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Advocacy > Be An Advocate
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Chapter Two
Advocacy Groups
Advocacy is Most Effective in Groups
Why Advocacy Depends on Working in Groups
On rare occasions, individuals working alone have been able to capture public attention and
persuade public officials to make changes in policy. But for the most part, advocacy must take
place through groups because:
- In a democracy change only takes place when there are many
voters who support change
- Advocacy takes a lot of work
- Working in groups helps to test ideas
- Groups can capture public and media interest better than individuals working alone
Join An Advocacy Group
What You Can Do As a Member
- All advocacy groups need money to do their work. Making a financial contribution is
very important.
- If you join an advocacy group, you will get mail or E-mail from time to time asking you
to write to or telephone certain people. Your letter or call helps to show that many people
care about the issue.
- You will also be asked to attend events where it is important that large numbers of people
turn out. For example many organizations have lobby days in Albany or Washington,
and from time to time there are demonstrations about mental health issues.
- Of course, you can also choose to do much more.
- Advocacy requires a lot of work. You will make yourself very popular and important in
your group by volunteering to do anything that needs to be done.
- When you have the opportunity to attend a meeting to discuss an advocacy plan, you
should feel free to speak up. But remember that if you are new, listening may be more
valuable than speaking. As in all groups, it takes a while to be a fully accepted member
whose opinions are welcome and respected.
- Keep in mind that the purpose of discussion is not just for everyone to voice his or her
opinion. It is to help the group make a decision about what it will do.
- Advocacy is ultimately about action, not about talk.
- Once a decision is made, everyone in the group must back it. Differences of opinion are
fine in the privacy of the group, but are very damaging if aired in public.
- Effective action requires that people stand together. “United we stand; divided we fall.”
Leadership Functions in Advocacy Groups
- Chairing a meeting: Good meetings allow participants to feel like valued members and
enable them to join forces on some plan of action. Most meetings allow for differences
of opinions to be expressed, but good meetings also have a sense of order and move to a
meaningful conclusion.
- Building consensus: To be effective, groups must reach agreement and take action
together. There are no general rules about how to build consensus. It is a skill that varies
from person to person.
- Communication and Advocacy Materials: One of the most important functions in an
advocacy group is preparing written materials both for advocacy and for communication
within the group.
- Advocacy materials include letters to public officials, position papers, press releases, etc.
- Communications materials include letters to members, newsletters, minutes of meetings,
etc. Many groups now use E-mail as the major mechanism for communication within
their group.
- Being out front with public officials and the media: Many people find this frightening.
But advocacy groups need people who are able to speak out publicly even if they are
nervous about it.
- Follow through: If you get the work done that you agree to do, you will be perceived as a
leader.
Forming New Groups
If you find that none of the many mental health advocacy groups adequately represents your
interests and beliefs, you may decide to form a new advocacy group. What does this take?
- Identify people or organizations with mutual interests.
- Talk with some of them individually before you convene the first meeting of a group.
- Negotiate some issues about goals, and sometimes about leadership roles, with key
players before the first meeting.
- Convene an exploratory or planning meeting. At this meeting you should:
- Identify mutual interests
- Begin to develop shared positions
- Begin to develop an agreeable division of labor
- Develop an action plan
- Follow up on the action plan.
- Convene subsequent meetings consistent with the action plan. But do not have meetings
before the actions agreed to at the prior meeting have been undertaken.
Work Constantly at Building a Constituency
Constituency Building
- Both existing and newly formed groups need to work constantly to maintain and increase
their membership and to build a cadre of people who support their cause.
- This is called "constituency building."
- To build a constituency, a group needs to reach out to people and to try to engage them.
- It is important to identify which people you want to involve in your group. For example
if your group represents families of adults with serious mental illnesses, do you want to
limit membership to family members or be more inclusive?
- Bigger groups generally have more impact, but the more diverse the membership the less
focused the message.
- There's no right choice. It's your decision.
- You can reach people through direct contact, through mailings—including e-mail—and
through public education activities such as speeches, conferences, websites, and written
material.
- From these outreach efforts you need to develop a mailing list.
- Remember that most people do not have time to be active participants in your group, but
many will send letters, make calls, or even appear at advocacy events if they know about
them.
- Communication is critical. Newsletters, issues alerts, calls for action must go out
routinely to give your constituency a sense that your group is active and that they are
involved
Advocacy Depends on Working in Groups
- Join a group.
- Make a financial contribution.
- Send letters and make calls on behalf of the group.
- Attend public events organized by the group.
- Participate in creating the advocacy plan and doing the work for a group.
- Become a leader of your group.
- Create a new group if needed.
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