Advocacy 101
THIS WEBINAR WILL BEGIN
PROMPTLY AT 5 P.M. EDT/ 2 P.M. PDT
About RESULTS
RESULTS is an international grassroots advocacy organization
committed to ending hunger and poverty.
•Over 100 chapters across the US (click here for more).
•Prof. Yunus is a member of our Board of Directors, and the we
house the Microcredit Summit Campaign.
The collective voices of RESULTS’ passionate grassroots activists,
coordinated with high-level policy efforts driven by RESULTS staff,
leverage millions of dollars for programs and improved policies that give
low-income people the tools they need to move out of poverty.
Excited to be a part of the To Catch a Dollar campaign.
Why We Focus on
Advocacy
• 1976 National Academy of Sciences study concluded
we can end hunger on the planet in one generation
• Lack of political will keeps us from addressing hunger
and the worst aspects of poverty.
• Citizen engagement is key in shaping political will, but
most people have never been trained on how to
advocate.
Everyday Folks
Matter
“Each of the great social achievements of recent decades
has come about not because of government proclamations,
but because people organized, made demands, and made it
good politics for governments to respond. It is the political will
of the people that makes and sustains the political will of
governments.”
--James Grant, Former Executive Director of UNICEF
What Do Advocates
Do?
• Learn about the issues/problems
• Define effective solutions
• Learn about decision makers
• Build networks
• Create strategies
• Stay persistent
• Focus on building relationships
Citizen Advocacy in
Action
“From that day in 1987 when RESULTS arranged for me to talk by
conference call to editorial writers in dozens of US cities, to the
announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, no other organization
has done more to put Grameen Bank on the map than RESULTS and
RESULTS Educational Fund's Microcredit Summit Campaign.
More importantly, no other organization has been as critical a partner in
seeing to it that microcredit is used as a tool to eradicate poverty and
empower women than RESULTS and RESULTS Educational Fund's
Microcredit Summit Campaign.”
-- Muhammad Yunus, March 2007
What Actions Matter
2011 report from the
Partnership For A
More Perfect Union
at the Congressional
Management
Foundation, based on
a survey of more than
250 congressional
staff
(http://pmpu.org/wpcontent/uploads/CWC
-Perceptions-ofCitizen-Advocacy.pdf)
How You Do it
RESULTS Toolkit:
http://www.results.org/skills_center/activist_toolkit
/
• Empower yourself
• Work with Congress
• Work with the media
• Work with the community
How Can You Be
Effective with
Congress?
• Show how the legislation is relevant to the home district =
most impactful
• Explain why you’re taking up the issue.
• Offer a story demonstrating why you’re passionate about
the issue
Key Ingredient:
Your “Laser Talk”
Learn to Speak & Write Powerfully
 E - Engage your audience
 P – State the Problem
 I – Illustrate the problem and
Inform them on solutions
 C – Call to action
Sample “Laser
Talk”
Engage: One of the most effective ways to break the cycle of poverty is by helping
low-income households build up savings and assets.
Problem: Unfortunately, in 2009, 32 percent of adults reported that they had no
savings.
Inform/Illustrate: Fortunately, the Saver’s Bonus will help. The Bonus uses the
convenience of tax time to help low-income Americans start savings accounts. When
filing their taxes, low-income families would tell the IRS to deposit all or part of their
tax refund into an eligible savings account or Treasury bond right on their tax return.
Part of their deposit would then be matched up to $500 per year, thus providing an
incentive to save (the matched portion would be restricted to certain uses like
education, homeownership or starting a business). It’s just common sense — when
you give people the opportunity, convenience and incentive to save, they will.
“Laser Talk”:
Sample Ask
Call to Action (House):
Will you speak to House Ways and Means Committee
Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI-4) and Ranking Member
Sander Levin (D-MI-12) and urge them to support lowincome asset building policies like the Saver’s Bonus?
Call to Action (Senate):
Will you speak to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max
Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
and urge them to support low-income asset building policies
like the Saver’s Bonus?
Best Practices for a
Powerful Lobby
Meeting
• Manage the meeting
• Know how much time you have
• What is decision maker’s stake or interest in the issue?
• How will you connect with that interest?
• How will you respond to objections?
• Follow up! Goal: build a relationship
• Champion scale
Q & A and How to
Get Involved
RESULTS volunteer activists are powerful advocates for a world that makes the health,
education, and welfare of every person a political priority. RESULTS moves citizens from
spectators of our democracy to active players in shaping the policies that affect millions of
people around the world and here at home. RESULTS currently has chapters in more than
110 communities across the United States as well as affiliate organizations in five other
countries (the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Canada, and Mexico).
If you are interested in joining a RESULTS group, or want to start one in your area, contact
us at: (202) 783-7100 or dodson@results.org. Other resources:
•Find a local RESULTS group in your area
•What RESULTS activists agree to do in their communities
•Find out more about our Global Campaigns
•Find out more about our Domestic Campaigns
•Read the stories of some of our Everyday Heroes