SOAR - Information Literacy for Change in Public Health: Advocacy Organizations

When identifying advocacy organizations you're interested in working with, it's important to critically evaluate the organization so that you fully understand who they are, what work they carry out, and why they do it. These questions will help guide you through that process. 

• What are the stated advocacy goals? Do they match the organization's actions? 
• Who are the funders? 
  • Donors? (Who?)
  • Membership? (Who?)
  • Grants? (From where?)
• IRS non-profit or PAC status? (e.g. 501c3, 527, PAC) 
  • ProPublica Charity Explorer, Types of Nonprofit
  • Open Secrets: PACs
  • Lobbyists 4 Good Advocacy Overview
• Is there a board? 
  • Who is on it? 
  • How are board members appointed? (Elections?)
  • Are meeting minutes available to review?
• Do they produce publications? What type? 
• Are there publications about the organization?
  • News?
  • Scholarly?
  • Is there criticism or support? From who? 
    • Populations served by org? 
    • The opposition? 
    • Is the org a hate group? Check the Southern Poverty Law Center extremist files.  

Below are some common tools used to find advocacy organizations. These are most helpful for large, established organizations, especially those with formal non-profit status with the IRS. For smaller local groups, or for groups that are intentionally de-centralized, using a search engine like google can also be helpful.