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• Section 7. Developing a Plan for Advocacy

Chapter 30 Sections

• Section 1. Overview: Getting an Advocacy Campaign Off the Ground
• Section 2. Survival Skills for Advocates
• Section 3. Understanding the Issue
• Section 4. Recognizing Allies
• Section 5. Identifying Opponents
• Section 6. Encouraging Involvement of Potential Opponents as Well as Allies

• Main Section

What's a plan for advocacy?

Other sections of the Community Tool Box have covered strategic planning. How should planning for advocacy be different?

The answer is that in many ways the process will be similar -- but it's even more important to do it thoroughly, and do it up front. That's because advocacy:

• Involves getting powerful individuals or organizations to make big changes that may not be in their short-term interest
• Often involves working in the public eye
• Often involves sticking out your neck, as you take a stand against a larger opponent

Planning will help you find out ahead of time where the major difficulties may lie, and to avoid surprises (including those surprises that might make you look ineffective, clumsy, or stupid).

In addition, as with any project, planning will help you to:

• Clarify your goals
• Clarify the steps that will take you to your goals
• Increase your chances of success

If you don't plan, you may waste valuable energy, miss some opportunities, perhaps even antagonize people you need to keep on your side.

When should you create a plan for advocacy?

It's important to complete a plan before you start advocating, because, as you will find, each part of the plan can affect the others.

Normally, planning your goals comes first--but you may have to change those plans if you find, as you plan further, that the tactics you were hoping to use aren't legal, or won't work. When you plan everything together--and ongoing--you can both build support and make adjustments as you go.

Your goal might be to close down a refinery that had been guilty of dumping toxic chemicals in the community. You find, when you check into the list of possible allies, that the economic impact of closure would be devastating to the community. So you adjust your goal to one that would change safety practices in the refinery and permit closer community oversight. If you had publicly stated your goal of closing the place, before talking with others or filling in the other steps of your plan, you could have antagonized many of those whose support you would need. These might include many people in the community who depended on the refinery financially. And it would have been hard to win them back, after publicly coming out against their interests.

Making your plans

Planning is best done as a group activity. One way is to write up ideas on the chalkboard or on butcher paper. Then, after they've been debated, record the ideas you've chosen in a permanent place. The actual format of the plan is not important. What's important is that you write it down in a form you can use, and that lets you check one part of the plan against the rest. A loose-leaf binder (or computer file) with separate sections for each category may be all you need.

Goals (or objectives)

If you are asked what the goal of your advocacy campaign or group is, your answer may come out in the form of a mission statement: "Our aim is to create decent and affordable housing," or "We intend to reduce pollution of the local waterways." However, for planning purposes, goals should be split down into much more specific steps . Remember that it's better to keep your focus on a relatively narrow, manageable group of issues, rather than letting yourselves try to cover too much ground, and lose strength in the process. It's also important to split up the goals according to your time-frame.

Long-term goals spell out where you want to be, by the end of the advocacy campaign.

Ten years from now, the supply of low-income housing in Bay City will have increased by 50% In four years, we will reduce the pregnancy rate among 12 to 17 year-olds in Bay City by 30% Five years from now, toxic dumping in Murray County will be eliminated

Intermediate goals get you much of the way:

• They focus on community and system changes - new or modified programs, policies, and practices in the local community or the broader system
• They provide concrete building blocks towards the ultimate goal
• They help the group to feel it is doing something. This can be helpful to maintain high levels of motivation over the long haul.
• They provide earlier "bench-marks" by which you can measure progress.

In one year, the City Council will create six new low-income housing units In six months, we will have changed the hours of the clinic to increase access In nine months, two major businesses will have introduced flextime policies that permit adults to be with children after school

Short-term goals have some of the same functions as the intermediate kind. They help keep a group motivated, providing more immediate benchmarks in the form of action steps.

By June, we'll have signed up 10 new members In two months, we'll hold the first public hearing By the November election, we will get 1,500 people out to vote

Writing Out Your Goals

In terms of planning, it pays to examine each goal before you write it down, to make sure it meets certain criteria. Specifically, each goal should be SMART + C : Specific; Measurable; Achievable; Relevant; Timed; and Challenging.

Here's how SMART + C goal-planning works:

• (S) pecific. The more specific you can be about what it is you want your group to achieve and by when, the better.

