Governments like the City of San Diego create private nonprofits to do their business, raising questions about transparency and accountability:...

Non-profit advocacy doesn’t always have to be about influencing government officials or community leaders—in this case, Calnonprofits has some advice for Charity Navigator: https://philanthropy.com/article/Calif-Nonprofit-Association/229469?cid=pt&utm_source=pt&utm_medium=en

Non-Profit advocacy can play a role in stemming the tide of gentrification and its displacement impacts: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-shaw-tenderloin-20150417-story.html

Getting media coverage is critical to the success of your non-profit’s advocacy efforts—and good photos help: http://www.mrss.com/lab/how-to-use-photos-to-get-media-hits-for-your-nonprofit-cause/?utm_source=newpost&utm_medium=emaildigest&utm_campaign=Lab

The California Endowment’s Robert Ross points to some key lessons from Indiana’s religious freedom controversy: https://philanthropy.com/article/Opinion-Indiana-s-Lessons/229149/

For non-profits, it’s NOT the same as lobbying:  http://bolderadvocacy.org/resource/administrative-advocacy-influencing-rules-regulations-and-executive-orders

The Alliance for Justice’s Bolder Advocacy Project is helping philanthropists understand that they can, and should, play a key role in non-profit advocacy—here are a couple of links foundation leaders should check out: http://bolderadvocacy.org/act-now-2 http://bolderadvocacy.org/blog/philanthropy-must-reads-march-2015

A key tool in non-profit advocacy is tracking legislation—here are two different approaches to the task: http://connectivity.cqrollcall.com/what-type-of-legislative-tracker-are-you/

As a result of efforts by activists in Massachusetts, the state’s investment tax credit for donations to non-profit community development corporations in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, has been a big success:  https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/04/15/state-officials-call-new-charitable-giving-tax-credit-program-success/SPXzqiVTYHxewPVWaXUwoJ/story.html#

Non-profits and state and local governments in the northeastern US continue to fight over money—my Nonprofit Quarterly newswire today:...

On May 20th, I’m moderating a NNCG panel on the role philanthropy consultants play in advising foundations on policy advocacy support for their grantees—sign up; it’s free: http://nncg.org/events/advocacy/

At least Camden, New Jersey’s leaders seem to think so: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/morning_roundup/2015/04/nj-lures-nonprofit-to-camden-with-6-3m-in-tax.html