Advocacy, Communication & Media Relations Strategies for Early Childhood

www.advocacyandcommunication.org

Advocacy, Communication & Media Relations Strategies for Early Childhood

Lori McClungAdvocacy & Communication Solutions, LLCMay 2, 2013

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Today’s Goals:• Learn what lobby laws you must follow as a

non-profit to engage your elected officials.• Learn how to be a successful advocate for

early childhood and avoid the pitfalls that prevent success.

• Learn how to effectively deliver messages to the media on early childhood.

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www.advocacyandcommunication.org 3

Definition: “nonprofit”

Unless otherwise noted, today the term will be used to mean: 501(c)(3) “charitable organizations”

(because different rules apply to other nonprofits, like 501(c)(3) “private foundations,” 501(c)(4) “civic groups,” 501(c)(5) “labor unions,” 501(c)(6) “chambers of commerce,” etc.)

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WHAT ARE ADVOCACY AND LOBBYING?


Definition: Advocacy & Lobbying

• Advocacy is the umbrella term, and involves identifying, embracing and promoting a cause.

• Lobbying is a specifically focused form of advocacy, with the purpose to influence legislation. Only some methods of advocacy are considered lobbying.

• Although the terms are often used interchangeably, you need to make sure that you record and report your lobbying activities as defined by the IRS.

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Direct vs. Grassroots Lobbying

• Direct Lobbying is when an organization attempts to influence specific legislation by stating its position to a legislator (or other government employee who participates in the formulation of legislation) through its staff or members.

When an organization urges the general public to take action on specific legislation.

• Keys to grassroots lobbying: • Refer to specific

legislation;• Reflect or state a point

of view on the legislation’s merits; and

• Encourage the general public to contact legislators.



– Advocacy is easy!– Lobbying is legal.– Check to see if you have filed a 501(h) Election, if

not you may consider filing.– Keep track of your lobbying expenses, remember

must be about a piece of legislation or a ballot initiative.

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What do you need to know?


• Write and encourage people to write letters? YES! (Both members and non-members of your organization)!

• Meet with/speak to public officials about legislation? YES!

• Testify at a public hearing? YES! (and if requested in writing it’s not lobbying)!

• Provide research, analysis and commentary? YES! (and it doesn’t count as lobbying)!

• Publicly endorse or oppose specific legislation? YES!

• Invite an official to visit? YES! (and it may not be lobbying)!

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So… Can We?


• Raise funds for candidates? NO! (as an individual, not as an organization) • Publicly support or oppose a candidate? NO! • Use federal funds to lobby? NO! Except in certain situations, federal grants cannot be used to lobby on legislative matters at the federal or state levels. • Federal contract funds cannot be used to lobby at the federal,

state or local level.• Federal funds cannot be used for

electioneering.

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So… Can We?


• Yes. Nonprofits may use “non-earmarked” or general purpose funds to lobby.

• Community foundations can earmark grants for lobbying (they are exempt under 501(c)(3) and not private foundations).

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May nonprofits use private foundation funds to lobby?


DOES ADVOCACY LEAD TO SOLUTIONS?


Challenges and Barriers to Advocacy

Top barriers to participation in advocacy• Lack of data• Lack of capacity and staff time• Lack of internal/organizational support• Lack of a champion• Lack of interest in the issue by the media Top tools organizations need to participate in advocacy• Training and capacity building• Assistance with coalition building• Information (how to develop and package, etc.)• An education/awareness campaign• Dedicated staff

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• Service, membership, education is not enough

• Government policies affect everyone• Government controls funding to many

nonprofit organizations• Policymakers care about and need your

expertise

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Reasons to Get Involved


• Increased connection to mission• Increased connection to community• Increased connection to the “democratic”

process

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But why advocacy?


Lobbying isn’t a privilege;It’s your right and it’s your responsibility!

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IMAGINE THE POWER OF 1,000,000 VOICES


EFFECTIVELY ENGAGING COMMUNITY LEADERS


Follow the Rules and You’ll be Successful

QUESTION: Why are some efforts more successful than others?

ANSWER: Because people don’t follow Rules #1-4


• It’s about relationships.

• Staff counts. They are the conduit and travel guide.

• Don’t wait until you need something to begin.

• Truly understand their best interest – and be honest.

• Cast your organization as a constituent resource.

• Go the extra mile – supply requested information.

• Remember, a burned bridge is hard to rebuild!

• ALWAYS SAY THANK YOU!

Rule #1: Relationships Matter


• One-on-one contact is ideal.• It’s ok to disagree.• Think before you speak.