 Instead of, "We'll hold a meeting," your goal should be: "We'll hold a meeting for parents of teenage children in Memorial Hall to invite input on the initiative."

• (M) easurable . Put your goals in measurable terms. The more precise you are about what you want to get done, the easier it will be to see what and how much your group has accomplished. This may prove to be essential if you are carrying out a systematic evaluation of your campaign (see related section of this chapter).

Not: "Smoking in our community will be reduced," but instead: "The percentage of smokers in our community will decline by 30% by the year 2000."

• (A) chievable . It's great for you to be ambitious, but you should also remember to set realistic goals that your group can actually achieve. Real change takes time and resources. If you bite off more than you can chew, your group and the community may become prematurely disappointed or discouraged.
• (R) elevant (to your mission ). You should be setting goals that will start your group on the path to successfully accomplishing its mission. If you stray too much from that path, you may lose sight of what it is you're trying to accomplish.
• (T) imed . A date for completion should be set. Even if circumstances change and your date must be altered later, it's much better to start off knowing when you can expect to achieve your goals, so you will know when it may become necessary to make adjustments.
• (C) hallenging . Goals should also stretch up. If we know we can get 500 people out to vote, but need 2,000--and can get that with extra effort--we should set the more challenging goal.

Planning your goals

The simplest way may be to use a loose-leaf binder or computer file, with one page for each of your major goals. On each page, provide space for "short," "intermediate " and "long-term" objectives, with two or three objectives under each sub-heading.

Do you have the resources to reach those goals? That's what you'll pin down in the next part of the planning process.

Your resources and assets

Once you have your goals written down, it's easier to make an inventory of the resources you'll need, in terms of organization, money, facilities, and allies--and the assets you have already.

Resources for advocacy may be very different from those needed to run service programs in the community. You won't be needing massive financial support over a long period of time, as would be the case if you wanted to open a day-care center, for example.That's the good news. The bad news is that the sort of charitable foundation that might fund a day-care center most generously may not want to put any money at all into advocacy.

So? So you may not have much cash. But (good news again) you might be rich in other resources--especially people. Your list of available resources will vary, according to the size of your group and its needs, but might include any of the following:

• Funds (including in-kind contributions) balanced against expenses
• People who are already available (both staff and volunteers), and their skills
• People you expect to be available
• Contacts (e.g., with media resources)
• Facilities (e.g., access to transportation and computers, meeting rooms)
• Access to information archives or libraries

Since advocacy is stressful, make sure your assets are solidly in place. Do you have internal problems that need to be solved in your group, such as relationships between staff and volunteers? Disagreements about use of funds? These need to be sorted out now if possible, during the planning stage.

Planning your resources and assets

The simplest way to plan is to write out a list of resources and assets in a binder (or computer file) so you can add new ones as you go along. Keep one section for each of the headings above: Funds, People presently available, People expected to be available, Useful community contacts, Facilities, and Access to other resources.

Did you come up short on the most vital resource of all--the people who are willing to help? Then the next section might help you build it up, as you survey the degree of community support you have now, and how much you might expect in the future. When you look into your community support, for the next part of your plan, you may find a few surprises.

Your community support (and opposition)

For this part of the plan, you will write down lists of expected allies and opponents. Part of this may be simple. For example, if you are planning to restrict the logging (and erosion-causing) practices of a big local lumber company, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess that the owners and employees of that company are unlikely to be on your side, but local environmental groups will likely give you their support.

But sometimes it's not so simple, which is why it will pay to do some careful planning, including personal contact and listening. It may be that people you expect to be opponents may also be allies under certain circumstances; and those thought to be allies may oppose your efforts.

 You want to get a big strawberry grower in your community to cut down on the pesticide used on his fields. It's getting into the river; and the farm workers and some of the people who live nearby claim it makes them sick. But the mayor of your community normally sides with business interests, no matter what. In the past, he has made statements hostile to many environmental causes. Furthermore, he's an old golfing buddy of the strawberry grower. You naturally pencil him in as a possible opponent. But wait. This mayor owns land just downstream from the strawberry grower, and plans to put in a big development of expensive houses ("Strawberry Fields"). The last thing he wants is a cloud of pesticide upstream, and upwind. He may not want to tackle his buddy in public, but you find to your surprise that behind the scenes, he'll be your ally.

