A Primer On Public Advocacy Campaigns

By Author: Akansh
Total Articles: 67
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Public advocacy is one of the many approaches or strategies to address a problem. It involves active promotion of a cause or principle and involves actions that lead to a selected goal. It is important to note that public advocacy campaigns do not necessarily involve confrontation or conflict. It is important to be able to differentiate between service and advocacy. If you join an NGO that distributes supplies to slum dwellers, that would be service; while banding together with a group of people to get the authorities to relocate slum dwellers to a better accommodation that would be public advocacy.

Advocacy generally involves getting governments, corporates, schools, or some other large institution to correct a situation affecting people in the community. The situation may be resolved by persuasion, reason, pressure, political or legal action. While it seems that advocacy is fancy -making posters, chanting slogans; it is much more than that. A considerable amount of resources go into a public advocacy campaign. In case the campaign does not succeed, it could result in damaging one’s public image, discounting the cause ...
... or even making the situation hostile for the people who you want to help.

The success of a public advocacy campaign largely depends on the rightness of the cause, the strength of the campaigners, depth of research into the issue, opposition, general opinion of the issue in the community. Successful public advocates resort to confrontation as a last measure. Confrontation is undertaken only after careful planning of strategy and tactics.

It is ideal to launch a public advocacy campaignonly after exploring supportive activities such as gathering support for a cause, raising funds or approaching members of a community initiative or program. Only after making sure that these measures are ineffective, should one initiate a campaign.

Some Key Elements Of Public Advocacy Are:

Research - Going wrong with information in a campaign is a rookie mistake. When communicating with a wide audience, incorrect information could severely affect your credibility. Even worse, you risk being taken to court. It is important to thoroughly research the subject before a campaign.

Identifying The Power Source -While you may have a pretty clear understanding of the issue, it is also important to identify who has the power to influence or remedy the issue. You can then formulate a strategy as to how to leverage or confront the power source.

Building A Team - Recruiting allies is one of the key aspects of advocacy. More often than not multiple agencies, societies, interest groups would have the same goals as you do. Identify and partner such networks to strengthen your campaign.

Identifying Opposition And Resistance -While building allies is important, it is equally significant to find the sources of resistance. You need to have an in-depth understanding of who may be affected by the campaign and why. Look out for indirect sources of opposition. Once you know the motive for resistance, you can formulate a strategy to reason with them.

Public advocacy is definitely stimulating. You get the satisfaction of fighting for a cause you believe in and also have a chance of emerging victorious. It is important to keep an open mind and consider every possibility while formulating a campaign.

Author Bio
Akansh Malik writes this article, giving you a few tips on how to create an effective public advocacy campaign. He also believes in having a thorough understanding of the elements of advocacy so that it helps you create a campaign that is successful.