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Advocacy 101

This session will provide participants with an understanding of advocacy tactics and tools to enhance their organization's work. It will also highlight ways to engage with FCC advocacy efforts.

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Advocacy 101

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  1. Advocacy 101 Megan Branham, LMSW VP of Policy and Advocacy Programs

  2. Objectives from today’s session • Participants will better understand advocacy tactics • Participants will be aware of advocacy and communications tools to enhance their organization’s work • Participants will connect with ways to engage with FCC advocacy efforts

  3. Town Hall Reflections • What did you learn? • What were you glad to hear? • What surprised you? • Other observations

  4. Florida 2020 Session January 14 - Regular Session convenes March 13- Last Day of Regular Session Committee meetings happening throughout the fall; additional deadlines for bills to be filed.

  5. The Legislative Process

  6. The Advocacy Process (Coffman, 2009; Morariu & Brennan, 2009)

  7. Advocacy Activities

  8. Getting Involved in Advocacy: The Basics Children's Trust of South Carolina

  9. Getting Involved in Advocacy: The Basics • Get to know your elected officials. • Who represents you at local (city & county council), state (state legislature), and national (Congress) level? • What committees do they serve on? • How do they vote on issues relating to children? • Find legislators at:www.votervoice.net/FLCHILDREN/Home

  10. Finding your Legislators: Easy as 1- 2- 3

  11. Rep. Ausley • < 5 mins: Twitter • Women’s Soccer World Cup! • Hurricane Michael Relief • Expanding Alzheimer’s Program

  12. Your turn! • Using FCC App, FL Senate/House websites, Voter Voice identify your elected officials. • Using social media, what can you find out about your legislators? • What do you have in common? • What conversation starting points could you use from what you found?

  13. Key Elected Officials Senate committees: Children, Families and Elder Affairs; Health Policy House committees: Health and Human Services - Children, Families and Seniors subcommittee Don’t forget cabinet members -DCF Secretary

  14. Advocacy Tactics • Personal visits are most effective • Meet during and outside of session • Meet in home district • Staff members are great contacts • Personal phone calls or letters • E-mails are less effective • Social media (Twitter and Facebook) • Concentrate on your legislators • Focus on building a few key relationships

  15. Life at the Capitol vs. Life in District • Limited time • Many demands • Access challenges • More flexible • Less pressure • Easier access

  16. Effective Messaging “It doesn’t matter if you’re always right, but it always matters that you are authentic.” - Former SC Congressman Additional Tips: • Team up with other advocates– colleagues, foster parents, youth, etc. • Attend and speak at subcommittee hearings. • Talk and listen!

  17. Tell Your Story • For many non-profits community engagement and fundraising are critical– so is advocacy! • Don’t simply set out to ask people for resources, money or time, first tell your story.  • Engage them.  Make them understand why you care about this cause and before you know it you’ll have them engaged!  • Social media can help share your story with a broader audience, as well as heighten awareness of your cause or organization. • Telling your story can convince an audience to invest in your cause!

  18. Engage! • Identify who hasn’t been engaged • Audience Buy-In • When you have an engaging story, you haveaudience buy-in. • When you have their attention….hold it! • Now is the Time to Make an Ask… • When you know you have a captive audience, never leave them without making an ask! • Whether the ask is for promotion of your event or promoting your organization or platform generally, always make sure to make your ask once you have told your story and you have a captive audience.

  19. Interact! • Interact with other organiations andlegislators,whether on social media (tagging) or at events. • Promoting other organizations, or working with them, can help promote your own story as well. It is a two-way street. Allies are key in advocacy! • By participating in community events, you will help raise awareness of your story with a bigger and more diverse audience! • Develop relationships with local elected officals: • Educate them about your organization • Make them aware of events • Invite them!

  20. Are You Telling Your Story? • We live in a world where it has become much easier to tell your own story. • With all the various communication tools and social media platforms available, it’s no longer only the famous and powerful who have a forum to tell their story, now we all do. • What you must ask yourself is, are you using those platforms, and if so, how do you use them to tell your story?

  21. Challenges/Considerations • Head and heart struggle - emotional charged issues • Varying policy solutions • Emerging best practices can be used as “bright spots”; innovation • Many elected officals not familiar with issues - need to be informed how it impacts districts so they can create and vote for the best policy/policies!

  22. Advocacy in Action

  23. FCC Advocacy Tools Voter Voice: Call to Action – engage legislators FCC Member Portal: Member resources and materials

  24. 2020 Rally in Tally

  25. Don’t Give Up! • Keep revising your story, messages • Use new, different messengers (advocate allies) • Continue to engagelegislators – build trusted relationships • Engage on various communication platforms – in-district, social media, at Capitol

  26. Questions? /NorthPublicRelations @NorthPRFL @NorthPublicRelations NorthPublicRelations.com @MoxieMegs @MoxieMegsSC Megan@NorthPublicRelations.com

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