Planning for community support (and opposition)

This can be as simple as making three lists on binder paper: one for allies, one for opponents, and one for unsure (possible allies or opponents). These lists will be useful as you approach the next part of the planning process: deciding specifically whose behavior you want to change, and who can help you do the changing.

Targets and agents of change

For this part of the plan, it's important to know very precisely what caused the problem your advocacy group is addressing.

Who are targets and agents of change? Let's suppose you want to take on the many business people in town who are supplying cigarettes to kids.You know they are out there: you've already done an informal survey of kids smoking outside the junior high, and they tell you that buying tobacco is quite easy, in spite of the law.

• Your main targets of change will be the tobacco retailers. They are the ones who will need to alter their behavior if you are to achieve your goals.
• The agents of change are those who will cause the targets to actually make the change, by one means or another.

In many cases, it's not that simple. For example, what about the police, who should be enforcing the law. Are they going to be targets of change, as you work on their enforcement of the law? Or are they to be agents--going in to make the bust?

Sometimes, there may be crossover from one status to another, such as:

• The police chief may be a target initially since there is little enforcement, but a delegation of kids against tobacco persuades him that he really needs to commit himself to their cause. He sanctions undercover buys by minors to get evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the merchants, and commits himself to enforcing the law vigorously.
• Even a tobacco retailer may turn out to be an agent, if she sees the light, and offers to influence the practices of other members of the local tobacco retailers association.

Although targets (or agents) are often institutions or groups, it may be easier to focus on one individual. For example, you might plan to change the thinking of one elected official or agency head at a time rather than going for a massive shift of opinion. Or it might seem feasible to tackle one senior executive in a company that's not hiring local people who need decent jobs.

Planning your targets and agents of change

You can simply write one list of targets, one of agents, and one of possible hybrids: people who could switch from one category to another.

At this point in the planning, you will have a fairly clear idea about what you want to achieve, what are the main obstacles, and what are the resources--in terms of money, facilities and people--that can help you reach the goals. The next steps involve drawing a clear road-map showing how you will get there from here.

Planning your strategy

In a sense, advocacy itself is a strategy--it's the way you have decided to reach your particular goal, because you can't get what you want without taking on some institutions and people who have power, and getting that power structure to change.

Now you need the specific strategies that will help you reach your goals. As an advocate, you will also have to make sure that your strategies:

• Make the best use of (and don't antagonize) your allies
• Produce the kind of change you want in your opponents

Many people tend to assume that because you are involved in advocacy, your strategy will involve confrontation. Yes, it may - but often, that's not the best approach.

For example, in a program aiming to curb youth smoking, you might decide on a mix of strategies, some of them quite adversarial, and some not.

Less confrontation / conflict:

• Increase public awareness through a media campaign
• Educate the merchants
• Gather data about violations of the law to encourage increased levels of enforcement
• Work through the schools
• Network with like-minded organizations
• Work for policy change in local government

More confrontation :

• Apply economic pressure on merchants through boycotts
• Arrange for kids to picket

Most confrontation :

• Blockade the entrances to specific stores
• Be prepared to be arrested for your act of civil disobedience

Choosing a strategic style

As you can see, many different actions fit under the definition of "strategy," and they may incorporate many different styles--from friendly persuasion to "in your face."

Your choice of style will depend to a great extent on your knowledge of the community, and of what will work (as well as your knowledge of your members and allies, and what they can do best and most comfortably). The people and institutions of a community are connected in complicated ways, and people may see their own interests threatened if certain institutions seem to be under attack. Yes, you can change people's attitudes - but this may take time. A raucous demonstration at the wrong time might solidify old prejudices, making it harder in the long run for people to change.

On the other hand, sometimes a public demonstration is essential to bring an issue to the attention of the public (and the media). In some circumstances, it can help fire up the enthusiasm of your members, and bring in new ones. The point is that you need to think hard about what effect it will have, based on your knowledge of the community, your targets and agents, and the root causes of the issue.

Staying flexible

Although it's a good idea to do as much forward planning as possible, an advocacy campaign is likely to be dynamic, adjusting with changing circumstances. Obviously, not everything can be locked in.

For example, you might be all set to barricade a logging trail in an environmental cause, when you hear that a state senator is about to propose legislation that would go some way towards accomplishing what you want; your barricade might cause some senators to vote against him. Or you might hear rumors to the effect that your people would be met with massive force. Or you might be told that alternative old logging trails are to be opened up. Or that you had somehow overlooked another area of the watershed where logging could produce even more environmental damage.

