Lobbying by Religious Advocacy Groups on the Rise

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released a study today that looks at the number of religious advocacy groups vying for influence in DC.  Lobbying for the Faithful: Religious Advocacy Groups in Washington, DC.  That number has grown nearly fivefold in the past four decades, up from less than 40 organizations in 1970 to more than 200 today.

I'm fully supportive of religous organizations having voice with the government.  I'm supportive of lobbyists--I was a lobbyist for more than half the years I spent in DC.  I represented several terrific faith-based organizations. As good citizens, we have a duty to see that good, wise policy is in place.  I do find it somewhat troubling that while so many denominations are seeing church attendance in decline, the rate of engagement in advocacy is rising.  The two issues may not be related, but I would much rather see church membership growing at a rate as strong, if not stronger than the growth of lobbyists.

The study authors researched the websites, tax documents, and other public discloures of these organization as they conducted the study.  Some data they found include:
One in five religious advocacy groups (19%) have a Roman Catholic perspective.

• The largest percentage (54%) of the advocacy organizations are interreligious, representing the policy interests of multiple faiths.
• Collectively, these organiziations employ at least 1,000 people in the DC area (Government is the one area where you'll never know that unemployment is hovering at 9%, as jobs related to government just keep growing...)
• The study conservatively estimates that combined annual expenditures on lobbying activities are $390 million dollars. 
• 40 groups accounted for $330 million of the total $390 million in expenditures.
• These advocacy groups are working on a wide range of about 300 policy issues--everything from marriage and family issues to capitol punishment to abortion to international policy and so on.

The study interviewed 212 religious advocacy organizations, including three Lutheran groups: Lutheran Services in America Policy Office, Lutheran World Relief, and the Legislative Affairs office of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.  (In case you were wondering, none of the three Lutheran organizations were included in the top 40 biggest annual spenders) A complete list, including organization profiles of the organizations included in the report can be found here.

This study focuses on the umbrella advocacy organizations that are working for religious groups.  It doesn't cover the number of individual faith-based/religious organizations that have lobbyists, or that have staff responsible for communicating with the government.  That number would be significantly higher, as many individual faith-based groups, including colleges, social service programs, youth programs, etc, etc, etc have advocates in Washington working on their behalf. 

So, as with everything inside the Beltway, there's more to the story. But, this report is an interesting read and includes some good data.