If I Started an Advocacy Program from Scratch

I was on a call recently with a group of account managers of an association management company. The goal was to talk about advocacy support for their clients, but the conversation quickly became something more familiar.

They started asking the kinds of questions I hear all the time:

• How do we do this with limited time and staff?

• How do we avoid burning out the advocates?

• How do we know when to engage - and when not to?

• And, inevitably, are we even allowed to do this?

What struck me wasn’t the sector or the size of the organizations represented. It was how similar the challenges were across the board.

Whether you’re a membership association, a service provider, or a statewide nonprofit, advocacy tends to feel complicated for the same reason: most organizations inherit pieces of advocacy over time, but never intentionally build a program.

A lobby day here.

A partnership meeting there.

An occasional action alert when something alarming happens.

Over time, it starts to feel like advocacy is something you respond to rather than something you design.

So I want to offer a different way to think about it. If I were to set up an advocacy program from the beginning, here’s where I’d start.

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The What: Know what you’re trying to change

Advocacy doesn’t begin with tactics. It begins with clarity.

Too many nonprofits start by trying to track bills, reacting to whatever shows up on the daily agenda, or responding to external pressure to “take a position.” That’s how advocacy becomes exhausting and unfocused. You end up debating every issue instead of advancing a few.

Instead, I would slow the conversation down and ask two foundational questions:

→ What policies in our sector are already being discussed that we can credibly weigh in on and support?

→ Are there other solutions that also need to be advanced that we might take the lead?

From there, I would write a simple internal document - not a public manifesto, just a one-page clarity tool - that outlines:

• The 2-4 specific policy outcomes we are prioritizing and/or trying to impact 

• Which advocacy superpower can we leverage

• Why those outcomes matter to the community we serve

• What success would look like (short-term and long-term)

• The criteria we will use to decide when to take action and when not to

This is where a clear policy framework matters. Not because it limits you, but because it gives you a shared way to prioritize and use your limited resources. When organizations agree on what they’re working toward, they stop debating every single moment and start acting with intention.

Clarity about the “what” is what allows advocacy to be strategic rather than reactive.

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The Who: Understand the decision-makers you’re trying to influence

Once you know what you’re trying to change, the next step is understanding who actually has the power to change it.

Advocacy often defaults to “lawmakers” as a generic group, but effective programs are much more specific. They ask harder, more grounded questions:

• Which level of government controls this issue?

• Which committees have jurisdiction?

• Who chairs those committees?

• Who influences those decision-makers behind the scenes?

• What relationships do we already have - and where do we need to build them?

This is where nonprofits have an enormous advantage that they often underestimate.

You bring subject-matter expertise, real-world data, and lived experience that policymakers simply do not have. But that value only translates into influence when it is delivered intentionally and consistently.

Before mobilizing anyone, I would map power carefully and deliberately. I would want a clear picture of where authority sits, who shapes decisions informally, and how policy actually moves in practice.

Some issues require patient, relationship-based education long before a bill is filed. Others move quickly and require visible engagement at key moments. You cannot decide which approach to take if you have not studied the terrain.

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The How: Prepare and support the people who already care

Once you understand where power lives externally, the next step is turning inward.

Your people are already raising their hands. They care about the issue, the mission, and the outcome. And they trust you. What they are often missing is clarity about how their engagement fits into a larger strategy.

If I were building an advocacy program from scratch, I would resist the urge to send an action alert immediately and instead focus on intentionally designing engagement.

Before expanding outward, I would focus on three foundational elements.

First, I would map our people and choose an engagement strategy.

By looking at: do we have the right messengers to influence these decision-makers?

That means looking carefully at where our board members, donors, volunteers, and community leaders live - geographically and relationally. Even a basic spreadsheet and publicly available district lookup tools can reveal:

• Which of our supporters are in key districts

• Where we have strong representation

• Where we have gaps

• Who already has a relationship with a committee chair or local official

With that information in hand, I would make a strategic decision about how to begin.

For many organizations starting from scratch, the most effective first move is targeted grasstops engagement rather than broad grassroots mobilization. A small number of credible, well-prepared individuals having thoughtful conversations with decision-makers can accomplish far more than a mass email sent too early.

Grassroots mobilization absolutely has its place (if you know anything about me, I know I love a good action alert). But it should be tied to a specific legislative moment when visible public engagement will meaningfully influence the outcome.

This step is about precision. It ensures you are not mobilizing out of habit, but with intention.

Second, I would prepare our advocates before asking them to act.

Advocates who understand how the process works are far more likely to participate confidently and effectively. Many organizations assume people already know how to engage. Most people do not.

Preparation does not need to be complicated. It might include:

• Advocacy training explaining how a bill moves

• A clear timeline of when engagement will matter most

• Talking points tied directly to your specific priorities

• Guidance on respectful, strategic communication

When people understand not just what to say, but why this moment matters, their engagement becomes more focused and more persuasive.

Preparation builds confidence. Confidence builds consistency.

Third, I would clarify our role within the broader landscape.

No organization advocates in isolation. There are always others working on overlapping issues, and entering that ecosystem without clarity can create confusion or duplication, or worse, limit your effectiveness.

Before expanding engagement, I would ask:

• Who else is working on this issue?

• Are we leading, supporting, amplifying, or bridging between groups?

• What distinct value do we bring? What advocacy superpowers can we leverage - expertise, local data, lived-experience stories, and mobilizable supporters?

Coalitions should strengthen your strategy, not blur it. Partnership is powerful when it is intentional and aligned with your priorities.

This step ensures that your advocacy program grows with alignment rather than drift.

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One last thing

When nonprofits and membership organizations struggle with advocacy, it’s rarely because they don’t care enough or aren’t working hard enough. It’s because the work has grown in pieces - a bill here, a coalition there, an occasional action alert - without anyone ever stepping back to design the whole system.

Advocacy feels risky and exhausting when it’s reactive. It feels manageable, even energizing, when it’s built intentionally and sequenced thoughtfully.

If you’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure where to focus, you don’t need to start by doing more. You need to start by checking your foundation.

Before you send another action alert or plan another lobby day, pause and ask:

• Do we know exactly what we want to change?

• Do we know who has the authority to change it?

• Have we decided which of our advocates are the right messengers and are they prepared to be effective?

• How will we know if we are effective? Do we have even a simple system to track engagement and learn from it?

If the answer to any of those questions is unclear, the next step is not more activity, it is more clarity.

Advocacy isn’t a side project. It isn’t a lobbyist. It isn’t a single tactic. It is an evolving program that should be built thoughtfully, sustainably, and in alignment with who you already are as an organization.

Because “we should probably do more advocacy” isn’t a strategy. And readiness always comes before momentum.

If you are reading this and thinking, this is exactly what we have not done, you are not alone. Most organizations were never given the time or structure to build advocacy intentionally. They inherited urgency instead.

That is why I created the Advocacy Roadmap. It is the framework I use with clients to move from scattered efforts to a disciplined, sustainable program. Not louder. Not busier. Just clearer.

If you want to assess where your organization stands before you build anything new, start with the Readiness Guide. It walks you through the foundational questions that determine whether you are positioned to engage strategically or simply react.

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