Here are some things that you should keep in mind, as your advocacy campaign progresses, involving surprise developments from good news ; rumors ; unmet needs ; or bad news .

Planning strategies

It may be useful to brainstorm strategies in the group, and write down those that you feel will help you attain your goals. In some cases, simply writing the chosen strategies in a form that you can store easily (for example, in a loose-leaf binder or computer file) is all you need. Others may prefer something more complex.

Here's one possible format, which has a built-in double-check to make sure each strategy is on target.

Strategies are the broad strokes: they don't spell out specifically how something will get done. That's the job of the tactics (or action steps) that you choose? the next part of the planning process.

Tactics are the action steps. The icing on the cake. The finishing touch. The part that shows. Tactics can cover a wide range of activity, from writing letters to speaking up at City Council meetings, from filing complaints to setting up negotiations, from boycotts and demonstrations to carrying out surveys.

As you plan tactics, you will need to make sure that they:

• Carry out your strategy, and are appropriate for your goals
• Fit your style (one tactic out of control can wreck a whole campaign)
• Are doable and cost effective, within your resources, funds, allies and good will
• Make your group feel good about themselves, and what they are doing

You will find plenty of discussion of specific tactics in other parts of the Community Tool Box . Some of these relate to the development of programs, but some fit well under the rubric of advocacy - that is, they involve identifying specific targets of change, and encouraging that change for the good of the community.

Helpful questions

As you plan tactics, it may be useful to ask yourselves these questions about each of them:

• What will be the scope of this action?
• Who will carry it out?
• When will the action take place, and for how long?
• Do we have the resources to make it happen?
• What resources are available?
• Which allies and constituents should be involved?
• Which individuals and organizations might oppose or resist?

Planning tactics

There are many different ways of writing out your tactical plans. For example, you may find it useful to attach your plan to each major objective. Here's an example of one way you can do that:

Table: Turning goals into action steps

Here's another approach, which will also bring your resources and opponents into the planning process.

Putting the plan together

The entire plan, covering all six of the above steps, should be formally written down. The process of writing will help clarify your thinking. The written version will be available to bring us back in line when "scope creep" occurs: we wobble away from our basic plan.

As we have suggested, some groups might be happy working with a loose-leaf binder, with separate sections for each of the main planning steps. However, others may prefer to get all the planning for one major action onto one "Campaign Planning Chart."

In this example, budget cuts have been proposed that will affect the funding for a clinic that offers the only health care available to the poor in the neighborhood. Your group is advocating an increase in funding for the clinic, and opening a new clinic to serve an area now without health-care facilities.

Online Resource

  Community Advocacy: A Psychologist’s Toolkit for State and Local Advocacy  is a science-based toolkit that highlights various advocacy strategies to inform policy at the state and local levels. It aims to build a community of grassroots psychologist advocates that can intervene to promote well-being in the communities in which they reside. 

Introduction to Advocacy Planning.  This online PDF provides information on understanding the problem you are trying to solve, identifying an alternative aim, and breaking down the objectives as part of the advocacy planning cycle .

Print Resources

Advocacy Strategy Workbook – This resource goes step-by-step with worksheets to guide each of the stages of advocacy planning.

Advocacy Toolkit (UNICEF) – Chapter 3 of this toolkit provided by UNICEF is devoted to developing an advocacy strategy and gives an outline of questions that need to be asked. The chapter concluded with an advocacy planning worksheet.

Altman, D., Balcazar, F., Fawcett, S., Seekins, T., & Young, J. (1994). Public health advocacy: Creating community change to improve health . Stanford, CA: Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention.

Bobo, K., Kendall, J., & Max, S. (1996). Organizing for social change: a manual for activists in the 1990s . Chicago, IL: Midwest Academy.

Crafting Your Advocacy Strategy (UNICEF) provides information on how to go about crafting a strategy for an advocacy campaign.

Developing an Advocacy Plan  (Victim Assistance Training) – This website provides a step-by-step guide to planning for advocacy with case studies and activities following each step.

Fawcett, S. B., & Paine, A., et al. (1993). Preventing adolescent pregnancy: An action planning guide for community based initiatives . Lawrence, KS: Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development, The University of Kansas.

Marin Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems.  Advocating for policy change . San Rafael, CA.

