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Public Policy Advocacy:
Five Steps, Five Strategies,
Five Things to Remember
By Nancy Amidei
For the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Reprinted July 2008
Nancy Amidei is on the faculty at the University of Washington School of Social Work, where she
also directs the Civic Engagement Project. Contact her at [email protected]ashington.edu.
This article was originally published in the A-Files, Vol. 5, No. 1, January 2003 by the Washington
State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. It was reviewed, updated, and reprinted July 2008.
This publication was supported by funding from the Washington State Department of Social and
Health Services, Children’s Administration, Division of Program and Policy. The points of view
presented in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the ofcial
position or policies of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services.
The contents of this publication may be reprinted with permission from the Washington State Co-
alition Against Domestic Violence. Any reprinting must be accompanied by the following acknowl-
edgement: “This material was reprinted with permission of the Washington State Coalition Against
Domestic Violence” and must include the name of the article and the author being quoted.
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Seattle, WA 98101
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Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Public Policy Advocacy: Five Steps, Five Strategies, Five Things to Remember by Nancy Amidei
July 2008
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Five Steps to Public Policy Advocacy: How To Do It Quickly and Effectively
Are you somebody who wants to be a better, more engaged citizen—someone who speaks up
and involves other people—but cannot make it t into your busy life? Well, hold onto your hat: I
have a deal for you!
In the pages that follow you’ll nd ve easy actions, requiring only a few minutes each week, to
help you (and all of us collectively) have an impact on the laws and budget decisions of our state.
If everyone takes just one action spelled out in the rst article, or all ve, the Washington State
Coalition Against Domestic Violence (WSCADV) will have a stronger, more effective voice in our
state’s Legislature. It’s that simple.
This plan does not require that you turn yourself into an expert on the legislative process or even
on the details of the policies we care about. WSCADV’s staff need to do those things, but the rest
of us can benet from what they know. The plan does require that we all remember two basic
facts about our form of government: democracy is not a spectator sport, and doing nothing is a
political act.
First, a quick distinction: Advocacy just means “speaking up.” Anyone, including people employed
by state and local governments, can be an advocate. Advocacy includes such activities as:
educating the public; providing information and resources to individuals in need of help; going
into court; commenting on regulations; and helping individuals get benets or services to which
they are entitled.
Lobbying is just one kind of advocacy. It applies to communication with elected ofcials that takes
a position on a pending piece of legislation and urges action. Public employees may not engage
in lobbying while at their jobs or using public resources (unless they were hired to do government
relations). But public employees do not give up their rights as citizens when they take a public
job. During their personal time, everyone has the right to speak up or express a point of view on
proposed laws and budgets and to communicate those views to elected ofcials.
In other words, you have no excuse for not speaking up. Now that that’s settled, here is the ve-
point plan for tting advocacy into busy lives—yours and others.
STEP ONE: Get on a good legislative alert list.
The Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence sends out frequent alerts throughout
the state legislative session that begins in early January each year in Olympia. These fax and
email alerts are a quick, easy way to learn about critical domestic violence issues before the state
Legislature. The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) provides legislative alerts
to state domestic violence coalitions on key issues before the U.S. Congress. More importantly for
busy people, legislative alerts will tell you when your voice is needed and what a good message
would contain. They do all the work of sifting through the bills and budget items; you just have to
read about the items that are most important to you.
To sign up for state legislative alerts on domestic violence-related issues, just send a message to:
action@wscadv.org at the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
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Public Policy Advocacy: Five Steps, Five Strategies, Five Things to Remember by Nancy Amidei
July 2008
STEP TWO: Wear a conspicuous badge or pin.
During the state legislative session, everyone who cares about the issue of domestic violence
should wear a purple ribbon or button (for example, stating “Women, you can’t beat them”) that
quickly identies this issue. That way, when you shop for groceries or take your children to the
park, you’re calling attention to the issue of domestic violence for countless fellow citizens and
voters. If you are spotted by an elected ofcial, go to Olympia for a lobby day or attend a town
hall meeting with your legislators, those elected ofcials will know from your ribbon, pin or button
that voters in their district care about domestic violence.
