Hardball Lobbying for Nonprofits (PDF)

An author, consultant and public speaker, Barry Hessenius published his work: Hardball Lobbying for Nonprofits in 2007 (Macmillan & Company, New York). Since then he has been conducting seminars and workshops for nonprofit organizations on the topic of Advocacy and Lobbying, developed a mini-course curriculum in public policy, advocacy and lobbying for university nonprofit and business school degree programs, and has been a panelist and keynote speaker on the topic at nonprofit conferences and meetings. He also conducted a two phase study with reports released in 2007 and 2009 for the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation on the issue of youth involvement and generational management & succession in the arts, culture and environmental fields, and has developed a workshop training module for managing the generations in the workplace.

He is the author of BARRY'S BLOG - 'news, advice and opinion for arts administrators' - hosted by the WESTERN STATES ARTS FEDERATION - with a 10,000 subscriber base.

Barry was appointed Director of the California Arts Council by Governor Gray Davis in March 2000 and was a member of his Cabinet for nearly five years. At the CAC he managed a budget of $70 million, an annual $32 million grants pool, and supervised a staff of 54. Mr. Hessenius was previously the President and Chief Executive Officer of the California Assembly of Local Arts Agencies, a nonprofit statewide service provider organization for 250 local arts councils. He hasbeen an advisor to the National Policy Committee of Americans for the Arts and the President's Committee for the Arts & Humanities (Clinton Administration). A founding member and Vice-Chair of California Arts Advocates and the United Statewide Community Arts Association, Mr. Hessenius has also been a board member of the National Association of State Arts Agencies (NASAA), the California Alliance for Arts Educators (CAAE), California CultureNet, the California State Summer School for the Arts, the California

'Barry Hessenius has never been shy, so this book shouldn't surprise anyone with its provocative and insightful thesis that the non-profit sector has to wake up and speak loudly for its interests. Anyone who knows the law and regulations surrounding advocacy and political speech by non-profits knows that it is a minefield of risk that needs to be approached with care and good legal counsel. But what Hessenius makes a convincing case for is that we have no choice but to get into the game. An excellent read.'

- Drummond Pike, Chief Executive Officer, Tides Network

"Hard Ball Lobbying is an essential tool for every nonprofit leader who wants to see systems change and public dollars flow to the causes they care about. The nonprofit CEO who doesn't have advocacy and lobbying as part of their job description may well be coming up short in pursuit of their social mission." -Tim Wolfred, Psy.D., Director of Leadership Services, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services

"Barry Hessenius learned political advocacy the hard way, convincing the California legislature to multiply many fold its investment in arts funding. In his new book, Barry extracts the lessons of his long experience into a readable and impassioned tutorial that has broad application throughout the non-profit sector.' -John Kreidler, President of Community Initiative Funds of The San Francisco Foundation

"This is a powerful, provocative, and daring look at the ups and downs of fighting for beliefs. The book straightforwardly mixes together simple, clear definitions, strong opinions, new ideas, and 'in your face' strategies, all designed to help the good guys win." Robert L. Lynch, President and CEO, Americans for the Arts

"For those who want to begin a non-profit, I can think of no better guide and toolkit than Hardball. Government students should read this as an insight into decision-making as Barry explains how government and groups interact with one another at all levels.