It’s Personal!


• Attend functions where legislators will be.• Attend personal fundraisers.• Legislators NEED to meet the people you

serve and/or your members.• Provide media opportunities.

Events - Yours and Theirs


• Determine who the decision-makers are. – Define decision-maker broadly.

• Do your homework, know their personal stories and interests.

– Don’t prejudge based on previous affiliations.

• Determine where the decision-maker sits on your issue.

– And the approach or angle which might make this time different.

• Watch, recognize and seize momentum.

Rule #2: ID Your Targets


• Be ready to relay your points at anytime and anywhere.

• Know your opponent’s positions.– Respond and neutralize, don’t attack.

• Don’t assume a level of knowledge about your issue.

• Lay the ground work with freshman legislators. Someday they’ll be in charge.

• YOU ARE THE EXPERT

Rule #3: Be Prepared


• Letters - Officials want and need to hear from you. • Phone calls - Use to initiate or follow up. • E-mails - Structure is key.• Intermediaries/allies - Who can place a call for us?• Invitation to an event - Show why you exist & bend an ear.• Drop bys & show ups - When all else fails, drop by their

office. • THE FREQUENCY OF CONTACT MATTERS

Rule #4: Deliver Your Message….


• Don’t overcomplicate it.• State the thing you most want them to remember first. • Use statistics and numbers, but not formulas.• Move people to a conclusion; never force them into it. • Prepare yourself for reactions and responses.• Present the truth, don’t stretch the truth.

…but Deliver it Well…


• Ask about their priorities.• Have a one-page leave behind.• TAKE NOTES.• Prepare for 30 minutes; expect 15.

…and Prepare to Deliver it Quickly


• Meet in any of their offices.• Write a letter.• Do a site visit.• Give an award.

But make sure to participate!

Pick What’s Most Comfortable for You


You can make a difference in 1 hour a week!

You could: Write 1 letter. Ask your co-workers if anyone else wants to help. Make 1 phone call. Invite someone to lunch. Share what you’ve learned with others – make copies. Tell a friend or family member 1 thing about your

organization.


Ending the Meeting & Follow Up• Offer to be resource to them for additional information.• If they ask for follow up information, take less than 5

business days to respond.• Be sure to say THANK YOU for their time.

Effectively Engaging Your Leaders: Building & Keeping Relationships


10 Tips for Effective Site visits

1. Pick the site carefully2. Be specific, yet flexible 3. Invite staff 4. Confirm 5. Develop an agenda or talking points for the meeting 6. Plan an activity 7. Prepare your staff and families 8. Give the community leader something to take home 9. Consider Inviting the Media 10. Follow-up


BUILDING A STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION FRAMEWORK


Strategic Communication Framework

What is a Strategic Communication Framework?A way in which people think and talk about an issue and reasons why.

How does it work?A framework is often established by the media and reinforced by community leaders, policymakers and the general public in the way these audiences talk about or “message” an issue.

How can nonprofits help change/reinforce the frame?Establish a consistent way of messaging or talking about the issue (aka your preferred frame) and; then establish relationships with media, community leaders, and policymakers to express this preferred message on an ongoing basis.

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What is included in Strategic Communication?

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• Paid and earned media• Focus groups• Identifying messages• Developing the frames• Talking points

Strategic communications is not exclusively aboutbillboards, sound bites, spin, glitzy brochures,polished annual reports, and animated Web sites.

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Prioritization of Strategic Communication

• Most effective early childhood education efforts include a major strategic communication component.

• Strategic communication must have the same prioritization as fundraising, staffing, etc.

• NOT a “nice to have” it is integral to success of an effort.

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BUT:If the facts don’t fit the frame, the facts (regardless of accuracy) will be discarded

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MESSAGE DEVELOPMENT


• Keep it simple.• Inject new elements into the debate to force

people to see the issue with fresh eyes.• Know your audience.• Invite the audience to “fill in the blank” and

reach your conclusion on its own.• Present a solution.

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Basic Principles of Message Development


Message Delivery: Basic Principles

• Stay on message.• Repeat again and again.• Choose a medium and messenger based on

audience you’re trying to reach – and what is possible given organizational capacity.

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Keep it Simple• Easy to grasp, jargon-free, and short or uncluttered.

• Not an elaborate argument of your position on the issue.

• People often need to hear a message again and again before they get it – saturation.

• Same message, not multiple messages.

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Mission isNOTMessage!


Core Messages

One or a few brief, straightforward statements that reflect:

– Your analysis of the problem, its cause and impact.

– Your proposed solution.

