A Call to Advocacy for Nonprofits

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Charities are sweet things, but Gary D. Bass wants them to get rough and tumble when it comes to dealing with government.

In his new book, "Seen But Not Heard: Strengthening Nonprofit Advocacy," Bass and three co-authors argue that charities need to lobby more often and more effectively. "Democracy would be better off," said Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, a nonprofit group that pushes for government accountability.

Most people -- and, clearly, most charities -- think of lobbyists as corporate frontmen trying to grab taxpayer largesse for themselves. They also consider lobbying kind of dirty, given the criminality of infamous lobbyists such as the now-imprisoned Jack Abramoff.

But lobbyists come in all shapes and sizes, including the charitable sort. Bass's book, which is part of a larger effort called the Strengthening Nonprofit Advocacy Project, or SNAP, is a useful reminder of that.

Bass has been trying to convince charities for years that they should not be afraid to lobby. He and others, including the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest, have even devised ways to ease -- or at least simplify -- the limitations now imposed on charities so they can press their causes more aggressively.

That's right, they are lobbying to be allowed to lobby more.

Conservative lawmakers and a few campaign-finance scholars don't like the idea. They worry that, among other things, the ability of charities to keep their donors anonymous could lead to huge and largely untraceable infusions of cash into elections, all under the guise of lobbying.

And please, call it advocacy. Charities don't like to use the "L" word. Only a third of nonprofits polled recently owned up to "lobbying" two or more times a month. But when asked if they "advocate," closer to half admitted to that.

Many nonprofits also are unsure how much lobbying the law permits them to do. Only 72 percent even knew that they could support or oppose federal legislation. (They can, up to a point.)

Bass's biggest problem is convincing charities that they not only can make their case to government, but that they really ought to do so . In effect, he needs to convince his fellow do-gooders that lobbying is not so bad.

"Nonprofit lobbyists have been involved in nearly every major public policy accomplishment in this country -- from civil rights to environmental protection to health care," Bass said in an e-mail. "Tens of thousands of lives have been saved by passing laws that improve car safety and reduce drunk driving."

"In other words, nonprofit lobbying is an honorable tradition," he added, "and not just the ugly Abramoff side" of the profession.

Convincing charities of that, however, will not be a snap.

McCain's D.C. Connections

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is not just a presidential candidate. He is also a veteran lawmaker and, as a consequence, his volunteer advisers include some big names on K Street.

Charles R. Black Jr., chairman of BKSH & Associates, serves as McCain's senior adviser. He assists with debate preparation, consults on the campaign's message and is a regular presence at McCain's side.

Former congressman and now lobbyist Tom Loeffler (R-Tex.) of the Loeffler Group is a finance chairman and is helping McCain keep his campaign's spending thrifty (for a change). Wayne L. Berman, managing director of Ogilvy Government Relations, is a finance vice chairman and talks to lawmakers on McCain's behalf (a.k.a. congressional outreach).

Other occasional McCain advisers include Timothy P. McKone of AT&T, Robert S. Aiken of Phoenix-based Pinnacle West Capital, John W. Timmons of the Cormac Group, and John Green, who works with Berman at Ogilvy.

Suffice it to say that all of them have a stake in the legislation that McCain will work on, even if he continues to be merely a senior senator on Capitol Hill.

The Too-Goody Bag

The Organization for International Investment represents foreign companies with U.S. subsidiaries as divergent as Michelin and Nestle. Last week it held its 13th annual dinner with Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez as its keynote speaker.

But Gutierrez was not the big draw; the goody bag was. Dinner guests famously receive a generous bag filled with products made by OFII members. This year the goodies included Theraflu from Novartis, a wine accessory kit from Thales and whiskey from Pernod Ricard, among other items.

Congressional staffers, however, could not partake. After extensive discussions with congressional ethics committees (and $10,000 worth of legal advice), the group decided not to put the bags at the tables, as had been previous practice, but to hand out laminated tickets that could be used to claim the bags later.

On each ticket was the following warning: "Members of Congress and staff may NOT accept the OFII member company product bags." It added: "Please contact the appropriate House or Senate ethics officials if you have any questions."

"Short of carding people at the door of the Ritz," said Todd M. Malan, OFII's chief executive, "I think we ensured that nobody would get a bag that is prohibited."

Apparently so. Seventy-five bags were left over and donated to Fisher House at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

K Street Contests: Please Apply!

In the coming weeks, as 2007 draws to a close, I'll look at the year's Winners and Losers on K Street. Please send nominees for each category to kstreet@washpost.com.

For a separate contest, I'd like to name the most outrageous lobbying efforts of the year. I'll take nominees for that as well.

And as part of an annual column, I plan to write during the holidays about the good deeds that lobbyists and lobbying law firms did this year. Please send your pro bono nominees, again, to kstreet@washpost.com.

As they say in my business, file early and often. Thanks!

Hire of the Week

Nels B. Olson, head of the biggest executive search firm in Washington, Korn/Ferry International, has taken on some new responsibilities. He is now also managing director of the eastern region for the well-known headhunter.

The new role gives Olson, 40, dominion over offices in Princeton and Philadelphia, as well as the company's largest office in New York City. He says he will split his time between Washington and the Big Apple as a result.

But he is not giving up his main gig, which is to run the D.C. operation and be the capital's most active executive recruiter for lobbying offices and trade associations. "I want to broaden my practice to include corporate boards and CEOs," he said, "but not to the detriment of what I do down here in Washington."