And if enough people start wearing them, it may come to the attention of the media—much the
same way that pink ribbons are now associated with breast cancer and red ribbons with AIDS in
public awareness campaigns.
This is a low- to no-cost item, and requires no more effort than the time involved in nding and
pinning on the ribbon or button.
STEP THREE: Recruit and train people to use the telephone.
When I ask state legislators how many calls or letters it takes to get their attention on an issue,
the answer I often receive is: “about a dozen,” or “ten to fteen.” That isn’t enough to get a bill
through the legislative process and signed by the Governor, but it is enough to get an issue on the
“radar screen” of our legislators. Because they have to make their way through about 2,000 bills
a year, it is important to call attention to the priority issues on our lists. Most of us know 10-15
people with access to a telephone, and you can use the message recommended by the WSCADV
Legislative Alert. That’s right: you don’t even have to come up with something.
In our state, using the telephone is made easy by the existence of a toll-free hotline to the
Legislature: 1-800-562-6000. Not only is this line toll-free, it offers language translation and TTY
for people with hearing difculties or who are deaf. It is a great service.
Plus, it’s a quick, low-stress way to send a message. Answering your call will be one of eighteen
incredibly helpful operators who are standing by from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on weekdays, and
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays. If you don’t know who your legislators are, they can tell you.
If you are feeling shy, they’ll coach you through a message, and they never ask questions. They
won’t even ask whether you are registered to vote or a citizen.
All they want is a brief, clear message to transmit by email to your Senator, two Representatives,
and if you choose, the Governor. It only takes about two minutes to send a message to four
critically important elected ofcials. And did I mention that this service is toll-free?
STEP FOUR: Make it easy for others to get involved.
Wherever people gather (e.g., religious community, professional association, college cafeteria,
Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Public Policy Advocacy: Five Steps, Five Strategies, Five Things to Remember by Nancy Amidei
July 2008
3
PTA meeting, hospital corridors), you can help others send a message to their legislators. Just
follow the easy instructions in the next section, Five Strategies. This section includes a description
of setting up “Take Five” tables as a strategy to involve community members. Copy the latest
legislative alert and use it to write a message. Individuals can convey messages on a laptop
computer, a pad of paper or blank post cards. If mail is involved, accept donations for the
stamps. Ask everyone who stops by the table to “Take Five For Victims of Domestic Violence.” If
you are part of a group that meets weekly, send a weekly message during the legislative session.
STEP FIVE: Talk.
I always know when Super Bowl Sunday is coming up, but not because I care about the game. It’s
because all around me, people are talking about it. I hear it in the grocery store, while waiting for
a light to change—it’s in the air all the time.
We can do the same for an issue like domestic violence. Just imagine if everywhere you went,
someone was talking about domestic violence and the actions that the Legislature needs to take
to keep people safe in their own homes. You could strike up conversations in the grocery store,
while waiting on the corner for a light to change, or standing in line for coffee. You could talk to
total strangers (and if it feels a little odd, who cares—they’re strangers after all) or get a friend
to agree on a little talking script. Then, every time you take a ferry, you could get into the coffee
line with three or four people in between you, and innocently call out to your friend: “Hey! Did you
hear what they are talking about doing in Olympia? Cutting out the funds for domestic violence
programs!” Then carry on a brief exchange, while everybody in the line is listening.
And, if you get a chance to meet with an elected ofcial, now or during the legislative session,
take advantage of the opportunity and talk to them. Be ready with a persuasive 90-second
speech. The 90-second speech is an effective way to start a legislative visit and lets them know
your issue. The 90-second speech should include: your name and that you are a constituent of
the elected ofcial, the number of people in your group (or served by your program), the bill or
budget item you are following, and what you want them to do about it.
FOR BONUS POINTS: Ask four friends to do the same.
If everyone reading this article pledged to make one contact each week with an elected ofcial
in Olympia, by mail, email or phone, the elected ofcial would get 300 communications every
week. That act alone would be terric. But if everyone reading this article also enlisted four
individuals— neighbors, colleagues, family members, friends—to do the same, then we’d have
1,200 communications each week. And that would be tremendous.
