Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Lobbying for the Faithful

Religious Advocacy Groups in Washington, D.C.

November 21, 2011

The number of organizations engaged in religious lobbying or religion-related advocacy in Washington, D.C., has increased roughly fivefold in the past four decades, from fewer than 40 in 1970 to more than 200 today.

As a whole, religious advocacy organizations work on about 300 policy issues. For most of the past century, religious advocacy groups in Washington focused mainly on domestic affairs. Today, however, roughly as many groups work only on international issues as work only on domestic issues, and nearly two-thirds of the groups work on both.

These are among the key findings of a new study by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life that examines a total of 212 religion-related advocacy groups operating in the nation's capital.

This report is based on a systematic examination of the websites, mission statements, tax documents and other public records of religious advocacy groups spanning the years 2008-2010. Researchers also relied on responses to a written questionnaire that was sent to 148 separate, active groups included in the study and completed by 61 of them. Additionally, in-depth interviews were conducted with leaders of 36 groups and observed the advocacy efforts of many other groups at congressional hearings, lobby days, press conferences and other Washington-based events.

Read the full report for more details on the following subjects:

• A brief history of religious advocacy in Washington
• A breakdown of advocacy groups by religious affiliation
• The organizational structures of religious advocacy groups
• Tax status of religious advocacy groups
• Issue and policy agendas
• Advocacy group expenditures
  
• Strategies of religious advocacy groups
• Searchable directory of religious organization profiles