Advocacy 101: What is Advocacy and Why Should We Do It?

Advocacy 101 gives participants an overview of the government relations process, how lobbying works and why it’s important to be an advocate 365 days a year.

Target Audience: New advocates                                        Time: 1 hour

 

Hill Meetings That Get Results

This course is designed for people attending their first Capitol Hill or statehouse lobby day. It separates myth from reality and provides useful tips to make lobby days a success. The longer version includes interactive role-playing where attendees test their skills in a friendly setting.

Target Audience: Lobby Day participants                           Time: 1 hour/90 minutes

 

Winning Advocacy Communications

Taught by an experienced media spokesperson who’s been quoted by everyone from Politico to the Washington Post to the BBC, this course teaches participants to become effective communicators, from developing a crisp message and elevator pitch that avoids policy-speak to handling tricky media interviews. The longer version includes interactive role-playing.

Target Audience: New and intermediate advocates          Time: 1 hour/90 minutes

 

From Ideas to Action: Creating Viable Public Policies

This course guides policy professionals and volunteer advocacy leaders in the step-by-step process of turning vague policy concepts into actionable legislation and regulations. Attendees learn how to use the levers of government to enact policy, how to evaluate the right committees and agencies to target, and how to differentiate between “message” bills and policy proposals that can move. This course is essential for organizations with bold visions who want to raise their policy profile.

Target Audience: Government relations staff                     Time: 1 hour

 

Building a Legislative Campaign

This course trains advocacy professionals in crafting and executing a strategy to get legislation passed. Participants will role-play as they develop a comprehensive strategy to move a policy proposal, incorporating direct lobbying, coalition-building, grassroots mobilization and media relations. This course shows how to stay on track towards a policy goal, avoiding getting stuck in the weeds of time-consuming and ineffective tactics to maximize resources towards victory.

Target Audience Government relations staff, volunteer advocacy leaders                       Time: 4 hours/8 hours