Even worse, in some circumstances a wrong step could land you in court. At the very least, there's a risk of spinning your wheels if you don't go about the many tasks of advocacy efficiently. For example, to look at a worst-case scenario, think of what could go wrong with a campaign to promote better health for the poor:. In the next section of this chapter, we've gathered 20 tips that will help members of your group avoid disasters. They'll be able to take on their tasks efficiently, confidently, and with a low risk of tripping over their shoelaces.
However, it is important to develop a deeper unstanding of the issue, including research to analyze of who has power. Remember, advocacy is about power--who can influence things that matter. You will need to know where the power of your opponents lies, and how you can most effectively influence or confront it.
If you are the only people in town who want something done about the problem you have identified, your cause could be in trouble. It's one thing to fight city hall: much harder to take on a whole community of hostile or indifferent people.
If there are only a handful of people on your side, it may be all too easy for those in power to dismiss you as the lunatic fringe. One of your jobs will be to make that "fringe" start to look like a representative slice of the whole population affected by the issue. Then people in power will take notice. Somewhere, there are allies - people who can band together with you and give your cause bulk, visibility, and clout. You can use methods such as a "power grid" that will help you pinpoint those groups and agencies in town that have the power to help your group.
This grid will also help you identify specific ways in which these potential allies can help. Of course, you'll need to be careful about who you invite on board--some allies may bring baggage that you don't need. We'll help you balance potential benefits against potential risks, and come up with some useful backers who will help, rather than hinder, your cause - whether you want to build a full-fledged coalition , or an informal alliance or network. In addition to deciding whether other groups have an interest in your cause, it's important to find out if an alliance with them is in your interest.
For example, suppose you are planning to make life difficult for retailers who sell cigarettes to kids, and you know that the American Cancer Society, a couple of local youth groups, and a pair of enlightened churches have the same goals. Just how can you best help each other? Do you want a close relationship? Suppose these people are limited by their own charters in the type of action they can get involved in? Suppose they might want to take over the direction of the whole campaign?
Suppose they are with your interests on some matters, and against you in others? Although it's possible to advocate without having an opponent for example, you may be working largely to overcome ignorance and inertia , most advocacy campaigns have a recognizable Goliath--or even several big and potentially mean kids on the block.
Who are your opponents? Why are they putting up resistance? And what can you do about it? Those questions should be answered together. There's not much point knowing the names of your opponents unless you also know why they are opposing you. Sometimes, this may not be for the most obvious reasons, so you'll need to know what's going on. Starting with the cause for resistance is often more fruitful than starting with a list of people you expect to be bad guys: you may get some surprises.
For example, a big developer might turn out to support your drive for more low-cost housing, because he recognizes that the presence of homeless people in the neighborhood can deter rich people from buying his expensive houses.
Similarly, people from whom you might expect support might turn out to oppose you. Perhaps a big agency that seems to share your goals is bent out of shape because you seem to be trespassing on their turf or accusing them of ineffectiveness in the past. You can't take anything for granted. Once you have a plan, you'll know where you are going, and how to get there.
That will give you confidence, and that confidence will give you clout. Armed with that, you may be able to approach certain groups or individuals whom you thought were opposed to you. Be flexible. It may be that the refugee office has different needs than what you planned to provide. Advocacy is a critical part of what churches can do to leverage resources and voices on behalf of immigrants and refugees.
Contact lawmakers using the latest action alert or reach out to the Global H. Financial support is important to refugee resettlement. That training and resource guide online event is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. ET, and one can register here. Hassan also noted she is already taking calls from local churches looking for information on how to sponsor a refugee family.
Are they going to be targets of change, as you work on their enforcement of the law? Or are they to be agents--going in to make the bust? Although targets or agents are often institutions or groups, it may be easier to focus on one individual. For example, you might plan to change the thinking of one elected official or agency head at a time rather than going for a massive shift of opinion.
Or it might seem feasible to tackle one senior executive in a company that's not hiring local people who need decent jobs. You can simply write one list of targets, one of agents, and one of possible hybrids: people who could switch from one category to another.
At this point in the planning, you will have a fairly clear idea about what you want to achieve, what are the main obstacles, and what are the resources--in terms of money, facilities and people--that can help you reach the goals. The next steps involve drawing a clear road-map showing how you will get there from here. In a sense, advocacy itself is a strategy--it's the way you have decided to reach your particular goal, because you can't get what you want without taking on some institutions and people who have power, and getting that power structure to change.
