This is a summary of a paper presented at the 28th Annual Conference of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action in November 1999. This paper was submitted to the peer-reviewed academic journal Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly for consideration.
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Nonprofits’ Use of the Media in the Influence of Public Policy:
Is there a correlation between exposure in the media and positive results?

DAVID A. RICE
STRATEGIC POLICY CONCEPTS

Abstract: The extent to which interest groups and the media influence policymakers has been a popular topic of research. However, there has been little research on interest groups’ attempts to use the media for the specific purpose of influencing policymakers. This paper examines the attempts of nonprofit advocates in Massachusetts to use the media to influence public policymaking.
The research was conducted through a survey of policymakers, the media, and registered lobbyists for nonprofit and for-profit interest groups in Massachusetts. The results of the survey indicate that the majority of nonprofit advocates do not use the media as a tactic to influence policymakers primarily because they do not believe policymakers are very influenced by the media. The results also found that policymakers would view nonprofit advocates as being more influential if they frequently obtained media coverage of the issues important to them. The paper posits that the nonprofit sector’s degree of influence in the policymaking process would be significantly enhanced through greater use of the media for this purpose.

BACKGROUND

Political advocacy on the part of nonprofit organizations is regarded by some historians as being a vital part of the fabric of what makes nonprofits the “independent sector.” To this end, nonprofit organizations are important advocates in the public policymaking process in Congress and in statehouses around the country on such issues as the environment, human and social services, the arts, children, the elderly, minorities, the disabled, and education. Nonprofit advocates typically represent the interests of those who would otherwise not have a voice in government or in the shaping of public policy. And as nonprofits have become an integral part of the delivery of government services and programs, their stake in the policymaking process has increased significantly. However, evidence shows that the nonprofit sector’s effectiveness at advocating on behalf of its interests is limited when compared to the effectiveness of the for-profit sector.

This study identifies how the nonprofit and for-profit sectors’ effectiveness as policy advocates compare to each other and what factors contribute to the for-profit sector’s success in policymaking, including their use of the media. This study also identified which factors influence policymakers’ decisions and, to a lesser degree, the media’s reluctance to adequately cover the nonprofit sector’s role in the public policymaking process.

METHODOLOGY

Literature Review. A literature review included five major areas: 1) the nonprofit sector’s changing relationship with government; 2) nonprofit advocacy practices; 3) interest groups’ impact on policymaking; 4) the media’s influence on policymakers and public opinion; and 5) the media’s coverage of the nonprofit sector. The reference material used for the paper includes 42 articles from 18 various journals, 12 books, 3 unpublished doctoral theses, organization documents, interviews, web sites, and newspaper articles.

Written Survey. A total of 500 confidential surveys, based on a format put forth by Martin Linsky in Impact: How the Press Effects Federal Policymaking (1986), were mailed to the following cohorts involved in Massachusetts’ policymaking process: 1) policymakers: members of the House and Senate, gubernatorial staff, agency secretaries, commissioners, and department leaders; 2) media: members of the State House Press Association; and 3) interest groups: registered lobbyists for for-profit and nonprofit interests. The response rate was 32% for policymakers, 24% for the media, and 29% for interest groups.

RESULTS

Analysis of the data collected through the returned surveys provided the following primary findings: 1) policymakers regard nonprofit advocates’ issues as having greater societal importance than those of for-profit lobbyists; 2) nonprofit advocates are perceived by policymakers as less influential than for-profit lobbyists; 3) policymakers are substantially influenced by the media; 4) for-profit interest groups actively use the media to influence policymakers; and 5) nonprofit advocates do not actively engage the media as a tool for influencing policymakers because they either a) lack the resources, or b) do not place a high value on the media as an advocacy tool.

The result that was most unexpected was the wide disparity between the societal importance policymakers gave nonprofit advocates’ agendas and the perceived ineffectiveness of those advocates as compared to for-profit lobbyists. Another unexpected result not directly related to the main focus of this paper is the for-profit sector’s greater use of grassroots strategies and lesser use of campaign contributions as a method to influence policymakers. Policymakers also rated contributions low as a means of influence, although they did list them as a factor.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite existing research to the contrary, many researchers presume that nonprofits are less effective as public policy advocates because of the sector’s comparative lack of economic power. However, the survey results for this paper show that although nonprofits typically lack the resources of for-profits in critical areas, they can have a similar level of influence on policymakers without a comparable level of resources. If the ability to lobby effectively was solely, or even primarily, rooted in the economic significance of the interest group, then the nonprofit sector would not be able to achieve any of its public policy goals, and this is clearly not the case.

The results also make a strong argument in support of the nonprofit sector’s inherent ability to sway policymakers without the supposedly typical means employed by the for-profit sector, such as campaign contributions and political favors. The high value placed by policymakers on the societal importance of the nonprofit advocates’ agenda provides an opportunity for greater influence through more effective advocacy. And one of the most efficient and effective means is the successful engagement of the media.