Nonprofits as Public Educators

There’s been a lot written lately about partisan bickering getting in the way of good policy.  While media catering to the extremes on both ends of the ideological spectrum have relatively small audiences, they disproportionately impact the public debate on issues such as health care reform, immigration, and economic policy.  And the recent Supreme Court ruling that expands the role corporate and other deep-pocketed special interests can play in politics is likely to exacerbate the problem.

Nonprofits can play a significant role in educating the public about the issues on which they have expertise and credibility.  Because of the complex rules governing how nonprofits communicate with and about elected officials, many organizations choose to sit on the sidelines and refrain from helping the public better understand the issues of the day.  That might be okay if the media was doing its job better, and a well informed public was demanding and getting responsive action from its elected leaders.  Until then, nonprofits should consider how they can help raise the level of public debate over issues that are central to their missions.

A great example of how this can work is Houston Communities for Safe Indoor Air, a coalition formed several years ago that brought nonprofits from Houston’s minority neighborhoods into the campaign to restrict smoking in all workplaces.  Most of these nonprofits were social services agencies without a lot of experience in policy advocacy.  But they knew their constituencies, and they understood the disproportionate impact that tobacco use and exposure was having on the health of their communities.  Individually and even more so as a coalition, these nonprofits were ideally suited to educate their constituents about the issue and the process, and the grassroots activism that resulted from this public education helped push a smoke-free workplaces ordinance through the city council.  Read more about their effort at www.hcsia.org.