#1 Rule of Fight Club - if advocacy is central to your mission—or should be—you can’t afford to leave it out of your strategic planning process.

Too many nonprofits hold board retreats or strategic planning sessions that focus on fundraising, governance, and programs (all important!), but skip the bigger question: What’s our advocacy strategy? That’s like mapping a road trip without ever deciding the destination.

Why Advocacy Strategy Belongs in Your Planning

Your board retreat or strategic planning session is when you zoom out and set the direction for the future. It’s where you decide not just what programs to run or what funds to raise, but how your organization will deliver on its mission in the long term.

And if advocacy is any part of that strategy (or should be), it must be part of the conversation.

• It connects your mission to systems change. Programs transform lives one by one. Advocacy transforms lives at scale.

• Your board sets the vision. When board members understand the organization’s advocacy role, they can guide, resource, and champion it.

• It builds resilience. A clear advocacy strategy helps you pivot when political winds shift without losing sight of your north star.

What an Advocacy Strategy Session Looks Like

Incorporating advocacy into your retreat isn’t about overwhelming your board with policy minutiae. It’s about giving them space to:

• Identify where advocacy fits in the organization’s long-term goals

• Determine what advocacy success looks like for your mission and community

• Uncover your advocacy superpowers—subject-matter expertise, localized data, lived-experience stories, and mobilized supporters—and decide how to leverage them

• Name your advocacy challenges and explore practical ways to approach them

• Clarify the board’s role in supporting, resourcing, and funding advocacy

The result? A shared framework that weaves advocacy into your DNA—so every decision, campaign, and investment builds toward systemic change -- and solving your community's toughest challenges.

The Bottom Line

Your retreat is the rare chance to step back and look at the big picture. If advocacy is part of your DNA—or needs to be—it should be built into that visioning process. A well-designed advocacy strategy session gives your board clarity, confidence, and commitment to move the mission forward.

And yes, it’s cost-effective. A few hours now can pay off in years of impact.

Here’s How Snyder Strategies Can Help You

Designing and facilitating an advocacy strategy session doesn’t have to be overwhelming. At Snyder Strategies, we bring:

• Experience at every level. From U.S. Senate staffer to grassroots trainer, I know what it takes to move policy in red, purple, and blue states.

• Customized facilitation. No cookie-cutter slide decks here. I design interactive exercises that meet your board where they are—whether they’re seasoned advocates or new to the concept.

• Actionable takeaways. You’ll leave with clarity on your advocacy role, priorities, and principles—and a strategy framework that guides staff and board long after the retreat ends.

• Cost-effective support. I make it easy to incorporate advocacy into your planning without blowing your retreat budget.

If advocacy is—or should be—a core part of your mission, your board retreat is the perfect place to set that strategy. Snyder Strategies can help you get there.

Ready to put advocacy on your retreat agenda? Let’s connect.

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