Advocacy Needs a Strategy, Not Just Activity

1 hour ago
1 min read

Lately, I’ve been seeing more nonprofits and membership organizations encourage their members or advocates to take a single advocacy action.

Send an email.
Make a call.
Contact your legislator.

Sometimes there’s a menu of actions. Sometimes it’s tied to tools like the “Five Calls a Day” model, in which advocates are encouraged to make one quick call to 5 lawmakers on an issue.

I can understand the appeal of that approach.

For many organizations, the biggest hurdle isn’t whether people care. It’s getting them comfortable enough to take that first step and engage at all.

That first action matters.

It lowers the barrier and helps people realize that contacting an elected official is something they can actually do. It builds confidence and participation.

That’s valuable. But I keep coming back to the same question:

What strategy is that action actually part of?

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How Snyder Strategies Can Help

If you’re reading this and recognizing some of these same tensions in your own work, you’re not alone.

This is exactly the kind of work I help organizations think through: how to be more intentional about strategy, grow your power, and stay away from random acts of advocacy.

If that’s where you are, let’s talk.