Planning for Advocacy – This online PDF is a section from the Advocacy Toolkit for Women in Politics provided by UN Women. It provides a step-by-step process for planning for advocacy.

GLOBAL WEEK FOR ACTION ON NCDs

15-22 October 2024

Practical Guide to Strategic Advocacy Planning

This Practical Guide was developed with the aim of supporting NCD Alliance’s goal to strengthen NCD civil society advocacy efforts to drive transformative change at the global, regional, and national levels. The document presents the eight main steps to advocacy planning, with examples, case studies from the NCD Alliance’s network, advocacy tools and other resources.

The new Practical Guide is primarily targeted for NCD alliances and civil society advocates at all levels, from newly formed groups to the very established. Readers are welcome to adapt and modify approaches according to the specific realities of their contexts and their current and future advocacy plans.

The 8 steps of advocacy planning are:

• Step 1 - Advocacy situation analysis
• Step 2 - Select priority issues, goals, objectives
• Step 3 - Political mapping
• Step 4 - Advocacy tactics and messages
• Step 5 - Build support among constituencies
• Step 6 - Create a workplan and budget
• Step 7 - Roll out of the advocacy plan
• Step 8 - Monitor and evaluate

The 8 steps of advocacy planning presented in the brief are accompanied by case studies from our global network of member alliances, such as from India, Vietnam, Mexico, the Philippines, the Caribbean and others, in planning and conducting strategic advocacy. These cases present lessons learned and recommendations that other NCD civil society advocates can use to strengthen their own advocacy campaigns to pursue NCD prevention and control policy changes. At the end of the guide, advocates will be able to find a series of practical tools that will help them to identify their advocacy priorities, conduct a political mapping, and even develop an advocacy workplan.

This Practical Guide was developed thanks to NCDA’s partnership with The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.

Using our resources, the act on ncds campaign logo and resources are available for use by the ncd community..

We only ask that you link to the Act on NCDs website at actonncds.org and give us credit.

The Global Week for Action on NCDs resources by The NCD Alliance (NCDA) are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareALike 4.0 International License, with the following usage terms:

• Attribution You must give the original author credit.
• ShareALike If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulted work only under a license identical to this one.
• For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to the others the license terms of this work.
• Any of these conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder.
• policy & advocacy

© 2020-2024 NCD Alliance, all rights reserved. Site by la Supérette .

Advocacy planning: were expectations fulfilled?

• February 2022
• Planning Perspectives 37(2):1-26
• CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

• Norwegian University of Science and Technology

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THE PRACTICE OF ADVOCACY PLANNING

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3.2 Overview of the Advocacy Planning Framework (APF)

The Advocacy Planning Framework builds on one of the main outcomes of the work from the Bridging Research and Policy project 1 : the Research and Policy In Development (RAPID) framework. 2 The main focus of the RAPID framework was to describe what is referred to as the “knowledge-policy nexus” in transition and developing countries, that is, the key elements of how research evidence becomes part of a target policymaking process. 3 Our focus was to turn this very useful research outcome into a practical tool for the day-to-day planning of advocacy campaigns. With this focus, we have developed what we simply call the Advocacy Planning Framework or APF, for short.

In the last chapter, we defined successful advocacy as a process through which the main target audiences, including decisionmakers need to build ownership of the ideas and proposals put forward, which will then direct them in leading any upcoming decision. If this is the ultimate goal, APF provides the foundation for advocates to map out their target policymaking process and though the mapping answer the key advocacy planning questions necessary to give them the best possible chance of achieving their specified goal.

The diagram above illustrates that APF is a multidimensional mapping and planning tool that is built around three main pillars or circles and a strategic core, that is, the overlap in the center. This core overlap represents the target outcome of the planning process: a strategy for realistic policy change. The three overlapping circles of the APF provide a foundation and direction for an in-depth mapping and planning process by presenting a set of questions that are key to planning any advocacy campaign:

• Way into the process—what is the best approach to get your ideas into the target policy debate and who will be your target audience(s)?
• The messenger—who should lead or be the face of the campaign and what kind of support do you need from others?
• Messages and activities—what can you say to the key target audiences that will engage and convince them and how can you best communicate that message to them through carefully chosen advocacy activities and communication tools?

