Advocacy Campaigns

What is advocacy?
To advocate is to give your voice to something.

To advocate is to launch yourself untethered into an issue that you feel you can solve.

To advocate is to call others to stand by your side.

Do you believe in advocacy strategies? If you are a part of a community then the answer should be YES. Advocating for change is different from its cousin: Politics. It is a process of supporting and enabling people to express their views and concerns. Anyone can be an advocate, it doesn’t require you to run for election. You can become a voice for your community and help provide system-wide change.

It isn’t enough to attach yourself to a problem however, you must have an aim. Set a target and encourage others to get involved to help you.

Effective advocacy doesn't always require confrontation, conflict or worse still, violence. Gone are the days of badly planned protests outside buildings, makeshift placards displaying your cause just hoping some media outlet would cover your story. Advances in technology now mean that your campaign can go viral and be as big as a Presidential one if you get the right backing.

So what are the essentials for running an advocacy driven campaign?

- Issue

Like I said above, setting a target is the only way of staying on track. So what exactly are you hoping to change, remember be realistic? Make sure all your campaign themes are coherent with what you are trying to achieve and always continue to push your message.

- Organisation

Organisation is key and the new way to organize is with advocacy software. This is where political campaigns and advocacy campaigns go hand in hand. Establishing a core team and delegating out jobs accordingly are fundamentals in both. These days, online software and mobile apps can streamline your workload so your campaign team works efficiently and effectively.

- Buzz

Make some noise about your campaign, it's the only way create a stir in the world. Urgency is essential when campaigning for change because if people don't feel worried initially they may never decide to take up the fight.