Now you need the specific strategies that will help you reach your goals. As an advocate, you will also have to make sure that your strategies:. Many people tend to assume that because you are involved in advocacy, your strategy will involve confrontation. Yes, it may - but often, that's not the best approach. For example, in a program aiming to curb youth smoking, you might decide on a mix of strategies, some of them quite adversarial, and some not.
As you can see, many different actions fit under the definition of "strategy," and they may incorporate many different styles--from friendly persuasion to "in your face.
Your choice of style will depend to a great extent on your knowledge of the community, and of what will work as well as your knowledge of your members and allies, and what they can do best and most comfortably.
The people and institutions of a community are connected in complicated ways, and people may see their own interests threatened if certain institutions seem to be under attack.
Yes, you can change people's attitudes - but this may take time. A raucous demonstration at the wrong time might solidify old prejudices, making it harder in the long run for people to change. On the other hand, sometimes a public demonstration is essential to bring an issue to the attention of the public and the media. In some circumstances, it can help fire up the enthusiasm of your members, and bring in new ones.
The point is that you need to think hard about what effect it will have, based on your knowledge of the community, your targets and agents, and the root causes of the issue. Although it's a good idea to do as much forward planning as possible, an advocacy campaign is likely to be dynamic, adjusting with changing circumstances. Obviously, not everything can be locked in. For example, you might be all set to barricade a logging trail in an environmental cause, when you hear that a state senator is about to propose legislation that would go some way towards accomplishing what you want; your barricade might cause some senators to vote against him.
Or you might hear rumors to the effect that your people would be met with massive force. Or you might be told that alternative old logging trails are to be opened up. Or that you had somehow overlooked another area of the watershed where logging could produce even more environmental damage. Here are some things that you should keep in mind, as your advocacy campaign progresses, involving surprise developments from good news ; rumors ; unmet needs ; or bad news.
It may be useful to brainstorm strategies in the group, and write down those that you feel will help you attain your goals. In some cases, simply writing the chosen strategies in a form that you can store easily for example, in a loose-leaf binder or computer file is all you need.
Others may prefer something more complex. Here's one possible format, which has a built-in double-check to make sure each strategy is on target. Strategies are the broad strokes: they don't spell out specifically how something will get done.
That's the job of the tactics or action steps that you choose? Tactics are the action steps. The icing on the cake. The finishing touch. The part that shows. Tactics can cover a wide range of activity, from writing letters to speaking up at City Council meetings, from filing complaints to setting up negotiations, from boycotts and demonstrations to carrying out surveys.
You will find plenty of discussion of specific tactics in other parts of the Community Tool Box. Some of these relate to the development of programs, but some fit well under the rubric of advocacy - that is, they involve identifying specific targets of change, and encouraging that change for the good of the community. There are many different ways of writing out your tactical plans. For example, you may find it useful to attach your plan to each major objective.
Here's an example of one way you can do that:. Here's another approach, which will also bring your resources and opponents into the planning process. The entire plan, covering all six of the above steps, should be formally written down. The process of writing will help clarify your thinking. The written version will be available to bring us back in line when "scope creep" occurs: we wobble away from our basic plan. As we have suggested, some groups might be happy working with a loose-leaf binder, with separate sections for each of the main planning steps.
However, others may prefer to get all the planning for one major action onto one "Campaign Planning Chart. In this example, budget cuts have been proposed that will affect the funding for a clinic that offers the only health care available to the poor in the neighborhood. Your group is advocating an increase in funding for the clinic, and opening a new clinic to serve an area now without health-care facilities.
It aims to build a community of grassroots psychologist advocates that can intervene to promote well-being in the communities in which they reside. Introduction to Advocacy Planning. This online PDF provides information on understanding the problem you are trying to solve, identifying an alternative aim, and breaking down the objectives as part of the advocacy planning cycle.
Advocacy Strategy Workbook — This resource goes step-by-step with worksheets to guide each of the stages of advocacy planning. The chapter concluded with an advocacy planning worksheet. Altman, D. Public health advocacy: Creating community change to improve health.
Bobo, K. What is the likely impact of public pressure — can it be expected to lead to a positive response or to resistance? What sort of treatment can be expected from the media: supportive, hostile, or indifferent?
Are there incremental strategies that might be more likely to achieve results? Through what mechanisms might competing interests be brokered? In relation to the goal and objectives, what messages are likely to be persuasive with the primary audience?
