How will you measure success?
Policy change can take time, so don’t just focus on
the end point of your goal. Develop measurement
benchmarks along the way so you’ll know you’re
making progress and to help you refine your
advocacy strategy as needed.
What are the most powerful messages?
Use what you know about your decision-makers’ interests to
develop a compelling message about your advocacy goal. Your
message should briefly introduce the issue, connect it to your
decision-makers’ interest, address the solution, and end with a clear
“ask.” It is important to also identify people who can deliver that
message most eectively.
What are your tactics ?
Be selective about your advocacy tactics. The best activities are
the ones most likely to have an immediate and direct impact on
your target decision-makers or key influencers. When designing
your tactics, consider whether they address your decision-makers’ interests, help lessen the influence of any opposing groups,
and align with your advocacy assets.
Who are your key partners?
Be strategic about the partners you choose and how you partner
with them. Good partners bring new constituents to an issue,
demonstrate wide-scale support, improve your ability to reach
and persuade a wider set of decision-makers, help mitigate
opposition, and yield additional expertise, skills, and resources.
What are your advocacy assets & gaps?
Your assets are the skills, expertise, and resources you have
to conduct advocacy activities. Conduct a thorough
inventory of your assets, as well as anything you’re missing
to get the job done.
What opposition & obstacles exist ?
It’s important to understand who may resist or oppose
your goal in order to design tactics and messages to reduce
their influence on key decision-makers. Also, identify
obstacles—like competing priorities, political controversy, or
insucient resources—that might hinder progress.
What are their interests?
Try to understand your issue from each of your decision-makers’
perspectives. Consider their level of awareness and current feelings
about the issue and identify what might motivate them to be
supportive. The most eective strategy will meet your decisionmakers where they are and move them toward your point of view.
Who are the decision-makers & influencers?
Identify the specific decision-makers who have
the power to give you what you want and the influencers
who can persuade them to act. These are the individuals
who can say yes or no to your goal, so be specific.
What is your advocacy goal?
This is your policy solution to the issue—or what you’d like
a policymaker to do to address it. Describe the change
you would like to see, how that change will happen, the timeframe,
and which institution needs to act to make it happen.
What is your advocacy issue?
This is the first, and most critical, stage of the process. Your issue
should be specific and clear, align with your organization’s mission,
and be realistically addressed through advocacy within five years.
You’ll also need evidence about why your issue is a problem.
Answers to these simple questions will provide an eective 10-PART PLAN
to help you achieve important health policy changes and accountability
MapYour Advocacy Impact Strategy provides advocacy strategy development, skills training, small grant funding,
peer mentoring, and technical assistance to make real health policy changes around the world.
To date, we have reached: ● Over 600 individuals ● More than 100 organizations ● In 50+ countries
For more information, visit http://sites.path.org/advocacyimpact
or email us at [email protected]