Hence, the title of each circle indicates the decisions you will have made upon completing the mapping and planning process for that circle. We develop the three circles separately in chapters 4, 5, and 6. However, it is also important to note that the overlap between the three individual circles is integral to the architecture of the APF as one circle influences and feeds into the planning for the others. To give just one example: in planning your advocacy messages and activities, you will draw on insights from the mapping completed in the “way into the process” element to ensure that your messages are framed to fit the current debate and are chosen to appeal to or appease those whose positions need to shift in order for the policymaking process to move in your intended direction.

By working with the APF to develop answers to the key interdependent questions in each circle, you can plan a nuanced approach to mediate between what you want to achieve and what is possible in the policymaking process and this should generate the best possible chance to achieve policy influence, that is, to locate the core overlapping part of the circles or the core strategic focus of your campaign. In targeting the strategic core, you are continually looking to develop targeted and nuanced answers to three questions:

• Current obstacles to change—what is currently blocking the policymaking process from moving in the direction you want?
• The leverage you can bring and use—what can you bring to and use in the process to move it in the direction you wish?
• A feasible policy objective—considering the obstacles that exist and the leverage you have, how far do you think you can move the process?

These three interrelated questions of the core element of the APF are fleshed out in the next section.

Global Development Network 2003.  ↩︎

Crewe and Young 2002, Overseas Development Ins tute 2004, Stone 2009.  ↩︎

These insights were developed based on 50 case studies of research projects in developing and transi on countries that were successful in influencing decision making.  ↩︎

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Case studies

Related program: Advocacy and policy

Advocacy is one of the many powerful tools that PATH uses to achieve its mission. By influencing the priorities and actions of decision-makers at all levels of the government, in countries around the world, PATH works to create a policy environment that supports global health. The following case studies illustrate how PATH uses a 10-part approach to advocacy to achieve lasting policy change.

• Market Advocacy to Reduce Newborn Infections and Deaths in Bangladesh
• Applying a market lens to advocacy for increased misoprostol access in Nigeria
• Policies and actions for more effective malaria in pregnancy efforts
• Tracking Effective Vaccine Management Indicators for Continuous Improvement of the Immunization Supply Chain in Uganda
• Making human milk banking a priority in South Africa
• Ensuring workplace HIV/AIDS policies for Kenya’s non-military uniformed service personnel
• Influencing policies to reduce deaths from diarrhea in Cambodia and Vietnam
• Ensuring government accountability for expanded access to female condoms in South Africa
• Prioritizing the newborn agenda through policy change in Zambia

Relation Between Advocacy & Plural Planning with case studies

Overview  – advocacy planning & plural planning.

Advocacy and plural plan making work on the simple principle to provide equity among all classes in the society, yet loopholes do exist. Studying them along with the claims, may lead to some solutions for the future plan making, if ever implemented.

Counter evidences of advocacy and plural planning

Thus I would like to conclude by saying that advocacy and plural planning model, although may be a rare or non-existent model but if applied on practical grounds may lead to an ideal problem-free city, with all the fairness and humanity for the public. With the advent of plural planning Public complaints and grievances may diminish or stop, criticism against the public plan may end and also a new definition of fairness for people may arise.

Case 1: Kazakhstan

Case 2: macedonia.

The passing of a Patient’s Bill of Rights of Macedonia was one of the commitments made by the country through the EU preaceesion process. It was on the country’s legislative agenda but not a stated priority for the new administration elected in the summer of 2006. The researcher, who worked for the Studiorum think tank in Skopje, had completed research on Patient’s Bill of Rights in 2006 through Open Society Foundations’ International Policy Fellowship program. A colleague and friend became the new advisor to the minister of health and was looking for policy suggestions to put forward. The researcher show the recent research, which the advisor liked and presented to the minister. Soon after, the researcher was asked to become the NGO representative on the ministry’s working group that drafted the legislation. She was also a member of the parliamentary working group when the draft bill went through the legislation and the Patient’s Bill of Rights was passed in July 2008.

Case 3: Mangolia

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Ncd alliance.

Supporting civil society to drive change

Practical Guide to Strategic Advocacy

Policy Research Report

Download the guide

About the GUIDE

Advocacy is about seeking systems change. It is our tool for influencing policies, programmes, laws and regulations, and even funding allocations. Advocacy is powerful, but it requires a well-thought approach to promote a specific issue, with a clear understanding of the surrounding social, health, and political context.

