Foundation Support for Advocacy & Policy Impact

Private and public foundations can play an important role in advocacy by engaging in advocacy themselves and funding their grantees to advocate on their issues. After this workshop, your foundation will have a clear understanding of the kinds of advocacy activities you can safely engage in and best practices for grantmaking to give your grantees the most flexibility under the law for their advocacy efforts.

Not sure how to make the case for funding advocacy?  Uncertain whether you can fund grantees that lobby?  Wondering whether your public or private foundation can speak out on a particular issue?  This training answers these questions and more! The workshop is designed for foundation staff and trustees.

The first 15 FPN members to register will receive a hardcopy of Alliance for Justice’s Philanthropy Advocacy PLAYBOOK.

Participants will learn:

• Why public and private foundations should support advocacy;
• Various advocacy roles for foundations;
• The tax code’s definitions of lobbying;
• Activities that are exceptions to the definitions of lobbying, including those which private foundations can engage in;
• Rules for private and public foundation grants to nonprofits that lobby; and
  
• Grant agreement language that permits support for policy work.

About the Speakers

Natalie Roetzel Ossenfort, Director
Texas Office, Alliance for Justice

Natalie Ossenfort serves as the Director of Alliance for Justice's Texas office, where she works with local nonprofit organizations to boost their advocacy capacity and understanding of state and federal nonprofit advocacy rules. Prior to her work with the organization, she helped to create and run the Innocence Project of Texas, a nonprofit dedicated to freeing those wrongfully convicted of crimes in the state. At IPTX, Natalie held both Executive Director and Chief Staff Attorney positions, and she specialized in the litigation of cases involving the use of DNA evidence. She also worked with the organization to successfully advocate on behalf of reforms designed to reduce the number of wrongful convictions and assist those reentering society after lengthy terms of unjust confinement.

Natalie obtained her law degree from the Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in Fort Worth and earned her undergraduate B.A. from Trinity University in San Antonio. Natalie is a member of the State Bar of Texas and currently resides in Dallas.

Holly Bullard, Chief Strategy & Development Officer; Florida Policy Institute

As FPI’s Chief Strategy & Development Officer, Holly spearheads development, policy advocacy, coalition building, outreach and communications strategies.
Holly previously served as senior director of Financial Stability Initiatives at United Way Suncoast, where she oversaw the planning and implementation of financial stability programs. Prior to that, Holly worked as legislative aide to Congressman Rubén Hinojosa, a senior member on the powerful House Financial Services Committee and Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. She served as his lead adviser on financial services and housing issues, with a focus on financial empowerment for low-income Americans. Before her work on Capitol Hill, Holly worked at the U.S. Department of Education and at United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona.  
Holly has a master’s in public policy from Georgetown University and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Emory University. She is proudly a product of Florida public schools and a daughter of Florida public educators.

The program is free but registration is required.
A physical mailing address is also required so that materials can be sent to all registrants.
Please be aware that materials will arrive relative to the date of registration and
FPN cannot be responsible for any shipping delays.

Click here to register!


For programmatic questions, please contact Geula Ferguson.
For registration issues, please email here.