Every year is a tough year in the Legislature. Legislators always worry about the budget and
frequently health and human services are at risk. More than ever, our voice is needed. And, as this
ve-point plan demonstrates, it can be done, even in the midst of busy lives.
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Public Policy Advocacy: Five Steps, Five Strategies, Five Things to Remember by Nancy Amidei
July 2008
Five Strategies: Public Policy Advocacy Made Easy for Busy People
Just like the famous Paul Desmond musical refrain, here’s something deceptively simple— and
as likely to stay with you—that just “takes ve.” Experienced public policy advocates know the
following four things:
Phone and letter campaigns remain effective.1. Elected ofcials and their staff note the issues
that generate the most letters and calls; they are a useful gauge of community support for
and against an issue.
Broad appeals for action don’t move readers to act.2. Alerts that sound too general, or too
complicated, get set aside.
The competition for attention is very keen.3. There are so many groups sending out emails and
“snail mails” requesting action that readers ignore much of what comes their way. And groups
with tight budgets cannot afford to waste scarce staff time or resources on maintaining lists,
paying for postage, and sending mail/emails for long alerts that don’t get results.
If you want your appeals to produce results, they have to be quick.4. Make taking action easy,
make it time-limited, and design it to t into busy lives.
Consider using “Take Five” alerts and tables as part of your legislative plan.5. These work
to: generate letters, sign up members for a grassroots network and win involvement in a
community education campaign. People on the receiving end say that knowing they can be
advocates for something they care about, in ve minutes or less, is empowering.
Here’s one example of a “Take Five” legislative strategy that got results. A few years ago,
University of Washington social work students tried to get other students to write letters about
legislative proposals they thought might harm children, but the answers they got seemed like
excuses. In response to their pleas, people said:
“I don’t have time”•
“I don’t know what to say”•
“I don’t know my legislator”•
“I don’t know the address”•
“I don’t have any envelopes, paper or stamps”•
“I can’t do it”•
To their credit, the students took the “excuses” seriously, treating them as real barriers to be
eliminated. In the process, they developed “TAKE FIVE FOR KIDS,” a way to be a public policy
advocate for children in just ve minutes or less.
During lunch hour, at a strategically located table, they provided answers to all the “excuses,”
which included: sample letters, brief fact sheets, people to answer questions, blank paper,
envelopes and stamps, plus the names and addresses of all the state legislators. Visible to all was
a big sign reading: “TAKE FIVE FOR KIDS.”
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Public Policy Advocacy: Five Steps, Five Strategies, Five Things to Remember by Nancy Amidei
July 2008
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Immediately, they generated a couple dozen letters. A week later, they were back at their table
with new information and this time they got twice as many letters. Before long, people were
referring to the “Take Five” tables and creating new variations.
Some public policy advocates adapted the idea by renaming and re-formatting their
legislative alerts, with a section for “actions you can take in ve minutes or less,” or “TAKE FIVE
FOR HOUSING” (whales, etc.). Like the students at their table, these alerts include all the key
ingredients, in a simple, easy-to-complete format that enables concerned citizens to t public
policy advocacy into busy lives.
On a single page, usually within a box, “Take Five” alerts provide brief facts and messages, and
the information needed to contact a legislator by mail, email or phone. This allows the participant
to communicate the message in any form quickly and clearly.
People who receive “Take Five” alerts in written form say they prop them on their telephones or
computer keyboards every week until they have made their calls or written letters. (Guilt, they
admit, is part of what makes it work: “You mean I couldn’t take ve minutes a week to help out?”)
Those who work for public agencies get their “Take Five” alerts at home; they cannot lobby while
on the public payroll. But on their own time, they are citizens like anybody else and lobbying is
allowed.
“Take Five” tables are popping up everywhere: in the lobbies of social agencies and hospitals,
after services on Sunday, at PTA or professional group meetings. Examples include:
One group set up a “Take Five” table at the beginning of the cross-Iowa bike ride, hoping to •
expand their network in support of a new bicycle helmet law. They got 400 members signed
up in just a couple of hours.
Women who were eager to see the Violence Against Women Act renewed in 2000 set up •
“Take Five” tables beside the “Silent Witness” silhouettes of women murdered in domestic
violence and over 400 letters resulted.
