Quick guide for small and mid-sized Non-governmental Organizations' (NGOs'), Civil Society Organizations' (CSOs'), Community Based Organizations (CBOs'), Charities & Causes

1. Advocacy & Lobbying from a
local and global prospective

2.  Advocacy is a Noun and means
“public support for or recommendation of a particular cause or
policy”
“give a voice to people”
Advocacy is a system of actions aimed at changing attitudes,
policies and practices through four key types of activities; namely
- Awareness – raising
- Capacity development (internal and external to own organisation)
- Networking with relevant government and non-governmental
partners
- Lobbying with key decision-makers.
 Lobbying is a Verb and means to
“seek to influence (a politician or public official) on an issue”
Anatomy of the word Advocacy &
Lobbying?

3. Identifying,
embracing
and
promoting a
cause
Requesting
legislators
to take
Action on
specific
legislations
/ law
Urging public
to contact
their legislator
requesting
action on
specific
legislations /
law
Lobbying
Advocacy
What is Advocacy and Lobbying?
Direct Grassroots

4. Who might we advocate to?
 Governments (senators, ministers, local
politicians, public servants, bureaucrat, local
officials)
 International Donors
 Businesses
 Other / like minded NGOs’
 General Public
 Almost anyone who has power / influence /
resource to give you what you want

5. Stakeholders of Advocacy
•Beneficiaries
•Decision makers
•Allies and partners
•Resistant groups
(Adversaries)

6. Techniques and Tactics of Advocacy
 Sensitizing
 Mobilizing
 Dialoguing
 Negotiating
 Lobbying
 Petitioning
 Pressuring
 Informing

7. Positioning towards Decision Makers
Outsider Insider
Weaken
Decision Maker
Force change on
Decision Maker
Convince
Decision Maker
through
constructive
Argument / facts
Process of joint
learning with
Decision Maker
Common Advocacy (Win – Loose) Lobbying (Win – Win)
Attack Confront Persuade Cooperate

8. Styles of influencing
Enthusiastic
Talker; Outgoing
Loves to take
Charge; Decisive;
Productive
Balanced;
Diplomatic; Patient
Thoughtful; Tidy;
Deliberate
Influencing

9. Your styles of influencing
Precise
Give space, silence,
sensitivity and support
Peaceful
Give Respect and value
IntrovertExtrovert
Playful
Give attention, affection,
approval and acceptance
Powerful
Give credit for abilities and
accomplishments
People - Focused Task – Focused

10. Conventional view of
communicating, as like injecting a
message into a passive receiver
What is communication?
Dominos Model of indirect
influences from the message
sent to the knowledge
interpreted from that, which in
turn may or may not influence
attitudes and / or behaviors.
Grunig and Hunt 1984

11. 7 element of communication process
Sender
Self-concept
Family
Culture
Skills
Feelings
Attitudes
Values
Message
Receiver
Self-concept
Family
Culture
Skills
Feelings
Attitudes
Values
Feedback
Channel
Radio, Telephone,
Conversation, Writing,
Computer , etc
Interference
Context
Environment, Status,
Time, etc.Sourse:- Judith Dwyer (2000)

12. Persuasive writing meets…
 N
 E
 E
 D
 S
umbers or statistics selectively included
motive language used, without being emotional
xamples, we can identify with, are included
irect and simple language used
pecific about what is wanted
ALWAYS Argue from hearer’s point of view
Anticipate counter-arguments or objections

13. What makes it NEWS worth?
Currency / topical – new, timely
Novelty – the first of something,
bizarre, unusual or unexpected
Significance – the bigger the impact,
size, numbers
Proximity – geographically close or
close in outlook
Prominence – the celebrity factor
Human Interest – warm and fuzzy

14. Media Release convention
Most important “Husband with 5
Wives”
How, Who, What, Where, When
and Why
Interesting facts,
details, further
quotes
Less essential
information,
summary
The Inverted Pyramid

15. Media Release convention
Letterhead
Date
Media Release: Headline
Inverted
Pyramid
Lead
Body
Conclusion
“End”
Preferably
keep to
one page
You may
attach
background
information
separately
Contact info
Contact info

16. Why use a Media Release?
Mostly to get attention
 To get an interview, or media to turn
up to an event
Has a number of side benefits for us
 Saves time for you and the reporter;
you can communicate with number of
media at same time
 Helps keeps the facts straight
 Forces you to be clear and accurate about
what you want to say
 Provides you with a copy of the information
you provided

17. Making the media work for us
Remember, only use the media when it
fits your strategy
 Coverage is the means; not the end
Some general principles:
 Seek opportunity, make yourself known, its all
about relationships and regularity
 Keep abreast with coverage; know when to go
 Be accessible (day, after hrs) and reliable (return
calls); know their deadlines (if you don’t ask them)
 Take time out to prepare; find out how the reporter
would like to be informed

18. The basis of a strategy
 What is the broad goal?
 your underlying motivation for wanting the specific
objective
 What is the specific objective?
 needs to be G.S.M.A.R.T.
 What is the strategy/ies?
 detail a path to reach objective
 What are the tactics?
 specific actions you engage in

19. The policy cycle
Agenda
setting
Policy
formulation
Implement-
ation
Monitoring
& evaluation
Decision-
making
What can NGOs do to
influence policy at
each different stage?

