Making a Day of Action a Day of Reckoning

Today, September 20, 2021, is the Day of Action for the #Relief4Charities agenda, a specific set of policy asks to address the immediate needs of charitable nonprofits as they provide pandemic relief and recovery. But what is a “Day of Action,” and can it actually make a difference? The first question is easy enough to explain; the second one depends on whether you, your colleagues, and nonprofits across the country help make some noise. Here are some general thoughts and specific tips for making the day a Day of Reckoning.

What’s Involved?

Pre-COVID, a day of action usually meant people flying into Washington to fan out and meet with as many lawmakers and staff as possible, supported by thousands of phone calls to congressional offices generated by people back home. Right now, those activities aren’t available since most congressional offices are still closed to the public and switchboards often go to voicemail. So now advocacy, like most things during the pandemic, has gone virtual. The keys are to get the messages in front of the lawmakers and to make sure they know that “the whole world is watching.” Or at least that a large number of their constituents who are nonprofit professionals, board members, volunteers, donors, and clients in their state/district are paying attention to what they do.

Key Messages

The #Relief4Charities coalition developed a toolkit filled with key messages and sample social media posts to deliver today. Some social media graphics are also available for you to use – or inspire graphics of your own. The point of delivering consistent messages is for politicians to see that many nonprofit people from many disparate sectors of the community all share the same policy priorities. Ignoring the will of constituents can be risky; ignoring the views of a broad cross section of the community can be career ending. Or at least that’s the mindset that the Day of Action is counting on.

Tagging the Key Messages

Social media messages are most effective when addressed to individual lawmakers. That means “tagging” Senators and Representatives by placing the @ symbol directly in front of the target’s user name. Where do you find their user names? This site can get you to the twitter handles for the current Senators and Representatives. Another good source is Tweet Congress. And, to ensure your message is connected to the larger effort, be sure to include the hashtag #Relief4Charities.

Customization Helps

The main nonprofit message is summarized in this simple tweet.

We urge Congress to pass #Relief4Charities provisions, including supporting nonprofit jobs, extending the Employee Retention Tax Credit, and encouraging charitable giving! These resources will enable nonprofits to meet community needs as we recover from the pandemic. https://bit.ly/relief4charities 

Consider modifying the text to include your organization’s name and a reference to your state. You can also lead with this text as your first message, and then follow up with more details about how any one of the policy goals – jobs, ERTC, charitable giving incentive – would affect your organization.

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Note, multiple tweets over the course of the day are part of the strategy. Please post multiple times throughout the day and help amplify the campaign by retweeting others. So have at it, be creative, and help turn this Day of Action into a Day of Reckoning. For the public good.

Categories: 

Nonprofit Advocacy in Action

Tags: 

#Relief4Charities