Advocacy PR - a strong and passionate voice

 

Friends, Thank you very much for taking out time from your very busy schedule to read my blog(s). I really feel encouraged after reading your feedback in the comments column. Friends, presenting 58^th blog titled “Advocacy PR - a strong and passionate voice”

Recently I was reading an article titled – What is Advocacy and why should you care? The article has shared the ideas of some advocates about advocacy i.e. what does Advocacy means to them? An interesting read…sharing some of the ideas I liked and which prompted me discuss the finer points of Advocacy and Advocacy PR with you.

Ø  People are often unaware of how to help, even after being introduced to a cause. Creative advocacy brings solutions/therapies to the foreground. – Ed Tessaro

Ø  There are a lot of people with the same great idea who don’t know how to make it achievable. There are a lot of people who wish they could help and don’t know how. When an organization or individual advocates, it shows that the “something” that is important to them is important to other people and they are not alone. Advocating together will get any one project further than one small voice. Advocacy is necessary because there are still issues that many people do not even realize are issues. Once you get people’s attention, hit a nerve and make it important to them, you gain one more voice in your mission. With advocacy you have a vision and that creates a path for change. – Michelle Erwin

Ø  Advocacy is having a strong and passionate voice. Advocacy is necessary, because there is more love & strength in numbers. – Bridget Simpson

Ø  Without advocacy, people would be robbed of their needs and their rights.  By trying to advocate for ourselves and others, we can take care of one another and achieve things that might not otherwise be possible. – Mario Damian

Friends, Advocacy is an activity by an individual or group which aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions. Advocacy can include many activities that a person or organization undertakes including media campaigns, public speaking, commissioning and publishing research or conducting exit poll or the filing of an amicus brief. Lobbying (often by lobby groups i.e. NGOs) is a form of advocacy where a direct approach is made to legislators on an issue which plays a significant role in modern politics.

Advocacy seeks to ensure that people, particularly those who are most vulnerable in society, are able to;

·        Defend and safeguard their rights

·        Have their views and wishes genuinely considered when decisions are being made about their lives

·        Have their voice heard on issues that are important to them

 Advocacy is a process of supporting and enabling people to;

§        Express their views and concerns

§       Access information and services

§       Defend and promote their rights and responsibilities

      Explore choices and options 

There are several forms of advocacy, each representing a different approach in a way to initiate changes in the society;

  Budget advocacy: another aspect of advocacy that ensures proactive engagement of Civil Society Organizations with the government budget to make the government more accountable to the people and promote transparency. Budget advocacy also enables citizens and social action groups to compel the government to be more alert to the needs and aspirations of people in general and the deprived sections of the community.

   Social justice advocacy: people’s participation and a vision of a just society as promoted by social justice advocates. For them, advocacy represents the series of actions taken and issues highlighted to change the ‘what is’ into a ‘what should be’, considering that this ‘what should be’ is a more decent and a more just society. Issues like civil rights, LGBT rights, women's rights, environmentalism, and veganism are some of the examples of Social Justice Advocacy.

   Bureaucratic advocacy: people considered experts have more chance to succeed at presenting their issues to decision-makers. They use bureaucratic advocacy to influence the agenda, although at a slower pace.

      Express versus issue advocacy: These two types of advocacy when grouped together usually refers to a debate in the United States whether a group is expressly making their desire known that voters should cast ballots in a particular way, or whether a group has a long term issue that isn't campaign and election season specific.

   Health advocacy: supports and promotes patients’ health care rights as well as enhance community health and policy initiatives that focus on the availability, safety and quality of care.

     Ideological advocacy: in this approach, groups fight, sometimes during protests, to advance their ideas in the decision-making circles.

      Interest-group advocacy: lobbying is the main tool used by interest groups doing mass advocacy. It is a form of action that does not always succeed at influencing political decision-makers as it requires resources and organization to be effective.

    Legislative advocacy: the reliance on the state or federal legislative process as part of a strategy to create change.

     Mass advocacy: any type of action taken by large groups (petitions, demonstrations, etc.)

    Media advocacy: the strategic use of the mass media as a resource to advance a social or public policy initiative.

    Special education advocacy: advocacy with a specific focus on the educational rights of students with disabilities.

In order to be able to influence decisions within political, economic, social and legal systems, effective PR and communication skills are fundamental in being persuasive and determining change. Important is that while planning communication strategy for an advocacy campaign we must answers the following questions;

1.     What do you think you can achieve in the first or next wave of the advocacy process?

2.   What types of audiences will you engage with through these activities? Expert, informed non experts, and/or the general public?

3.   What types of communication tools do you need to support the advocacy activities you planned in the last stage?

4.    Are the communication tools suitable and accessible for each type of target audience?

5.  Do you have adequate resources (such as manpower, funds) to develop and use the full range of communication tools you have in mind?

Role of Advocacy PR is;

a.  To persuade and involve target groups of people, front groups and or organizations who support a particular viewpoint.

b.  To guide the front groups to lobby government(s) to legislate in favour of the interest of the civil societies.

c.    To influence the executives to consider the views expressed by the group of people.

d.   To understand how decisions are made at executive or legislative within a particular context.

     The more aware PR is about the issue, the community, and how political institutions function, the more effective would be the PR campaign. Sometime an issue, which is being advocated, may not find acceptance and desired response from the target public. This could be because of wrong choice of channels or tools of communication. Media plays an important role in communicating the issue to the right audience in any effective manner. Having good relations with the media help in placing stories, articles and interviews in the media to attract the attention of target audience and influence public policies through shaping debate on a specific issue in the media. Media debates facilitate in ensuring that advocacy issue include a public perspective, emphasize the social, cultural, economic and political dimensions of an issue, and stress the importance of participation and empowerment in promotion of the issue.

 Public of Advocacy PR are;

ü     Judiciary

ü     Legislative (MP/MLA)

ü     Executive (Bureaucracy)

ü     Media journalists

ü     International organisations

ü    Research institutes

ü    Industry bodies e.g. FICCI, CII, PHDCCI, ASSOCHAM etc.

ü   Trade bodies & associations

ü   Universities

ü  Think tanks

ü  Civil Societies (NGOs)

ü  Civil activists & employees of NGOs

ü  Experts

ü  Informed Non-Experts

ü  General Public

   After deciding the target public and the message to promote the issue or cause, next step would be to finalize appropriate PR tools to communicate the message(s).

Tools of Advocacy PR are;

Ø  Policy studies

Ø  Policy reports

Ø  Policy oriented Journals

Ø  Policy oriented articles

Ø  Research papers

Ø  Working papers

Ø  Newsletters

Ø  Letter to Editor & articles in newspapers

Ø  Advertisement in Newspapers / Magazines/ Trade & Industry Journals

Ø  Advertisement in Radio & TV & Public debates

Ø  Posters & Banners

Ø  Seminars & Conference

Ø  Media Interaction & Press Conference

Ø  E mail campaigns

Ø  Public meetings & speaking engagements

Ø  Social media i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Blogs

Ø  Dedicated Website

To sum up;

Success of any Advocacy PR campaign solely depends upon two things (a.) winning PR strategy and (b.) timely execution of the strategy. Not-For-Profit Organisations and NGOs have a significant role to play to protect the rights of the people and the communities they operate in.  Covid-19 has made an immense impact on the working of organizations and institutions globally. Not-For-Profit Organizations and NGOs worldwide have switched over to digital medium i.e. social media and other communication platforms to communicate and interact with their target audiences including policy makers for timely execution of their well crafted communication strategies.

Thank you for reading the blog.

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