– The arguments in support of your solution.

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Tailored Message

A message created for a specific audience, based on analysis of:

• What will be most persuasive for that audience.

• What information it needs to hear.

• What action you want the audience to take.

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Analysis should guide the message’s:

• Content =• Form =• Length =• Medium =• Messenger/Spokesperson =

What, Why, Why care, Proof, SolutionsWords, images, etc. Basic is basis for 30, 60, 1 hour Mass, one-on-one, rally

Poised/compelling

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Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

• Goal: Neutralize Congressional opposition to new FDA regulations of tobacco.

• Core Message begins with a statement of what you want to have happen, e.g., FDA regulation of tobacco is needed because:– Cigarette smoking is a pediatric disease.– Nicotine is addictive, and tobacco companies deliberately

manipulate its content.– Tobacco companies have lied to the public about the hazards of

smoking, the addictiveness of nicotine, and targeted advertising to young people.

– Big tobacco has spent millions on campaign contributions, corrupting our democracy.

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Moving the Tailored Message

• Using the message “America’s kids are not for sale,” the campaign called on all candidates to renounce and refuse campaign contributions from tobacco companies.

• Highlighted political ties between tobacco companies and Congress.

• Goal: politically risky to block the FDA regs – media and public would assume related to campaign contributions.

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“Filling in the Blank”

• Convey more with less.

• Implicitly invite the audience to participate in creating the message.

• By activating the audience’s thought processes, such messages often lead the audience to reach the message’s intended conclusion on its own.

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Present a Solution

• Research shows people more responsive to messages that present solutions rather than those that focus on a problem’s cause.

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Key Points: Message Development

• Based on analysis of what you think will persuade a certain audience.

• Simple, to the point.

• Repeated frequently.

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Examples of Good Messages

1. Simple: “It Gets Better”2. Brief: “Death Panels”3. Credible: Walter Cronkite, “And that’s the way it is.”4. Consistent: “Job Killing” “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs”‐5. Novel: “Demon Sheep”6. Sound: “Buck up or stay in the truck.”7. Aspiration: “Yes We Can”8. Relevant: “National Debit costs $44,900 per person”

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Colorado Communications Budget Works

Here’s what we have to STOP doing:

• Using wonky, insider language.

• Thinking about our messages last.

• Assuming people care as much about our issues as we do.

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LEAST AND MOST EFFECTIVE NATIONAL EARLY CHILDHOOD METHODS & MESSAGES

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Least Effective Messages & Methods

Messages• Merit based messaging• Exclusively academic messagesMethods• Staleness of messengers and message

Message research should drive messengers; not habit/easy

• Social media and e-advocacy for its own sake

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Most Effective Messages

Messages• Economic Return on investment arguments

—national message that works in most places

• ALL children• Positive focus, not scare tactics• Results oriented

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Most Effective Messages

Messages• The first five years of life have so much to do with how the next 80 turn

out. (WA)

• Getting children ready for school means more than packing their lunches, filling their backpacks, and getting them to the bus on time. In fact, the job of helping children succeed in school starts the day they’re born (AZ)

• All children learn and grow at their own pace, but some babies and toddlers need a little extra help…. As a parent, you are your child’s first and best teacher. At Texas ECI, we encourage you to join in every step of the process, from deciding what kind of help your child and family need to working daily with your child to help him grow and learn. (TX)

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Ideal Structure

1. Say what “it” is (the campaign, the program, ECD)

2. Why the audience should care3. Concrete data4. StoryFlorida Children’s MovementTexas Early Childhood Intervention

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KS9cIdgp6SQ

http://www.dars.state.tx.us/ecis/miw/section_8-2/player.html

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Most Effective MethodsMethods

• Engaging business and Kindergarten or elementary school teachers to do the advocacy and media outreach

• Better Data—not enough to say “its good for kids”-- local, evidenced based, data driven messaging is most persuasive

• Bringing together partners (veterans, parents, workforce,

community colleges, etc.)

• Emphasis on family engagement and the role of the parent58

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Most Effective Methods

Methods• Training all partners, staff, clients

• Providing templates and downloads to promote consistency

• Reviewing and modifying every few years

• Engaging in media advocacy

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What Medium Can You Use?

• People

• Print

• Electronic

• Folk

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Choosing a Medium

• What are the audience’s primary sources of information and influence?– Who or what do they listen to?– What do they read?– What do they watch?

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• What are the audience’s characteristics? –Where do they live or work?– What language do they speak?– Do they read?– Can they afford to buy newspapers and

other media?– Do they have access to the internet?

