Big corporations and special interest groups are not alone when it comes to lobbying Congress for legislation.
Since March of 2004, The University of Memphis Foundation has paid $220,000 to Washington, D.C. lobbying firm Van Scoyoc Associates to lobby on behalf of The University. And this summer the school agreed to pay the firm another $144,000 to lobby until June 31, 2007.
Because the money comes from the foundation and not directly from The University, no public tax dollars go toward lobbying.
Instead, private donors designate money to be used for lobbying, said Kevin Roper, executive assistant to the president for government relations.
Roper, who works on federal funding for research programs and with state legislators and officials on capital funding, said the lobbying firm is a "value added part of the process."
That process starts every year when Roper proposes an agenda that emphasizes seven to 10 of the best research programs at The U of M, and looks for ways to fund them.
The 2007 federal research agenda includes requests for funding the Center for Hazards Research and Education to EFOCUS: Earthquake Fault Observatory for the Central U.S.
The agenda also focuses on education with the Model Teacher Program for the Memphis City School system and financial literacy with the $mart Tennessee initiative.
"We see it as an investment in our future," he said. But the benefits of lobbying are already paying off.
According to Curt Guenther, University communications director, federal earmarks for The University have gone from virtually nothing to almost $7 million in 2006.
Among the earmarks is a $2.583 million for the Benjamin Hooks Institute of Social Change and a $100,000 FEMA disaster grant.
"It would be ludicrous not to try to compete for the money," Guenther said.
In fact, the University of Tennessee spent $200,000 for federal lobbying in 2005, about $80,000 more than The U of M Foundation spent.
By partnering with the city and the county, The University is able to lobby for money that will benefit the whole community, Roper said.
The Water Resources Development Act is one example of how The U of M has built community relationships to impact Memphis.
Shelby County, along with The U of M, went to Congress with the bill, which passed in both houses of Congress and is now in conference.
Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chairman John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN) co-sponsored the bill, which, once authorized, would designate $5 million over five years to The University's Ground Water Institute.
The money in Nashville is just as green as the bills found in Washington, D.C., and that is why Roper heads to Nashville once a week in search of funding for The U of M. Roper worked with the state to earmark an estimated $42 million for the renovation of the new downtown U of M's Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.
The University of Memphis is still new to the lobbying process, but Roper said progress is already evident.
"As we build relationships on all levels, the funding continues to grow and new assets open up, such as private funding," he said.
According to folklore, the term "lobbying" originated during the Ulysses S. Grant presidency. While President Grant drank brandy, smoked cigars and relaxed in the lobby of the Willard Hotel, he was often approached by people looking for favors.
However, Roper doesn't consider himself as a lobbyist.
"I'm the go-to guy on government relations and public policy work," he said.
