Policy Advocacy: Strategies, Aspects and Training Needs

This presentation provides an overview of policy advocacy, its strategies, aspects, and training needs. It explains the power of policy advocates, coalition building, media communication, and technology. It also covers effective policy advocacy and its cycle.

HUMAN SERVICES Student Name:

POLICY ADVOCACY
Policy Advocacy:
Policy advocacy is the set of actions that direct to established goal
and is set before by planning of needs that are to be put in a plan.
•Advocacy is set before planning and even before planning an
understanding of needs is made to frame this
•It is action steps or strategies or approaches to possible goals or
issues

CONTD…
Policy advocacy is action strategies or tactics that can be utilised for community initiatives coupled with other
elements and are not direct services and mostly do not include confrontation or disagreements (Margolis & Ersoylu
2015)
Some example can better explain what advocacy is:
• Joining of community group that assists underprivileged in constructing their homes is not advocacy as it is service
• However when a person organizes and initiates actions to get a portion of apartments in a new location assigned for
low income group housing is an action of advocacy

CONTD..
Another example is:
• A person spends his weekend assisting sorting goods at recycling center and this is not advocacy rather it is service
• Moreover when the person leads a drive together with others to get a city to protect a recycling center that is going
to be closed down or helps in searching some new site is an action of advocacy.
Advocacy generally includes gathering people from different bodies like government, schools, business etc to
improve an unfair or harmful condition that is affecting community or its people. The different social conditions can
be addressed and resolved through persuasion by forcing bodies like government, corporates etc to modify
situations under pressure or through political or legislative actions.

WHAT MAKES FOR
EFFECTIVE POLICY
ADVOCACY
The rightness of the cause
The power of the policy advocates (i.e., more of them is much
better than less)
The thoroughness with which policy advocates researched the
issues, the opposition, and the climate of opinion about the issue in
the community
Their skill in using the advocacy tools available (including the
media)
The selection of effective strategies and tactics

CONTD..
For making policy advocacy work effectively it should be kept free
from confrontation or conflicts and should be made appealing to
gather attention of more people included in different bodies such as
government, business etc to set and run the advocacy program in
the community. Advocacy needs to be made appealing to masses
so that major resources can be included in policy advocacy
program so that it is taken as serious matter and drives support of
public for a cause and makes people drive efforts for support.

DOES POLICY ADVOCACY
INVOLVE CONFRONTATIONS
Policy advocacy can involve confrontations at start but should not
include conflicts. For effective advocacy the policy advocates
should be more firm on confrontations that are essential and should
be careful on planning of approaches and tactics to make the issue
drive more clarity to emphasize clear choice of actions.

ADVOCACY TRAINING NEEDS
• Understanding the power of policy advocates like NGO
•Developing structure and framework for advocacy to aim vision and
mission to public fro better effectiveness of strategic approach and
tactics
•Needs developing relationship or coalitions
•Requires maintaining ongoing communication to gather support

STRATEGIES

ADVOCACY CYCLE

POLICY ADVOCACY DIAGRAM

CONTD..
Advocacy is initiated to support gathering of policy advocates for a
cause such as fundraising, hiring people for community programs
to drive the advocacy initiative to ensure its effectiveness.
Advocacy needs support of strong strategies to make it working
effectively. The advocacy demonstrations needs planning with
direct experience or preliminary research to attain goals and should
be carried out with enough capacity of policy advocates in support
for campaign who have active enthusiasm and energy to drive
advocacy to reach its goals with a long haul.

ASPECTS REQUIRED FOR
POLICY ADVOCACY TRAINING
Coalition: it is essential that policy advocators are not represented
by handful people in support for cause as then opposition side can
use power to dismiss the initiative. (Chin 2018). So policy advocacy
trainers should gather more people or representative from whole
population that is influenced by the cause to represent a powerful
group in support of advocacy campaign.
Coalition needs to be made with people who can come together to
give the cause bulk, visibility and power.

CONTD…
The coalitions for advocacy campaigns can be formed using power
grid method that would assist in underpinning group,
representatives and bodies that have power and who could support
the campaign. The power grid also supports in recognizing
particular approaches or tactics that can be used by prospective
coalition members to help the campaign (Nesbit 2017).

CONTD..
While making coalition advocacy groups need to be careful on
selecting people or bodies with which coalition can be formed as
some representatives can be of no need so a balance needs to be
maintained while forming coalitions with realization of prospective
benefits against risks and trainers need to select groups that can
support the cause rather than hindering to lead a full fledged
coalition network.

CONTD…
Media communication: various media communication tools like TV,
radio, social networks, newspaper, written brochures as well as
internet are used to spread the information of advocacy cause to
sources such as people, business, agency, government, policy
makers and other media organisations so that communication for
advocacy’s cause reaches to general public.

CONTD..
As advocacy describes open support for some opinion or group of
representatives so it is needed that media communication is used
by trainer of policy advocacy to communicate the cause, persuade
general public, state, local or federal government or entities to
gather support for rights, initiate policy changes, offer money or
develop new legislations for the support of cause. Media is used as
form to promote objectives of policy advocates with a vision and
mission.

CONTD…
Technology to be used: social media and network as well as
internet are powerful technologies that can be used to spread
cause and awareness for advocacy among the general public. Also
promotional advertisements on mobile apps can be used to spread
message for advocacy.

CONTD..
Technology like internet, mobile apps or social media networks are
used to inform the public about real cause of advocacy to
contribute support for issues and educate mass about the concept.
Also it helps to recast the problem for the concern that affect
groups for whom policy advocates direct initiatives (Nesbit 2017).
Technologies are used to gather people with the advocacy
movement and to the problem to work closely towards strategic
actions or tactics and encourage members to get involved with
development of issues and find more approaches to ensure success
of advocacy campaigns.

REFERENCES
Chin, J. J. (2018). Service-providing nonprofits working in coalition to
advocate for policy change. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector
Quarterly, 47(1), 27-48. doi: http://
dx.doi.org/10.1177/0899764017721060 [Accessed on 8 Nov. 2018]
Margolis, D., M.P.A., & Ersoylu, L. M., PhD. (2015). How to implement a
funder- supported advocacy effort and the integral role of policy
consultants. The Foundation Review, 7(1), 45-55. Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/1696030549?accountid=30552
[Accessed on 7 Nov. 2018]
Nesbit, R. (2017). Advocacy recruits: Demographic predictors of
volunteering for advocacy-related organizations. Voluntas, 28(3), 958-
987. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11266-017-9855-z [Accessed on 7
Nov. 2018]