I usually rail against our sector’s overreliance on reporting volunteer numbers. Too often, the number of volunteers is used as a proxy for volunteer value. Merely counting volunteers omits their real value: what volunteers achieve.
Volunteers typically outnumber staff though. And we are in a time when volunteer numbers could achieve a lot for agencies and the communities they serve.
The recent Executive Orders (EOs) and funding freeze have led to services being cut along with disruption, confusion, and layoffs at nonprofits. In response, there has been incredible pushback. Floods of calls to elected officials along with several lawsuits have helped raise the profile of nonprofits beyond their usual place: quiet and in the background. However, the drumbeat of criticism and cuts promises to continue. We need every voice to help tell the story of what our agencies do, who we serve, and the consequences of cuts.
Authenticity and Trust
Volunteers can be powerful advocates and ambassadors for our causes. Because they are unpaid, their opinions are often considered to be more authentic than those of staff who receive paychecks. Their voluntary contribution of time also is an endorsement of the agency. As one volunteer administrator shared about volunteerism (p. 97), “It’s a marker of trust by the community…that they’re giving us their only non-renewable resource, their time.”
We cannot assume that volunteers feel equipped or confident in using their voices though. Like any new task, they may need an invitation and support.
You are Cordially Invited to Advocate and Lobby
Perhaps you need an invitation and support. You are in good company. According to 2023 research by Independent Sector (IS), only 31% of nonprofits reported engaging in advocacy or lobbying over the last five years. That’s less than half of the nonprofits that did so in 2000 (74%).
The good news is that nonprofit leaders, and particularly leaders of volunteers, already know how to mobilize people. We have an opportunity to mobilize in different ways.
The better news is that many volunteers are ready to start using their voices. Another study released this month by IS found that more than half of voters are more likely to volunteer with nonprofits that:
- educate lawmakers about local community needs (60%),
- conduct local outreach to promote community and belonging (58%),
- advocate for issues impacting underserved populations (57%),
- provide resources to help them reach out to lawmakers on issues they care about (54%), and
- provide resources to help them reach out to lawmakers to explain how they can help local charities do more in the community (51%).
That’s right. Your volunteers and prospective volunteers are looking to you for guidance. The best news is that all of these tasks are allowable for nonprofits.
Advocacy and Lobbying: A (Very) Brief Overview
There are many useful resources about how nonprofits can advocate.
Stand for Your Mission provides helpful information about engaging boards in advocacy that also applies more broadly to volunteers in general. This slide deck (slide 11) notes that 501(c)(3) charities can:
- educate the public and decision-makers about your work in a nonpartisan way,
- share information about how public dollars positively impact your work and your community, and/or
- communicate how broader issues impact your mission and the people you serve.
These are all forms of advocacy that do not require reporting by the nonprofit.
However, even lobbying activities that attempt to influence specific legislation are allowable by nonprofits, as long as they are not a substantial part of the agency’s activities and are reported using IRS Form 501(h). One type of lobbying that engages the public is grassroots lobbying. It entails actions that include all of the following, according to Bolder Advocacy:
- communication (in person, by phone, letter, email, or other form of conveying a message),
- with the public (anyone but a legislator or organization member),
- that expresses a view about specific legislation (bill, resolution, budget appropriation, judicial/executive nominee but not executive orders), and
- includes a call to action (contact a legislator, provide legislator contact information, vehicle for contacting legislator, or identifying a legislator taking a vote).
If any of these elements are missing though, it is not lobbying.
My point here isn’t to scare you off before you start. Rather, I hope to demonstrate that nonprofits have a lot of latitude in how they engage their volunteer communities to use their voices.
Getting Started
Here are a few steps for building the civic muscles of your agency and volunteers.
Stay (or Get) Informed
Even if your agency does not receive federal funding, it is important to be aware of the federal activities related to the nonprofit sector. The National Council of Nonprofits maintains a chart of Executive Orders Affecting Charitable Nonprofits that offers an updated overview of the EOs. They recently added an FAQ document related to the EOs. Many state and local nonprofit associations are offering useful resources as well.
Many organizations also are taking steps to strengthen their financial stability. This article by Steve Zimmerman and Ruth McCambridge on Nonprofit Financial Commons offers 12 Urgent Financial Actions Steps for Nonprofits: A 2025 Checklist. The checklist is geared toward the finance team but also includes steps for communication and deploying social capital, which, of course, includes volunteers. (This communication and social capital deployment is yet another reason to include leaders of volunteers on the leadership team.)
Get Familiar with Advocacy and Lobbying
You can go straight to the IRS for information about lobbying as a 501(c)(3). Once you get the basics, check out more detailed content from Bolder Advocacy, such as their Top Resources guide, explanation of lobbying under the 501(h) election, or specific steps for advocacy on Executive Orders. Stand for Your Mission offers guidance for board advocacy that is applicable to volunteers, too.
Tell Your Community’s Story
Government funding feels murky and distant to many people. They may not understand how government (or other) funding cuts affect them or the people they love. That is why it is important to paint a picture of how proposed or actual cuts will influence your community. Telling your story to volunteers and the community-at-large helps position your organization as an essential resource and engender broader support.
Many nonprofits, such as the National Council of Nonprofits and state associations like CalNonprofits and Minnesota Council of Nonprofits are collecting stories about the impact of federal actions through surveys. So are some universities and elected officials. Sharing your story through these vehicles helps these organizations identify trends and community impact to fuel their advocacy.
Engage and Mobilize Volunteers
Feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of advocacy? Check in with your current volunteers and keep an eye out for prospective volunteers who want to roll up their sleeves on advocacy. They may be able to orient agency staff about options or help define an advocacy agenda.
At a minimum, start educating volunteers about more of the agency’s work, such as how the projects or programs they support fit into a bigger picture. There are an awful lot of misconceptions about nonprofits, and leaders of volunteers have an excellent opportunity to counter them. Start a dialogue with your volunteers that gives them time for questions. Invite volunteers to share what they are learning with friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors.
For those with more capacity, explain what is going on for your agency in the current context. That might mean sharing if or how government funding supports your work and how your agency transforms that money into community services. Connect broader policy issues to your community and the need for the service you provide. Explain links between your services and those of partner agencies that also serve your cause. Again, invite volunteers to share this information with their networks.
Next, branch out to elected officials. Have a staff-volunteer team visit to share information about how your work contributes to the communities they serve. As you gain confidence with lobbying, you may also share views on specific legislation.
For more discussion of the role of advocacy in volunteerism, consultant Tobi Johnson released a series of podcasts (episodes 148-150) about advocacy and volunteerism. My November 2024 blog, Strength in Numbers: A Renewed Case for Volunteer Engagement, offers other practical tips.
The work of nonprofits relies on influencing hearts and minds as much as delivering programs and services. We need the public to understand the forces that make nonprofit services necessary. We need to illuminate the connections between policy and programs. In many cases, we need to diminish the “othering” that occurs and instead enhance a sense of dignity for all. Volunteering within the agency’s walls can be a powerful starting point for this work. Volunteers using their voices beyond those walls can move missions forward in even more substantial ways.
Photo credit: Polina from Pexels
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