Advocacy

Engaging individuals in advocacy efforts is an essential part of creating lasting change. But it can be a challenge to get people to take meaningful action, and even more challenging to keep them engaged over the long term. That's where the advocacy engagement funnel comes in.

With advocacy campaign season in full swing, it's time to clear the air on some common advocacy myths about what will and won't hurt your advocacy group.

Advocacy message development can be challenging, so we are here to help! You and your team will want to develop a consistent message that aligns with your values, but at the same time, you will want to craft one that will be applicable to any number of audiences you are reaching out to. How do we begin to boil all that down for messaging?

Advocacy, defined in the simplest terms, is about fighting for something you believe in. When we talk about advocacy, the issues and tactics may change, but the core is about supporting a cause or policy and working to create the change we want to see in the world.

While it’s true that the world of online advertising is fast-paced- banking on instantaneous programs is a good way to fall short of your goals. Planning for a digital program will give you time to really define your goals and make sure your campaign has the right components, creative, and timeline to achieve them.

Nadia Belkin is the founding Executive Director at the Asian American Power Network (AAPN) where she works to help build progressive political power in Asian American communities and across other communities of color. AAPN is a 501(c)(4) organization devoted to increasing voter engagement, addressing Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) racial justice, and moving progressive policies to improve the living standards of folks belonging to the community.

If you’re a member of an organization that has spotted a need for change but doesn’t know how to make a meaningful impact alone, coalition building may be the answer for you. Though you may know the change you want to make, the hardest part is figuring out how to get started. Do you have enough resources, money and otherwise, to make this happen?

Advocacy video is all over social media and across the internet. Video has really become an essential channel for leveraging support on an issue for nonprofits. It’s no wonder why, many advocacy organizations and nonprofits have supporters with compelling narratives, and video is a great medium for storytelling. But we’ve seen too many small or mid-sized nonprofits that still choose to avoid creating an advocacy video strategy because they have a limited budget.

Digital advocacy seems to be the term of the moment, but achieving real online advocacy results can be tough in both execution and budget. If you are at a nonprofit where money is tight, (when is it not?), spending money on hiring a digital advocacy consultant to manage your digital and online presence can seem like an easy line item to cut.

This past week we've seen folks across the country come together, demanding criminal justice and police reform. Here at The Campaign Workshop, we stand with those fighting systemic and institutionalized racism in our country. We are taking a critical look at ourselves to change and grow into better advocates for Black lives. There is a lot of work to be done, but police violence against Black communities must end.

Every digital advocacy campaign is different and has unique goals. Therefore, there are a variety of metrics that you should focus on depending on your goals. There is not a one-size-fits-all benchmark or metric to track the success of every digital advocacy campaign.

When people hear the terms “grassroots organizers” or “community advocates” they often do not see themselves reflected in those descriptions. However, very often they have already been an advocate without even realizing it.