Measuring Advocacy

It has always been difficult to measure the impact—especially the economic impact—of nonprofit organizations that advocate for a particular cause, but this new report out from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, indicates that it is possible, and that is a very good thing.

The report is incomplete in many respects—for instance, it doesn’t calculate the costs of the crimes committed by the criminals that would have been housed in a prison whose construction was stopped, saving $1 billion dollars in building costs (p. 4)—but nevertheless, is a very good effort.

An excerpt.

“The social concerns that funders address with their grantmaking – education, human needs or environment, for example – exist in a larger context shaped by many forces, including public policy, economics and community culture. Many funders believe that to be successful in their chosen areas of interest they must address the larger systems that shape these realities.

“Why and how do foundations and other institutional grantmakers invest in policy advocacy, community organizing and civic engagement by nonprofit organizations, and how does it make a difference in the daily lives of local residents if they do?

“This report describes, measures and, where possible, monetizes the policy impacts that 20 community organizations in the Northwestern region of the United States achieved with foundation support during a five year period (2005–2009)….

“Using these resources and strategies, the groups had significant accomplishments:

“> Collectively, the groups helped garner more than $5 billion for marginalized communities over five years. These dollars were in the form of wages, expanded services, state investments in housing and other programs, savings from costly and ill-conceived initiatives that were prevented, and other benefits.
> The groups achieved substantial impacts that could not be monetized; yet, these benefited tens of thousands of underserved residents. Examples include protecting and advancing LGBTQ rights, promoting fair immigration policies and protecting communities and natural resources from environmental threats.
> The 20 groups demonstrated a remarkable depth and breadth of civic engagement. Collectively, they trained more than 11,000 leaders, grew their memberships by 98,000 individuals and turned out 417,000 people at public actions. They also registered more than 71,900 voters, including many Native Americans, Latinos and people of color.

"Foundations and other institutional grantmakers provided critical monetary, capacity building and convening support to these efforts. Funders contributed $23.2 million, or 69 percent of all policy engagement funding over five years. Members of the organizations also contributed significantly to their own success: among 15 organizations, membership dues collected over five years totaled almost $4.9 million.

“NCRP totaled the monetary benefits of the impacts in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington and calculated a return on investment (ROI). For every dollar invested in their advocacy, organizing and civic engagement ($33.9 million total), the groups garnered $150 in benefits for their communities.” (pp. 3-4)