Advocacy and Policy
MACC advocates for a sector that is valued as the essential community infrastructure it is, funded fully and flexibly for the real cost of the work, not buried in regulations that drain capacity without improving outcomes, and trusted to build data practices that center community consent and needs. Our members work across every corner of human services: housing, food, health, safety, workforce, and more. Years of network-wide work has shown us that the biggest barriers facing human service organizations cut across every focus area, and no existing coalition is built to take them on like MACC can.
The Change We’re Fighting For
MACC advocates at the Minnesota Legislature and with state agencies on three interconnected fronts, because changing the systems that limit our work requires changing the story, the funding, and the data practices all at once.
Fighting for Pay Justice
Advocating for Data Justice
Building a better Narrative
Take Action: Improve State Grant Oversight
Minnesota Council of Nonprofits is looking for your stories of state grant oversight that has caused significant administrative work, costs, or delays. This is an opportunity to influence the oversight that touches so much of our every day work. Even small examples can reveal larger patterns. Oversight is important but it needs to be reasonable and match the risk and purpose of the funding.
Why we’re in the fight:
Our members advocate from their own work and their own communities — housing, food access, violence prevention, and beyond. MACC advocates for the organizations and nonprofit workers themselves, and the critical infrastructure they represent. The diversity of our network gives us a unique view of the operational challenges and opportunities shared across our sector, putting us in a unique position to push back against what makes this work harder, and fight for what makes it stronger.
Human services nonprofits are essential infrastructure for Minnesota’s communities, yet the public story rarely reflects that reality, and misconceptions about nonprofits as inefficient or merely charitable hold back the funding and trust our sector needs.
What We’re Fighting For:
Human service nonprofits are anchors building wellbeing and strengthening communities. They build trust, foster belonging, and empower residents in ways that strengthen our democracy. MACC stands for strong, equitable communities and the organizations that help build them. We work as a collective to change the conditions that limit our sector’s impact and stand in the way of nonprofits doing their work to build shared community wellbeing.
- A strong, stable, resilient nonprofit human services sector.
- Nonprofits recognized as accountable, effective infrastructure for community wellbeing
- Transparent contracts that pay on time and cover the full cost of the work
- Effective reporting requirements that align oversight with risk
- Contracts and grants that center community needs and consent
- Data that drives outcomes, without adding barriers to program access or delivery
Related Resources
Take Action: state grant oversight burdens
Share your voice: MN nonprofits want state agencies to protect public dollars and prevent fraud. Accountability works best when oversight is reasonable, risk-based, and connected to the purpose of the funding – not just add admin burden without improving outcomes!
Actionable Strategies for Administrative Advocacy
Webinar 12/10: Federal and state agencies play a significant role in determining how laws are implemented, how funding priorities are established, and how communities ultimately experience public policy. This session from Social Current will provide participants with a practical framework for navigating the administrative policymaking process and identifying opportunities for meaningful engagement.
Five & Rising Ambassador Training: Rewriting the Story of the Social Sector
Webinar 12/16: Five & Rising is a national movement, led by Social Current, to build a more accurate and powerful story about the social sector and its role in our communities. In this interactive virtual workshop, you’ll explore the story behind Five & Rising; why the way we talk about the sector matters; and how narratives about charity, scarcity, and need limit the sector’s impact.
2026 MACC Advocacy Debrief
A debrief summarizing the outcomes and takeaways from MACC’s 2026 state advocacy work. We advocate for the conditions human services organizations need to thrive — fair pay for workers, data that serves communities rather than burdens them, and a public narrative that reflects the real value of this work. Dig into our advocacy priorities, definitions, platform, and outcomes.
2025 MACC Network Advocacy Messages
We bring together the voices, wisdom, and influence of our collective to co-create a better narrative for our sector that support’s our network’s shared vision for equitable, thriving, abundant communities. We asked our network leaders to share their perspectives to directly shape our advocacy messaging for the coming year.
Government Partnership Report: MACC member diagnosis & recommendations
A MACC report diagnosing government-partnership challenges based on member input, with recommendations for improving nonprofit–government relationships.
Common Problems in Government-Nonprofit Grants and Contracts
A National Council of Nonprofits resource summarizing common problems nonprofits face in government grants and contracts, including underpayment of full costs and chronically late payments.
Related Events
Briefing: State Grant Contract Advocacy
About this Event: Minnesota’s human services nonprofits are public infrastructure. Through state grant contracts, they house families, feed neighbors, train workers, and support Minnesotans through every stage of life. But
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