USEFUL TOOLS

Stakeholder Analysis

• List all the people and/or organisations that are influenced by and/or have influence/ interest/power in relation to your issue or problem. You will likely identify a mix of organisations and people but it is important to focus on the key person(s) with authority and power to effect change.
• Prioritise the list of people and organisations into the grid on next page.

Ask yourself some key questions

• Why are the people in the low interest/low influence area?
• What can you do about those you have identified in the low interest/high influence area?
• What motivates those you have identified?
• What information will they want from you?
• How will they want to receive the information from you?
• What is their current opinion of your work? Is it based on good information?
• Who influences their opinions generally, and who influences their opinion of you?
• If you don't think you will be able to win them round how will you manage their opposition?
• Who else might be influenced by their opinions? Do these people become stakeholders in their own right?

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a tool used to highlight the areas where improvements could be made by identifying the following:

Strengths - what is currently done well? How can you build on strengths to move towards your goal.

Weaknesses - what is not working so well? Are there areas where resources and skills could be developed/utilised more effectively?

Opportunities - are there things happening which could help you achieve your goal? For example, events, people, policies, a campaign on a related issue which you can use to support/endorse your advocacy activity.

Threats - what do you see as potentially disadvantageous e.g. policy changes, new services being provided by others - anything that may limit or be in competition with your goal.

Once the SWOT analysis is completed, you can begin to plan how to build on strengths, deal with weaknesses, take advantage of opportunities and lessen the impact of threats. For example, if inadequate use of the media is identified as weakness, your goal will be 'to improve the use of the media'.

PEST Analysis

Political

Economical

Social

Technological

This is the process of looking at the factors in the external environment that may impact on your advocacy activity. Some of the areas identified may not be within your control, but it is essential that you know what they are as they may strengthen/weaken your case.
Under each heading list what PEST factors may impact/relate to your advocacy activity.

Political e.g.

Legislation
New policies and guideline
Government/political organisations/power

Economical e.g.

Funding sources
Employment rates
Interest rates
Economic situation locally/nationally
Inflation rates

Social e.g.

Education levels
Interest levels in population
Fashions/trends/hot topics
Class structure
Gender/sexual orientation
Ethnicity
Changes in social structures

Technological e.g.

New developments
New ways of working
Impact of technology on people/jobs/finances

Force field analysis

Force field analysis has many uses. In advocacy work it can be used to identify the 'pros and cons' for the process as a whole or any part of it. It helps identify the people, organisations , policies and other factors that can support your aims - the 'driving forces' and who and/or what may cause difficulties - the 'restraining forces'. With this information you can decide how the driving forces can be used to help strengthen your activity and identify ways of overcoming and influencing any opposition highlighted in the 'restraining forces'.

Complete your own Force Field Analysis -

- Clearly state your purpose, aims and objectives
- Identify who and/ or what are the driving forces?
- Identify who and/or what are the restraining forces?
- Place the driving/restraining forces you have identified in the larger/smaller arrows depending on how you estimate their importance.
- When you have completed the analysis you can begin to plan to use the driving forces and deal with/negate the restraining forces to support your work.

Setting objectives

When setting objectives remember to keep them SMART!

Firstly be clear that you clearly identifying your aims and objectives.

• Aims - your overall goal
• Objectives - the important landmarks/steps that you need to achieve to reach your aim

SMART stands for:

SPECIFIC

MEASURABLE

ACHIEVABLE

REALISTICS

TIMEBOUND

Specific - Be precise about what you want to achieve.

Measurable - Quantify your objectives, e.g. provide statistics or be specific in qualitative statements which can be measured, e.g. a policy document on equality will be developed.

Achievable - Are you attempting too much?

Realistic - Do you have the resources to attain the objective (support, people, funding, time, materials, knowledge)?

Timebound - What is the deadline for your overall aim and each step or objective. How do all the parts of your plan fit within your timescale e.g.within a year, by a specific date, etc.?

Communicating effectively

To be a successful advocate you will need to increase awareness, build support and change attitudes. Communication is the key. An important element of effective communication is to keep your target audience in mind and tailor the message and your presentation methods to their needs and abilities.

Consider the method of communication

• What communication method appeals to your audience?
• How would they like to find out about you? Email, newsletter, meeting, radio, letter, etc.
• Tell them what they need to hear in the format that will most appeal.

Consider the messenger

• Who will hold credibility with the audience
• Often people take an issue more seriously if they feel they can relate to the person delivering the information -so who is best to for your intended audience?

Consider the message

• When trying to capture your audience think about what they want to hear.
• Offer solutions to the problem posed so your case does not seem unattainable
• Keep information and statistics as relatable to your audience as possible - this gets peoples' attention.

Raising public awareness

There are many ways to raise public awareness including:

• Hold public meetings - Make the public aware of your case, build support and engage with the interested to bring them on board.
• Start a Ribbon/wristband campaign - many groups have created an emblem which publicly symbolises support for a cause. e.g. pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness, wristbands for anti- bullying and anti-poverty campaigns
• Websites - Develop websites or include your campaign on relevant websites of key interest groups - widen your audience at every opportunity.
• Involve local communities - Find out about local groups and think about who might have an interest in your campaign. Make contact, build relationship and get people involved.
• Involve local schools//further education institutes/universities. -Find out who the local, influential, knowledgeable people are in these institutions. Make contact, bring your campaign to their attention
• Distribute educational resources - Create and distribute factsheets/ posters/leaflets. These should be well designed and contain relevant information for your audience.

Think about where best to reach your target audiences - is it the post office where people collect pensions, the hairdresser or garage, the pub, local shop or churches?

Press Release - send a press release of any coming events or significant achievements to help raise awareness of your case. Contact local newspapers, radio stations, etc

How to write a successful press release

What is a press release?

A short, catchy story that captures the key points of your case in a way which will interest the media and build awareness of and support for your case

Dos & Don'ts of a Press Release

- DO write something worth reading - exciting, informative, short, sharp and straight to the point. Remember what sells newspapers!

- DON'T exaggerate the facts of your case - this will only ruin the credibility of your case.

- DON'T try to give all the details of your case - if people want more information they will ask

- DO have a good catchy heading- look at how papers normally layout headlines and attempt to copy the style

- DO give contact details so the media can get back in touch for more information

- DON'T have a messy layout - ensure the layout is clear, concise and easy to read. Try using subheading to guide the reader if needed.

- DO include all your contact details as part of the press release so the readers know how to get in touch.

- DON'T use jargon, complicated or unexplained words - readers give up if they don't understand what you are trying to tell them.

- DO keep the information to one or two pages at the most.

- DON'T only use plain text - where possible use interesting quotes from people the readers would be interested in hearing from/know/associate themselves with.
- DON'T use 'I' or 'we' unless it is in a quote.

- DO think of the audience/readers and write your release to interest them!

- DO send it to the right people in newspapers, journals or radio stations!! You will need to research who best to contact and then keep a contact list for future reference.