Speak Up

The nonprofit sector has no peer in making life better for often neglected populations. Nonprofits provide hundreds of services in communities throughout the country: building subsidized housing, providing hospice services, running after-school programs, marshaling volunteers for neighborhood improvement projects, assisting entrepreneurs in setting up small businesses--the list goes on and on.

Advocacy isn't an intrusion into the government's closed system of making decisions; lobbying is an integral part of every level of government. As political scientist Nelson Polsby wrote, 'Policy [does not] appear out of the sea like Botticelli's Venus--dimpled, rosy and complete on a clamshell.' It's hammered out with research, discussions, compromise and, of course, political maneuvering. And at every stage, outside voices make recommendations and apply pressure to make particular changes.