What about the secondary audience — are different messages needed for different audiences? If the approach taken is public or based on a broad coalition, what key messages are likely to mobilise the broadest support, gain traction in the media, or have a viral effect, with the audience itself acting as a multiplier? Effective advocacy requires good organisational planning.
Having defined the goal, objectives and strategic approach, it is important to be systematic in mapping out the actions to be taken to achieve results, including timelines and milestones. This is best brought together in a logical framework including measurable progress indicators. Cost considerations are likely to influence the approach to be taken. Policy monitoring and dialogue, for example, may be achieved with just limited staff or volunteer time and the means to publicise the results.
A media-oriented advocacy campaign might require substantial publicity costs from the outset: preparing news releases and placing stories, commissioning photographs or a video, designing posters and other campaign materials.
A capacity-building project or a demonstrator project might require significant investment in equipment and training. Organisations working in ICT policy advocacy will frequently have the skills and know-how to harness new ICTs in their advocacy work — for example, using email, text messaging and Web 2. Funds and other resources will need to be sufficient to sustain the project for its duration.
What are the main risks to successful project implementation? Risk analysis involves assessing the impact of each particular risk and the likelihood of it happening. It is useful to rate both impact and likelihood e.
Particular attention needs to be paid to any risk of harm to individuals. In many countries, media workers, internet activists and freedom of expression defenders have faced threats, harassment and violence in the course of their work.
Might the planned advocacy provoke state repression? Are there non-state actors that pose physical dangers? Good communications is at the core of effective advocacy. This requires attention to the message, the audience and the means of delivery.
The message needs to be clear: it should explain what is being proposed, why it is needed, and what difference it would make. It also needs to be compelling: it should be crafted to the interests and knowledge of the audience. The means of delivery must ensure it is received and heard — whether, for example, a written proposal, face-to-face presentation or public demonstration.
It is rare that a single advocacy message will be received and acted upon. The message needs to reinforced, by repetition and through the influence of secondary audiences. The media — radio, television, press and online media — have a particular role to play in public advocacy initiatives, especially campaign-based approaches. Not all advocacy work uses the media, and a media-based approach carries risks as well as opportunities.
The media can bring a mass audience, potentially increasing profile and credibility, but they can also bring bad publicity and may contribute to mobilising opposition as well as support. Using the media requires planning and skills, including building contacts, knowing the media audience, writing press releases, placing stories, being interviewed, providing visual imagery and organising newsworthy events.
Most advocacy initiatives involve some degree of mobilising public support behind the proposal. What partnerships and alliances are most likely to assist in mobilising broad-based support? What processes can best achieve trust, collective ownership, and effective collaboration? Should the initiative operate as an open coalition and, if so, what mechanisms are needed to enable participation and to assure accountability? Is support needed to build the advocacy capacity of partner organisations?
Media and the internet can also be used to recruit and mobilise broad-based public support. Advocacy is rarely a one-way communications process. Some advocacy work is more reactive than proactive towards policy makers, or is explicitly dialogical. In any case, policy and decision makers may well respond to advocacy proposals with their own questions or alternative proposals. Other interested parties may launch strategies to counter the proposals being made.
It may become necessary to modify the proposals to achieve results. What alternatives might be considered? What counter proposals can be expected? What is non-negotiable and what could be up for discussion? Throughout the implementation phase it is important to monitor the process, the results and the policy context. Mechanisms are needed to track activities such as meetings and communications and to monitor results such as media coverage and expressions of public support. Data needs to be maintained on the target audiences: contact details, positions they have taken, offers of assistance and so on.
The process and results should be evaluated not only at the end of the planned timeframe but on a regular basis so that adjustments, if needed, can be made to the strategy and plan of action. Advocacy invariably takes place in a dynamic environment, especially when the focus is on ICTs. The policy terrain can change for social, political or economic reasons that are independent of the advocacy initiative underway.
The ability to react quickly and flexibly, to spot windows of opportunity, and to anticipate new challenges requires close monitoring of the policy context and of broader trends. Three case studies have been provided for this module as well as a list of additional resource material.
The advocacy case studies are outlined below:. This case study illustrates their approach and the challenges when campaigning for ICT policy change. It also highlights the lessons learned: for instance, how commitments to change policy mean little without political will. There are also case studies in other modules of this toolkit which are particularly relevant to advocacy:. This case study illustrates the importance of leadership and vision to ensure that lobbying and advocacy are undertaken both within communities but also with the government.
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