PREPARING THE ADVOCACY

PLAN AND MEASURING

ADVOCACY IMPACT

LESSON 7
PREPARING AN ADVOCACY PLAN
Planning will help find out ahead of time where the major difficulties may lie,
and to avoid surprises including those surprises that might make look
ineffective.
In addition, as with any project,
planning will help to:
●Clarify your goals
●Clarify the steps that will take you to your
goals
●Increase your chances of success
The 6 Steps of Creating an Advocacy Plan
1. Define the Goal
2. Make an inventory of the Resources
3. Write down lists of expected Allies and Opponents
4. List of Targets and Agents of Changes
5. Select the needed Strategies
6. Prepare the Tactic plan supporting the strategies
1. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

SHORT TERM GOALS- are goals that

can be completed quickly.

INTERMEDIATE GOALS- are goals

that takes a bit longer.

LONG TERM GOALS- are goals that

takes longer. It spell out where you
want to be.
 WRITING OUT THE GOALS

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

●SPECIFIC-The more specific you can be about what you want your group to
achieve and by when, the better.

●MEASURABLE-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.

●ACHIEVABLE- you should remember to set realistic goals that your group
can actually achieve.
●RELEVANT- You should be setting goals that will start your group
on the path to successfully accomplishing its mission.

●TIMED- A date for completion should be set.

●CHALLENGING- Goals should also stretch up.

2. PREPARING RESOURCES AND ASSETS
List of available resources will vary, according to the size of
its group and its needs, but might include any of the
following:
●Funds
●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
●Networks (this is somehow necessary )
3. THE COMMUNITY
SUPPORT
(OR OPPOSITION)

●Write down lists of

expected allies and
opponents.
 4. TARGETS AND AGENTS OF CHANGES
●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?
5. PLANNING THE STRATEGY
This step allows the business organization to select
the needed strategy that will help it reach the
goals. As to the advocates, they will also have to
make sure that their strategies:
●Make the best use of (and don't antagonize)
their allies
●Produce the kind of change they want in
their opponents
CHOOSING STRATEGY STYLE
Choice of style will depend to a great extent on the knowledge of the community, and
of what will work (as well as the knowledge of your members and allies, and what they
can do best and most comfortably).

STAYING FLEXIBLE
An advocacy campaign is likely to be dynamic, adjusting with changing circumstances.

PLANNING STRATEGIES
It may be useful to brainstorm strategies in the group, and write down those that feel
will help to attain your goals. Strategies are the broad strokes: they don't spell out
specifically how something will get done.
 If something that group applauds has happened in advocates’ the
Good news
community needs to reinforce it.

Will need to stay ahead of developments by keeping its collective

Rumors ear to the ground. If it hear that something contradictory to the aims
is about to happen you need to investigate.

If studies of community needs turned up major gaps, then would

Unmet Needs
want to create plans to make sure those needs are met.

May need to be flexible, with the ability to deliver a quick

Bad news
response if something bad happens.
 6. TACTICS
Tactics are the action steps. Tactics can cover a wide range of
activity.
As plan tactics, it will need to make sure that it:
· Carry out strategy, and are appropriate for goals
· Fit 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 group feel good about themselves, and what they are
doing
As plan tactics, it may be useful to ask these questions:
●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?
Turning goals into action steps
Goal
By August 2013, provide the
advocacy team with the
consolidated report from the
previous month up to this month
Action Steps
By July 2nd week: extracted data
from the source.
July 3rd week: Prepared draft of the
report
July 4th week: Prepared final report
August 1st week submitted report
August 2nd week request for
feedback
August 3rd week received feedback
PUTTING PLAN TOGETHER
Goals Resources & Assets Support/ Targets / Agents Strategies Action Steps
Opposition

Personnel:1organiAllies: Possible targets ●Hold meetings

zer, 50% of change: ●Identify and
timeSecretary, contact
25% time6 sympathetic
volunteersNeed 5 - media
8 more volunteers Opponents: Possible agents of representatives
Budget: change:
DESIGNING YOUR ADVOCACY PROGRAM
CREATIVE LICENSING
Giving advocates the freedom to choose what activities
they engage in and how often will make their life easier
and the business organization, as well.

CREATIVE CONTROL
Business organization should not demand too much of
its advocates’ time or try to exert too much control over
how, or how much, they promote the business
organization.
INCENTIVIZING ADVOCATES
Business organization might think getting the ball rolling
by paying a handful of loyal customers to act like
advocates would be a pretty smart plan.

DESIGNATING A PLATFORM
At the center of business organization advocacy strategy
should be a platform (or platforms) advocates can utilize
to communicate with business organization, each other,
and business organization current or potential customers
– as well as to share content (think pictures, videos, and
reviews).
ADVOCACY OUTCOME MEASUREMENT
The following are ways to measure advocacy outcome:
REVENUE INFLUENCED
This is the revenue generated from closed/won opportunities that used the
advocate program: the buyer may have been connected with a reference
customer, or received customer videos, case studies, etc., during the sales
process.

WIN RATE
This metric is most effective when there is a fair amount of opportunity
volume. It’s a comparison between all opportunities that made use of a
customer advocate or customer content, and those that did not and the
respective win rates.
SALES CYCLE COMPRESSION
When the sales team spends minutes versus hours, days or
weeks to identify relevant reference accounts and secure their
use it cuts a chunk of time out of the sales cycle. When a
company takes days, weeks or months to round up relevant,
happy customers is that a yellow or red flag.

WIN REPORTS: CUSTOMER ADVOCATES INFLUENCE RATING

This one is perhaps more subjective, but nonetheless valuable.
If your company does a post-purchase survey of buyers there
should be a question that helps answer the question: How
important were our customer advocates to your decision?
THANKS