Psychology students at the University of Utah set up tables in the cafeteria, seeking letters in •
support of higher education for foster children. They generated over seven hundred letters
during the course of a week.
As one participant reported later, • “with only two days (four hours each) at the tables, we got
271 letters signed in support of the bill! I am so thrilled at this success not only for the bill, but
for the amazing number of students that wanted to get involved and learn a little more about the
legislative process, not to mention learning who their legislator was!”
Remember, because legislators get so much computer-generated mail, many legislative
ofces make a distinction between “astro-turf messages” (i.e., identical cards or letters that
might all be signed by the same person using different pens), and real grassroots messages
signed by individuals with addresses and a brief note. Both are noticed, but actual grassroots
communications get more attention.
To make sure the letters generated by your “Take Five” tables fall in the grassroots category, even
when the content of the letter is identical, have senders do three things:
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Public Policy Advocacy: Five Steps, Five Strategies, Five Things to Remember by Nancy Amidei
July 2008
Sign and print their names,•
Put their home address, and•
Add a personal note—even something as brief as “I really care” or “This means a lot to •
me” sends a message to the staff opening the mail. The possibilities are endless—use your
creativity and energy.
Five Things to Remember for Advocates and State Employees
Here are ve things to think about with respect to your role as public policy advocates.
Advocacy and lobbying are not the same:1.
Advocacy: Speaking up; to plead a cause, make the case for another.
Lobbying: Attempts to inuence decisions of legislators about a pending piece of legislation.
(Note: Discussing an issue is not lobbying.)
Much of what you are likely to do is advocacy, not lobbying, and you can advocate for
people, programs and issues you care about.
The legislative process is set up to answer three questions: 2.
Is the bill a good idea? (answered in policy committees)•
Is the bill a good use for tax dollars? (answered in Appropriations/Ways and Means •
committees)
Is the bill able to win support of 51% of voters? (answered on House and Senate oors)•
You can help provide information to determine the answers to all three questions. It’s part of
the job.
Along the way, there is much you can help with:3.
Background and history (provide context to the issue)•
Statistics (collect and interpret)•
Budget estimates•
Educating the public•
What changes in laws would mean•
Helping others who do all of the above•
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Public Policy Advocacy: Five Steps, Five Strategies, Five Things to Remember by Nancy Amidei
July 2008
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Telling individual stories•
Forming positions and educating legislators•
Some possibilities of ways you can get involved:4.
Join groups or coalitions as “informational members”•
Participate through unions and inuence unions as to their positions•
Volunteer for campaigns on your own time; be part of telephone and/or letter trees•
Exert inuence through membership on religious community committees or as part of •
professional organizations
Encourage family members to play active roles•
Participate in local, state or national advocacy groups•
Serve on non-prot agency boards•
Invite legislators to agencies and prepare site visits, or help participants set up and •
conduct site visits with elected ofcials
Plus, you can help public policy advocates in more ways:5.
Aid in issue campaigns; for example, provide reports, statistics, educational information•
Explain regulations and how they are developed•
Help others understand the process as well as the content of specic bills and policies•
Be accessible to advocates, which helps you reect their views accurately•
Contribute to newsletters of non-prot groups•
Attend lobby days (just be sure to take the day off if you plan to lobby)•
Help with fact sheets: preparing accurate information is in everyone’s interest•
Supervise interns, let advocates “shadow” you•
Speak at classes, congregations, PTAs, other community groups•
Distribute tools like voter registration forms or League of Women Voters pamphlets•
Bottom Line — think of your job as including:
Outreach: You can and should reach out to community groups and help them become •
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July 2008
effective public policy advocates.
Motivation: By making laws and policies understandable, you motivate others to get •
involved and to speak up.
Basic tools: Information about “Take Five” tables, letters, personal visits and telephone •
trees to communicate a message to elected ofcials.
Careful Communication:
When lobbying as a private citizen, you only speak for yourself, not your agency. But you do not
give up your rights as a citizen—to speak up on your own time, using your own resources, and in
your own personal style. And, you do have the right to help others be more effective public policy
advocates for themselves, their families, their communities, and the programs that help them.
