I’m glad to share with you The Atlantic Philanthropies’ first publication, “Why Supporting Advocacy Makes Sense for Foundations.” This publication launches our series Atlantic Reports, which is dedicated to sharing lessons from our work and that of our grantees and other foundations.

“Why Supporting Advocacy Makes Sense for Foundations” explores the experiences of a growing number of funders around the world who are committed to supporting advocacy as a strategy to advance social change. We selected it as the first topic of the series because funding advocacy too often is the philanthropic road not taken, yet it is a road most likely to lead to the kind of lasting change that philanthropy has long sought through other kinds of grants.

This report describes various forms of advocacy that a foundation can support, including commissioning research, policy development, community organising, coalition work, legislative lobbying, litigation, mass campaigns and more. Drawing on the work of Atlantic, other foundations and several organisations in the United States, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and South Africa, this publication identifies a number of key questions for funders and potential funders to consider before investing in advocacy.

We hope that Atlantic Reports will be of value to you and others, particularly because we are on a path to spend our entire endowment and close our doors no later than 2020. Future Atlantic Reports will focus on grantmaking lessons to help funders and potential funders who wish to support lasting change. Upcoming publications will consider case studies, including advocacy to benefit rural farmworkers in South Africa and efforts to support reconciliation among ex-combatants in Northern Ireland and South Africa. Others will focus on issues related to grantmaking, including the importance of investing in the field of ageing, exploring the benefits of “giving while living” and the challenges of and opportunities from spending down a foundation’s endowment by a specific date.

Thanks for your interest in Atlantic Reports, and please let us know what you think of this first one by dropping me a line at gara@atlanticphilanthropies.org. If you are interested in receiving future Atlantic Reports, email atlanticreports@atlanticphilanthropies.org.

Gara LaMarche

President and CEO
The Atlantic Philanthropies

Useful resources on supporting advocacy:

Alliance for Justice , “Build Your Advocacy Grantmaking: Advocacy Evaluation & Advocacy Capacity Assessment Tools,” 2005
www.advocacyevaluation.org

Alliance for Justice, Resources & Publications: Nonprofit and Foundation Advocacy
http://www.allianceforjustice.org/for-nonprofits-foundations/resources-and-publications/about-advocacy-funding.html

Council on Foundations, "Top 10 Ways Private Foundations Can Influence Public Policy," 2007. Cost: $10/$6 members.
https://www.cof.org/Store/ProductDetail.cfm?&ProductID=6245

Delaware Valley Grantmakers, “Grantmakers and Public Policy”
http://www.dvg.org/public_policy/grantmakers_policy_legislative_links.htm

Fieldstone Alliance, Policy and Advocacy Resources for Grantmakers and Nonprofits
http://www.fieldstonealliance.org/client/client_pages/tools_you_can_use/04-04-07_policy_resources.cfm

Grantcraft.org, “Advocacy Funding: The Philanthropy of Changing Minds,” 2005
http://www.grantcraft.org/pdfs/advocacy_flyer_082707.pdf

Grantmakers in Health, “The Path to Policy Change: Practical Steps and Lessons from Health Funders,” 2006
http://www.gih.org/usr_doc/Path_to_policy_change_no26.pdf

James Irvine Foundation, “Foundations and Public Policy Grantmaking,” 2008
http://www.irvine.org/assets/pdf/pubs/philanthropy/PublicPolicy_Coffman.pdf

Independent Sector, Public Policy: Nonprofit Advocacy and Lobbying
http://www.independentsector.org/programs/gr/advocacy_lobbying.htm

Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Tax Information for Charities & Other Non-Profits
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/charities/index.html

Minnesota Council on Foundations, “Philanthropy and Advocacy: More Foundations Finding Role in Public Arena,” 2007
http://www.mcf.org/MCF/forum/2007/winter_advocacy.htm

National Council on Nonprofit Associations, Nonprofit Policy & Advocacy Resource Center
http://www.ncna.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=5

Northern California Grantmakers, “Public Policy Grantmaking Toolkit,” 2005
http://www.ncg.org/toolkit/home.html

OMB Watch, Charitable Lobbying in The Public Interest & Tufts University, “Strengthening Nonprofit Advocacy Project Report,” 2002
http://www.ombwatch.org/snap

Grantmakers for Children, Youth & Families, “Setting the Policy Table: The Role of Children, Youth and Family Grantmakers in Public Policy,” 2008
http://www.gcyf.org/programs/programs_show.htm?doc_id=364417

Some of the foundations and foundation organisations involved in supporting advocacy*:

The Beldon Fund** - http://www.beldon.org/
Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation - http://www.broadfoundation.org/
The California Endowment - http://www.calendow.org/
The California Wellness Foundation - http://www.tcwf.org/
Carnegie Corporation of New York - http://www.carnegie.org/
Annie E. Casey Foundation - http://www.aecf.org/
Marguerite Casey Foundation - http://www.caseygrants.org/
Ford Foundation - http://www.fordfound.org/
Foundation Consortium for California’s Children & Youth - http://www.foundationconsortium.org/
The Fund for Santa Barbara - http://www.fundforsantabarbara.org/
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - http://www.gatesfoundation.org/
The George Gund Foundation - http://www.gundfdn.org/
Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund - http://www.haasjr.org/
The James Irvine Foundation - http://www.irvine.org/
JEHT Foundation - http://www.jehtfoundation.org/
W.K. Kellogg Foundation - http://www.wkkf.org/
Marin Community Foundation - http://www.marincf.org/
The McKay Foundation - http://www.mckayfund.org/
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation - http://www.mott.org/
Open Society Institute and Soros Foundations Network - http://www.soros.org/
David & Lucile Packard Foundation - http://www.packard.org/
Peninsula Community Foundation & Community Foundation Silicon Valley - http://www.siliconvalleycf.org/
The Pew Charitable Trusts - http://www.pewtrusts.org/
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - http://www.rwjf.org/
Rockefeller Brothers Fund - http://www.rbf.org/
The Rosenberg Foundation - http://www.rosenfound.org/
The San Francisco Foundation - http://www.sff.org/
The Surdna Foundation - http://www.surdna.org/
Tides Foundation - http://www.tides.org/

*This is a growing list. Please email the names of additional grantmakers supporting advocacy to atlanticreports@atlanticphilanthropies.org.
**Grantmaking completed June 2008