NDI Advocacy TOT Manual - June and July 2001

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STRATEGY CHART1 After choosing your issue, fill in this chart as a guide to developing strategy. Be specific. List all the possibilities. Goals

Targets

1. List the longterm objectives of your advocacy campaign, organization and educational programs.

1. Primary targets: Local, National & International. A target is always a person. It is never an institution or elected body.

2. State the intermediate goals. What constitutes victory? To what extent will campaign:  Win concrete improvements in people's lives?  Give people a sense of their own power? 1

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Who has the power to give you what you want? What power do you have over them?

2. Secondary targets: Local, National and International. 

Who has power over the people with the power to

Constituents, Allies & Opponents Constituents Direct Stakeholders 1. Who cares about this issue enough to join or help the organization?

Advocacy/ Policy Influence Tactics 1. For each target, list the tactics that each constituent group can best use to make its power felt.

Organizational Considerations 1. List the resources that your organization brings to the campaign. Include: money, number of staff, facilities, reputation, experience, etc.

Tactics must be: 2. Allies  Whose problem is it?  That do they gain if they win?  What risks are they taking?  What power do they have over the target?  Into what groups are they organized?  How can you engage and involve them? 3. Who are your opponents?

 In context of political moments: ie. Elections, drafting of legislation, policy formulation  Flexible and creative  Directed at a special target  Make sense to the membership  Be backed up by a specific form of power  If you’re not confrontational, will it cause a backlash?

What is the budget, including in-kind contributions, for this campaign? 2. List the specific ways in which you want your organization to be strengthened by this campaign. Fill in numbers where possible:  Expand leadership  Increase experience of existing leadership

Kim Bobo, Jackie Kendall, Steve Max, Organizing for Social Change: Nanual for Activicsts in the 90’ [Seven Locks Press: Santa Ana, CA, 1996] p. 22

Citizen Education Considerations Constituency education programs need to:  Tap grassroots concerns and knowledge and link local concerns with global issues  Be based on a long term vision and strategy for social change that includes education for immediate advocacy goals such as changing laws or policy as well as education for longerterm goals such as building strong civic organizations to hold authorities accountable  Educational programs need to include methods and

NDI Advocacy TOT Manual - June and July 2001

 Alter the relations of power?  Build organization?  Improve alliances.  Incorporate political awareness?  Increase Citizen/NGO access to policy making. 1. What short-term or partial victories can you win as steps toward your long-term goal?

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give you what you want? What power do you have over them?

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What will your victory cost them? What will they do or spend to oppose you? What will they do or spend to oppose you? How strong are they?

 If you're not confrontational, will you gain any attention? Advocacy tactics can include:                    

Organization-building Research Civic education Media Pilot model program Demonstrations Rallies public meetings roundtables town meetings debates and candidate forums litigation boycotts petitions letters phone calls personal meetings hearings accountability sessions work groups or caucuses

 Build membership base  Expand into new constituencies  Raise more money  Alliances with other groups 3. List internal problems that have to be considered if the campaign is to succeed. 4. List structures of internal accountability and decision making necessary for an effective campaign.

processes that are participatory, problem posing and empowering such as participatory research. They need to include a mix of learning opportunities that involve: the development of political analysis and conflict resolution skills; the affirmation of selfesteem, solidarity and sense of humor; and the development of knowledge and experience in the practice of power, accountability, coalition-building and collaborative problem-solving