It’s one year from Election Day
Written by emily swartzlander
It’s just over a year until the next presidential Election Day across the US. Do you have your advocacy communications plan ready? If not, there’s still time! While Election Day may seem far away, the time for advocacy is now.
Here’s why.
Your Advocacy now impacts policy in the future
Campaign promises matter. Research shows that congressional and presidential political candidates keep most of the promises they make on the campaign trail. Getting a candidate’s attention now – and even better, a campaign promise about your issue – is a great way to further your advocacy efforts when that candidate is elected.
All eyes on us. Typically, Americans pay closer attention to political news in a presidential election year. With issues we all care about, like child care and K-12 education on the list of top election issues for next year, reporters are all about topics related to children and families. (Extra tip: When you’re ready to pitch a story, check out our Pitching Reporters with Success resource or my blog about breaking through the noise to get your story covered.)
Taking advantage of the momentum behind election years – especially a presidential election year – can help move your work forward.
six steps to build a strong advocacy campaign for an election year
To help get your advocacy campaign ready for a busy year, we’re sharing the steps we take when helping clients create an effective communications campaign.
Determine who can make the change you want to see. Then, determine who can influence those people to act. In other words, define your audiences (the changemakers) and your messengers (the influencers). Defining your audiences and messengers lays a foundation for the rest of your campaign, so you’ve got to start here. If you’re targeting political candidates, don’t just think federal or state – county commissioners, city councils, school boards and other local elected officials make a big difference in the daily lives of kids. (Did you know Forthright closes every year on Election Day? That’s so our team has time carved out to vote and volunteer – even on non-Presidential election years, because the entire ballot matters for kids.)
Know your audiences inside and out. After you determine your audiences, it’s time to do extensive research on how they think and feel, what they value and where they like to get their information. For example, are they super active on Instagram, or will an email campaign work better? If your audience is political candidates, do your due diligence about their history, where they grew up, went to school, what their interests are and more. That will help you tap into their personal core values.
Clearly show your audiences and your messengers the action steps they can take to change the broken system. Clear, concise communication that breaks down big ideas into digestible pieces encourages audiences to take action – especially when it comes to advocating for systems change. When people think a problem is too big, they are more likely to decide they can’t do anything to change it. You’ve got to remind people that systems exist, while clearly showing them what they can do to change those systems. That means laying out specific action steps you want your messengers to take to communicate with your audiences. For example, share a request like this one: “Write an email to your legislator using this template and data, asking them to increase funding for child care subsidies by $5 million over five years.”
Create clear, concise messaging, and repeat, repeat, repeat. Use what you’ve learned about your audiences to create clear messages that speak specifically to them. Then, repeat those messages over and over.
Choose metaphors and images that accurately reflect the issue. Metaphors and comparisons help people understand complex issues and influence others, and images are great at capturing attention and evoking emotion. But you have to use metaphors and images that accurately articulate the issue at hand. Otherwise, you’re leaving people confused about the issue or unsure about what to do.
Make sure you’re advocating, not lobbying. Like squares and rectangles, all lobbying is advocacy, but not all advocacy is lobbying. If you’re a 501c3 organization, you likely already know that you may risk losing your nonprofit status if you venture too far into lobbying. It’s always a good idea to check with your legal counsel if you have any questions. (I personally like this guide from the National Association for the Education of Young Children. While it’s meant for NAEYC members, there’s a lot of useful guidance here for all of us.)
Together, we’ll continue to create clear, specific communication to shine light on the systems that must change, because all children and families deserve the support, resources and care they need.