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Choosing a Medium


Should you use this medium?

• Do we have org capacity?

• What skills are needed?

• What resources are needed?

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Choosing a Messenger

• Who is most persuasive to the audience? Who has the most credibility?

• Messengers could include:– Legislators (your champion(s))– Public or community leaders– Experts with technical knowledge– Authentic voices – those affected

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Messaging and Communication Resources

• Advocacy & Communication Solutions, LLCwww.advocacyandcommunication.org

• Fenton Communications www.fenton.com

• How to Tell and Sell Your Story: A Guide to Developing Effective Messages and Good Stories about Your Work, Center for Community Change, Part 1 and 2, 1997, 1998, 1999, www.communitychange.org

• Advocacy for Social Justice, Section 8-9, Advocacy Institute, www.advocacy.org, 2001

• The Spin Project (Strategic Press Information Network) www.spinproject.org

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http://www.communitychange.org/

http://www.advocacy.org/


EFFECTIVELY ENGAGING THE MEDIA


Effectively Engaging the MediaWho are they? What do they offer?

Print: Newspapers (daily, weekly)• Editorials• Op-eds• Feature Stories• Letters to the Editor

Broadcast: Television & radio• 24 hour news cycle and close to real time news cycle• Call-in Shows• Public Service Announcements• Feature stories

Blogs & Online News: Internet based outlets• Ongoing, real time news cycle

• Feature Stories 67


Evaluate your media readinessUse this checklist to track your development of a media advocacy plan.• Organizational Assessment:

– Does your organization have a media strategy?– Is the media plan discussed as part of the overall organizational or communication or lobbying plan?– Do you revise the media plan on a regular basis as your effort evolves?

• Organizational Infrastructure:

– Do you have a staff person who is responsible for carrying out the media plan and coordinating all the media efforts in your organization?– Has your organization identified its primary, formal spokespersons?– Do your spokespersons need media training and preparation? Have you determined how they will get it?– Have your board and staff prepared a plan for “rapid response” to an opportunity or a crisis that presents itself with little warning? Is there

a “team” that can respond quickly?– Is the chain of decision making for media statements clearly designated and understood by everyone within the organization?

• Media Systems:

– Are your media lists up-to-date, complete with names of editors, reporters, or producers for all media outlets you plan to use?– Do you know deadlines, work hours, and preferred communications modes for key people who work on children’s issues?– Do your lists distinguish types of coverage: news, feature, editorial, columns, calendars?– Do you have a clipping file for all relevant media coverage and for a complete record of coverage of your organization’s work?– Are you in regular contact with the editor and reporters you have designated as key contacts?

• Is your information media ready?

– Do you have accurate, concise, interesting information about your organization—its mission, history, programs, and services?– Do you maintain an information base that is a valuable resource to the press, including data, stories, and a portfolio of real people who are

willing to talk to the press?

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1. MAKE CONTACT

2. Establish a Relationship

3. Maintain the Flow

4. Follow Up

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Effectively Engaging the MediaBuilding and Keeping Relationships



STEP 1• Get to know which reporters cover your issues. • Introduce yourself with a phone call or a get-to-

know-you meeting.STEP 2• Offer to be resource so when a story breaks you

get the call for information.• Develop a Media packets or simple materials:

Calendar of events Fact sheet Information about your organization Recent Press releases

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STEP 3•Be sure to follow-up with a phone call any materials that you have sent to the media by mail, e-mail or fax!

STEP 4•Be sure to acknowledge printed articles/stories aired and tell reporters you’ll keep them informed of future story possibilities.

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MEASURES OF SUCCESS


EVALUATIONFIVE realistic short-term benchmarks

1. Developing talking points and fact sheets2. Prioritizing audiences3. Training key messengers and all staff4. Tracking visits to your website and time spent

on it5. Tracking social media (likes on FB, twitter

followers, etc.)


EVALUATIONTEN potential long-term benchmarks

1. Developing a media plan 2. Establishing a newsletter3. Getting media or policymakers to come to you (instead of you always

needing to seek them out)4. Consistent use of talking points and fact sheets by stakeholders5. Demonstrate there is organizational commitment to communication6. Provide communication training to general public7. Track email open and click rates8. Newsletter sign up9. Educating the media10. Reviewing database for holes in supporters

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Comprehensive Evaluation Grid

Source: Fenton Communications


THANK YOU!!!!

Lori McClungPresident

Advocacy & Communication Solutions, LLC1-877-872-0122

advocacyandcommunication.org

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mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Advocacy, Communication & Media Relations Strategies for Early Childhood