NCDA’s Practical Guide to Strategic Advocacy aims to support NCD civil society, particularly national and regional NCD alliances, as they plan and carry out successful and strategic advocacy campaigns. It presents eight key steps to advocacy planning, with examples, case studies from the network, advocacy tools and other resources.

We hope that it will make advocacy more accessible and inspire NCD alliances to take action as NCD advocates.

This Practical Guide was developed thanks to NCDA’s partnership with The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.

The eight steps of strategic advocacy planning.

These eight steps help provide building blocks for civil society to plan and conduct advocacy efforts. Your organisation can use these steps sequentially or refer to specific ones to guide your advocacy campaign as needed.

Each step below features a video tutorial with additional resources that you can download in PDF format.

Gather data and assess the current status of NCD prevention and control in your local area, country, or region.  

Based on what you learn in Step 1, select your advocacy issue, and determine your goals and objectives for your advocacy campaign.

Map out those who have direct decision-making capacity or influence over your selected NCD advocacy issue.  

Form partnerships with a common purpose, both within and beyond the NCDs and health sectors, to achieve your advocacy goals and objectives.

Select your advocacy tactics and create your advocacy messages to tell those who have the power why you want the change.  

Develop a strong workplan and budget to take concrete steps towards making your NCD advocacy campaign a reality.  

Look for a key event or other window of opportunity as the moment to launch your NCD advocacy campaign.  

Keep track of your NCD advocacy campaign activities and assess your progress through monitoring, and measure your overall achievements and lessons learned.

  Tool 1: Questions to assess the NCD legal and policy environment  (0.041MB)

  Tool 2: Benefits and challenges of selected data sources for NCD advocacy  (0.047MB)

  Additional recommended resources to expand your knowledge and skills on conducting situation analyses for advocacy efforts  (0.049MB)

  Suggested sources for a desk review  (0.051MB)

  Case Study 2: Learn how four NCD alliances in different parts of the world have conducted and used the results of situation analyses to further their NCD advocacy campaigns  (0.053MB)

Based on what you learn in Step 1, select your advocacy issue, and determine your goals and objectives for your advocacy campaign.  

  Example of an advocacy issue  (0.057MB)

  Tool 3: Problem tree: Understanding problems, causes, and effects  (0.096MB)

  Tool 4: Checklist for selecting/prioritising an NCD advocacy issue  (0.050MB)

  Example of an advocacy goal  (0.055MB)

  Example of NCD advocacy objectives  (0.052MB)

  Tool 5: Worksheet for defining advocacy issues, goals, and objectives  (0.056MB)

  Case study 3: Leveraging windows of opportunity to advance on an advocacy issue: NCDs-Vietnam and the 2019 alcohol control law  (0.072MB)

  Example of primary and secondary targets  (0.052MB)

  Tool 6: Pocket Guide to Political Mapping  (0.081MB)

Form partnerships with a common purpose, both within and beyond the NCDs and health sectors, to achieve your advocacy goals and objectives.  

  Examples of other NCD stakeholders to mobilise and/or partner with  (0.106MB)

  Case study 4: Mobilising civil society support for NCDs across Africa  (0.052MB)

  Additional recommended resources to expand your knowledge and skills on building support across different constituencies  (0.60MB)

Select your advocacy tactics and create your advocacy messages to tell those who have the power why you want the change.

  Case study 5: Selecting advocacy tactics and creating advocacy messages: Mexico Salud-Hable Coalition and its #HealthyVote campaign  (0.071MB)

  Case study 6: Accountability as a strategic tactic to monitor progress on SDGs and NCDs in Brazil  (0.054MB)

  Additional resources: Build support among constituencies  (0.049MB)

Develop a strong workplan and budget to take concrete steps towards making your NCD advocacy campaign a reality.

  Tool 7: Advocacy workplan template  (0.041MB)

  Additional recommended resources to create a workplan and budget  (0.058MB)

Look for a key event or other window of opportunity as the moment to launch your NCD advocacy campaign.

  Case study 7: Adapting advocacy workplans due to unforeseen circumstances: Alliances in India, Tanzania and the Caribbean and the impact of COVID-19  (0.073MB)

  Additional recommended resources to roll out the advocacy plan  (0.058MB)

Keep track of your NCD advocacy campaign activities and assess your progress through monitoring, and measure your overall achievements and lessons learned.

  Tool 8: Advocacy tracking template  (0.045MB)

  Additional recommended resources to monitor and evaluate  (0.058MB)

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