20. The policy cycle
Agenda
setting
Monitoring &
evaluation
Policy
formulation
Decision-
making
Implementation
Catch attention so our issue
gets priority; frame debate
Make sure our solution/s
remain on the agenda
Pushing our preferred
solution/s
Influence ‘how’ policy is
implemented; set standards
Report on actual impacts,
compare to Govt intentions
What can NGOs do to
influence policy at
each different stage?

21. The policy cycle
Agenda
setting
Monitoring &
evaluation
Policy
formulation
Decision-making
Implementation
How does this relate to
the a government’s
budget cycle?
Strategic Phase
Review
baselines
New
Initiatives
Appropriation
(Budget) Bills
Implementation
Audit and
Estimates

22.  S
 C
 A
 T
 O
 W
The Change Agents Guide to Government Budgets
tarting points – know budget parameters
ommitments – know what’s promised
udit process – know formal monitoring
ala – know where the money ends up
utcomes – know what happens on ground
ho wins/who looses – know who
benefits, in what ways, and who pays?
The policy cycle

23. Why NGO engagement?
1. Gather all sources of info; and get better quality policies
2. Citizen expectations, especially transparency,
accountability
3. Strengthen or restore public trust in government
“NGOs have no legitimacy to advocate on public policies. Who do
they represent? To whom are they accountable? Only elected officials
can represent the interests of all citizens, and are directly accountable
to these citizens at regular elections.”
What would you say in reply?

24. What sort of NGO engagement?
 Information is a one-way relationship
examples include access to public
records, government websites, etc
 Consultation is a two-way relationship
Examples include public opinion
surveys, comments on draft laws, etc
 Active participation is based on partnership
Examples include consensus
conferences, citizens juries, etc

25. NGOs Influencing policy

26. NGOs Influencing policy
How pubic officials see “lobbyists”
 issue myopia – don’t see the larger context
 unaware of range of policy & political requirements
 not well linked to existing government priorities & concerns
 not well ‘packaged’ – to meet policy & politics
 lack of patience and perseverance
 failure to understand rhythms of decision cycles
 “going political” too early
“Failure to understand how politics & policy works”

27. NGOs Influencing policy
What’s the state of the art?
 Advocacy objectives and strategies are often mixed up, an
strategies often missing
 Relations with media often seem frustrating, though some
positive experiences reported
 NGOs getting more mature at interacting with public sector,
more opportunities opening up
 Awareness of importance of stakeholders, but not always
clear understanding of how to turn relationships into
advocacy strengths
 Advocacy acknowledged as important to achieve mission, but
in practice just one more thing to do

28. Limitations of NGO lobbying
 Access - little access to the most senior policy-makers
and exclusive relationships
 Money - unequal resources with business interests who
can mobilise significant funds and people
 Professionalism - small staff, often with general policy or
information skills rather than specialist qualifications.
Often difficulty in accessing scientific expertise to develop
an evidence base
 Diversity - the NGO community tends to be very
fragmented, difficult to achieve consensus
 Political weight - NGO voices often carry little weight
compared to large industry federations

29. Barriers to NGO engagement

30. Roles of the NGO sector Monitor - what is happening in the institutions? What are the new policy trends,
legal proposals?
 Analyse - what could this mean for your member organisations or target
group? What actions are needed - passive monitoring or active lobbying?
 Inform - explain the background of the issue, basic elements of the proposal,
the timeframe for action
 Raise awareness - ensure that your members understand the implications for
them and their issues of this policy or legislation
 Engage - encourage debate, exchange of ideas, brainstorm on what should be
the goals of lobbying
 Consult - gather viewpoints from communities and target groups - particularly
those affected by the policy proposal
 Challenge - the policy-makers and other stakeholders to address your
concerns or provide evidence and arguments for their positions
 Empower - provide the tools for NGOs to act, e.g. draft letters, opportunities to
sign-up, attend meetings with policy-makers
 Represent - bringing forward the diversity of voices of civil society, public
interest, visibility through the media
 Follow-up - keep up the momentum, follow the policy through to
implementation, evaluation and review

31. Barriers to NGO engagement
 Is there any way around a difficult political context,
that locks out NGO voices?
 Three strategies that can work, if applied
correctly…
1. campaigns – to improve policy positions and
governance
2. “boomerang” strategies – working via external
partners to change national policies
3. pilot projects – to develop and test operational
solutions to inform/improve policy implementation

32. 5 knows to get to ‘yes’
 Know what you want to achieve (GSMART objective)
 Know who are the effective decision-makers
 Know who are other influential stakeholders
 Know what it will take to get the change you want, and
what needs to be in place (a strategy that ‘begins with the
end in mind’)
 Know how to draw on the full range of tactics, carefully
matched to specific targets, timing, resources, delivered in
most influential way

33. Happy advocating & lobbying!