With Michigan’s August primary election taking place tomorrow and the gubernatorial election just three months away, now is the time to seek out opportunities to speak with candidates and elected officials. As leaders and resource providers working to address challenges that have plagued our state, foundations understand Michigan's communities and the unique issues they face.

There are nine proposals set to appear on November’s ballot, including questions about raising the minimum wage, providing workers with earned sick time off and creating a redistricting commission.

The proposal for a redistricting commission comes off the heels of a Michigan Court of Appeals decision which rejected the continuation of political district lines drawn by the legislature. Ending the legislative hold on district lines would prevent gerrymandering, which has allowed government officials to ensure their party voters remain the majority. It’s now up to voters to decide.

Those interested in advocacy and expanding their outreach to legislators may be unclear about the legal do’s and don’ts.

Advocacy, as defined by the Philanthropy Advocacy Playbook, can include conducting policy research, meeting with reporters, educating the public, lobbying a legislator, meeting with a government regulator, filing a lawsuit or mobilizing voters.

There is so much funders can do to advocate for issues. Like Launch Michigan that is bringing many different partners together around boosting educational excellence, foundations can work with organizations to form coalitions toward systems change, convene government, nonprofit and businesses to a common table, educate the public by raising awareness of policy matters and build capacity through internal and external training.

Foundations may also publish reports to educate policymakers, the public and the media on specific issues, be a voice for the policy work of foundation grantees, and fund advocacy and legal lobbying (so long as it is not a substantial part of a foundation’s activities) with other funders.

You can talk about your successes and the progress you’ve made to support a brighter future for Michigan, while reiterating why it’s important to continue those efforts. Foundations and government are stronger as partners in this work.  

Restrictions include endorsing or opposing candidates, making campaign contributions, asking candidates to sign pledges, highlighting differences between candidates and engaging in issues advocacy when there are no clear electoral purposes for doing so.

The event slides linked at the bottom of this page are a portion of the slide deck from a past CMF program; the slides share further information regarding the legal do’s and don’ts of foundation advocacy. Additionally, we will host a webinar on Aug. 29^th at 1pm to continue this conversation. With help from the Michigan League for Public Policy, this webinar will include an update on upcoming ballot issues and will address legal rights around public advocacy.

As we consider the challenges our state and our nation face, and how we will achieve solutions and successes, this may also be the best time to consider what a civil society means and how we can work together. In “Civic Virtues and the Healing of Partisan Divides,” Bob Boisture, president, Fetzer Institute, underscores love for humanity as the basis of a thriving civil society and discusses the five essential civic virtues that follow from that love. This piece, published as part of the Independent Sector and Stanford Social Innovation Review article series Civil Society for the 21st Century, discusses how "in a time when many are drawing a line between communities and ideologies, the best line to draw is one that goes right through every human heart."

Want more?

Check out the event slides on legal do’s and don’ts (linked at the end of this page).

Read Bob Boisture’s published article “Civic Virtues and the Healing of Partisan Divides.”