HOW EFFECTIVE YOUR LOBBYING AND ADVOCACY WORK IS?

The purpose of this Questionnaire is to allow CSOs and other organisations to take stock of their advocacy capacity and identify ways in which that capacity could be strengthened.

This Questionnaire provides an opportunity to determine 1) Areas you’re satisfied with, 2) Areas you’re relatively happy with, but could strengthen and 3) Areas that for you are a priority to strengthen. This should help guide your plans to strengthen your advocacy capacity and consider educational programmes that would be most beneficial.

Doing the Ground Work

1. Do you have a written overall vision, mission and goals for your organisation ?
2. Have you developed a good overall knowledge of the issues you focus on (e.g. current research, political developments, impact on those experiencing the issues?
3. Have you analysed policy problems through engaging with communities, providing services, providing individual advocacy support,and/or conducting research ?
4. Do you have a good understanding of the overall environment related to your issues (e.g. who is working on it, which politicians are interested in this issue etc.) ?
5. Do you have a good understanding of the regulatory environment for advocacy (Standards in Public Office, lobbying regulation etc.) ?

Organisational Commitment

1. Are your board members activitely interested in your advocacy ?
2. Does your board include people who have a knowledge and expertise about advocacy?
3. Do you train and support your board, volunteers and broader staff to engage in advocacy?
4. Do you have paid staff whose job descriptions include advocacy?
5. Do you have a non-staff related budget for advocacy activities?
6. Do you have an explicit funding strategy for your advocacy?
7. Do you encourage your members and donors to financially support your advocacy?
8. Do you specifically evaluate your advocacy and learn lessons from past practice?

Planning

1. Do you have a vision for your advocacy work and do you know what success looks like when it happens) ?
2. Do you have a written, time bound, advocacy strategy (approved by the Board/membership) which sets clearly out clear advocacy priorities?
3. Do you communicate your advocacy strategy clearly with external stakeholders?
4. Does your advocacy strategy identify a small number of key priorities for the coming period) and have you made choices about your focus?
5. Do you have specific action plans for each advocacy priority (including a power analysis, targets, tactics, activities, results etc.) ?
6. Is your advocacy vision, strategy and planning developed with those who experience the issues and are the beneficiaries of your advocacy?

Capacity Development

1. Do you regularly take stock of your advocacy capacity?
2. Do you have plans for strengthening your advocacy capacity over time?
3. Do you regularly try new approaches in your advocacy and test new advocacy strategies and tactics that you have not tried before?

Building the Base

1. Do you produce information and updates relating to your advocacy (newsletters, e-bulletins, social media etc.)
2. Do you have a membership or network that you can call on to support your advocacy?
3. Do you work to expand the advocacy capacity and knowledge of your membership or network?
4. Do you educate the general public (or sections of it) about your advocacy issues?

Research

1. Do you analyze and publish information generated through your work in e.g. community development, services, individual advocacy, etc.)?
2. Do you conduct in-depth research and analysis relating to your advocacy issues?
3. Do you engage decision makers, your constituents and partners in discussing the findings of your research ?

Collaboration

1. Do you regularly exchange information with other organisations working in the same area?
2. Do you successfully get partners to take action in support of your advocacy?
3. Do you participate in alliances and coalitions that share your goals?
4. Have you secured support from stakeholders who would not be your traditional allies?
5. Have you played a leadership role in establishing or managing coalitions?

Messaging

1. Have you developed clear advocacy messages?
2. Are your advocacy messages based on credible information?
3. Do you conduct public opinion polls or focus groups to test your messaging?

Media Engagement

1. Do you monitor media coverage on relevant issues?
2. Do you have a written media plan which supports your advocacy?
3. Do you maintain lists of media contacts most relevant to your issues?
4. Do you have professional communications capacity (internal or external) to support your advocacy?
5. Do you actively develop relationships with specific media professionals?
6. Do you strategically use social media to support your advocacy?
7. Do you have a crisis strategy for dealing with negative press coverage?

Working with Decision Makers

1. Do you monitor the actions of decision-makers relating to your issues (Do you know who may be sympathetic) ?
2. Do you actively build working relationships with a range of policy-makers (civil servants, policy makers, public agencies, etc.)
3. Do you have a cross-party network of political relationships?
4. Do you build relationships with influential individuals and groups (who can persuade decision-makers)?
5. Do you publicly (as well as privately) acknowledge constructive engagement with policy makers ?

Legislation

1. Do you have a good knowledge of the legislative process and know how to have an impact on it?
2. Do you monitor proposed legislation and its potential impact on your issues (government’s legislative programme)?
3. Do you monitor debates in Parliament relevant to your issues?
4. Do you propose amendments to relevant legislation through your political contacts?
5. Do you influence the annual budget cycle?
6. Do you have access to legal opinion to support your legislative advocacy?
7. Have you proposed text for new legislation or constitutional change?

Implementation of Policy and Law

1. Do you actively monitor the implementation of law and policy?
2. Do you provide decision makers with feedback on the implementation progress?
3. Do you work with statutory agencies and regulators responsible for implementation.

Elections and Voting

1. Do you engage in information work to educate voters about your issues?
2. Do you engage with candidates to raise awareness about your issues?
3. Do you monitor political party manifestos (and the subsequent Programme for Government)?
4. Do you influence the development of political party manifestos?
5. Do you engage with debates on constitutional referenda as relevant?

Legal Action

1. Do you consider using legal advocacy (strategic litigation) to complement other advocacy strategies?
2. Do you sign or contribute to amicus briefs
3. Do you use international human rights law to pursue your advocacy objectives?
4. Do you bring strategic litigation cases to court?

Public Action

1. Do you organize public events in support of your advocacy demands?
2. Do you use online strategies to generate large scale public support (e.g. petitions, email campaigns etc.)
3. Do you participate in public protest and demonstration actions organized by allies and partners?

AALEP offers high quality personalised training support to individuals and organisations. Training programmes are custom-designed to meet your needs through practical workshops. Our educational programmes consider the following areas:

1. Public Policy Analysis

• Review of public policy basic concepts;
• Policy cycle phases and the specific role of actors;
• Policy problem analysis;
• Defining policy goals;
• Analysis of public policy actors;
• Public policy instruments and the formulation of policy options;
• Public policy monitoring and evaluation;
• Basic characteristics and structure of the policy documents.

2. Effective Advocacy

• Understanding of proactive advocacy strategy and different approaches to advocacy;
• Identifying the basic weaknesses of advocacy within civil society and good practices examples;
• Understanding the difference between afvocacy goals and those of other programmes and projects;
• The role of the main target groups in planning and implementing of advocacy campaigns.

3. Planning in the field of Advocacy

• Problem analysis techniques, including the participarive model of problem analysis;
• Selection and definition of clear and specific goals of advocacy;
• Advocacy context analysis;
• Stakeholder analysis in advocacy process;
• Target group selection;
• Effective communication techniques;
• Action planning;
• Monitoring and evaluation in the process of advocacy.