group do so through the
sponsorship or statement within a book of advertisements.
Online fundraising pages have become very popular for people
taking part in activities such as a charity. Those pages facilitate
online payments in support of the charity.
Popular charity fundraisers in major American cities include
lavish black-tie gala benefit dinners that honor celebrities,
philanthropists, and business leaders who help to fundraise for the
event's goals through solicitations of their social and business
connections.
Donor relationship and cultivation
Often called donor cultivation, relationship building is the foundation on which most fundraising takes place.
Most fundraising development strategies divide donors into a series of
categories based on the amount and frequency of donations. For instance,
annual giving and recurring gifts represent the base of a fundraising
pyramid. This would be followed by mid-level gifts, planned gifts, major
gifts, and principal gifts.
More sophisticated strategies use tools to overlay demographic and other market segmentation data against their database of donors in order to more precisely customize communication and more effectively target resources. Research by Peter Maple in the UK
shows that charities generally underinvest in good marketing research
spending around a quarter of what an equivalent sized for profit company
might spend.
Donor relations and stewardship
professionals support fundraisers by recognizing and thanking donors,
and demonstrating the impact of their donations in a fashion that will
cultivate future giving to nonprofit organizations.
Recent research by Adrian Sargeant and the Association of Fundraising Professionals'
Fundraising Effectiveness Project suggests the sector has a long way to
go in improving the quality of donor relations. The sector generally
loses 50–60% of its newly acquired donors between their first and second
donations and one in three, year on year thereafter. The economics of
regular or sustained giving are rather different, but even then
organizations routinely lose 30% of their donors from one year to the
next.
Capital and comprehensive campaigns
A capital campaign
is "an intensive fundraising effort designed to raise a specified sum
of money within a defined time period to meet the varied asset-building
needs of an organization". Asset-building activities include the
construction, renovation or expansion of facilities (for example, a new
building), the acquisition or improvement of land, equipment, or other
items, and additions to a financial endowment.
Two characteristics set capital campaigns apart from other forms of
fund-raising activities. First, "the gifts solicited are much larger
than those generally sought during an annual fund". Second, "pledges are
emphasized as commitments payable over a number of years convenient to
the donor or through the transfer of appreciated real or personal property".
Various types of capital campaigns have been identified. The traditional "brick and mortar"
campaign, focused on building construction or improvements, was
considered a "once in a lifetime" campaign in the past because of the
ambitious goals of the campaign. Today, however, organizations
frequently schedule capital campaigns every five to ten years, and "the
megagoals announced by large institutions often are the result of
'counting everything' during a five-to seven-year campaign period".
A second type of campaign is the comprehensive, integrated, or total development campaign,
which aims for a longer fund-raising program based on a long-term
analysis of the organization's needs and direction. This form of
campaign can wrap together capital projects, endowment and operating
expenses as its purpose, and use a variety of fund-raising activities,
such as annual gift drives, which are "slower-paced and lack the
intensity of the traditional capital campaign".
Accountable fundraising
Some non-profit organizations
demonstrate greater accountability by showing donors the direct impact
of their fundraising efforts. This accountability may comes in the form
of a vote, where the members select a specific program or charity that
they would like their money to go to. Another example is put in place a
mechanism which allows donors to contraint usage of funds toward a
specific purpose and closely monitor/allow spending to ensure proper
usage.
Professional fundraisers
Many
non-profit organizations take advantage of the services of professional
fundraisers. These fundraisers may be paid for their services either
through fees unrelated to the amounts of money to be raised, or by
retaining a percentage of raised funds (percentage-based compensation).
The latter approach is expressly forbidden under the Code of Ethics of
the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), a professional membership body.
However, by far the most common practice of American non-profits is to
employ a staff person whose main responsibility is fund raising. This
person is paid a salary like any other employee, and is usually a part
of the top management staff of the organization.
Some non-profit organizations nonetheless engage fundraisers who
are paid a percentage of the funds they raise. In the United States,
this ratio of funds retained to funds passed on to the non-profit is
subject to reporting to a number of state's Attorneys General or Secretaries of state.
This ratio is highly variable and subject to change over time and
place, and it is a point of contention between a segment of the general
public and the non-profit organizations.
The term "professional fundraiser" is in many cases a legislated
term referring to third-party firms whose services are contracted for,
whereas "fundraising professionals" or development officers are often
individuals or staff at charitable non-profits. Although potentially
confusing, the distinction is an important one to note.
A specialty within the fundraising profession is the "grant professional." Grant professionals with at least three years experience, and other requirements, can become certified as Grant Professional Certified (GPC). The GPC credential is administered by Grant Professionals Certification Institute,
whose mission is to strengthen the nonprofit sector's ability to pursue
and maintain public sector and private sector funding by promoting
competency and ethical practices within the field of grantsmanship.
The certification process is designed to measure minimum knowledge and
skills related to all aspects of grant development and management,
including but not limited to such areas as grant research or
pre-production, grant construction, grant reporting, public sector
funding, private sector funding, ethics and grant accountability.
Online & Mobile Fundraising
Online
and mobile fundraising had become a popular fundraising method over the
last few years due to its accessibility. Fundraising organizations are
using mobile and online fundraising providers to attract donors around
the globe. Common online and mobile fundraising methods include online
donation pages, text to give, mobile silent auctions, and peer to peer fundraising.
Since 2016, online giving has grown by 17% in the United States.
In 2018, digital fundraising accounted for 8.5% percent of charitable
donations and 24% of online donations were made on a mobile device in
the United States.
Taxation
Organizations
in the United States established for charitable purposes are allowed to
raise funds from many sources. They are given a specific designation by
the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), commonly noted as 501(c)(3)
organizations. Other nonprofits such as fraternal associations have
different IRS designations, and may or may not be eligible to raise
funds. Financial information on many nonprofits, including all
nonprofits that file annual IRS 990 forms is available from GuideStar.
