The Art and Science of Advocacy
By Hillary Moglen, Kaitlin Funaro, and Annie Kim
As a firm in the business of issue advocacy — changing the way people act and think about social and political issues — we are always eager to improve our craft and learn from the field.
We appreciate that issue advocacy is part art and part science and there is so much to learn from the campaigns we’ve won, lost and admired from afar. With support from the Omidyar Network, we set off to study some of the decade’s most impactful campaigns to see what we can learn about their strategies, identify patterns, and come up with the beginnings of a blueprint for what makes a successful campaign.
The finished product, Fighting for Change, is a deep dive into eight campaigns — some winners, some losers, and some are still unresolved (hello Brexit!). We created a website and multiple videos that captured conversations with advocates across issue areas and one-on-one interviews with campaign strategists.
Our research identified specific components that successful campaigns tend to have in common and connected the dots between academic research on advocacy and the practitioners and strategists who make it happen.
The eight campaigns we chose (Tea Party, Affordable Care Act, Soda Tax, Massachusetts Charter Cap, Fight for $15, Keystone XL, Net Neutrality, Brexit) showed that there are clear patterns that can make a campaign more or less likely to succeed.
We read 405 books, articles, and reports; interviewed 31 activists, campaign evaluators, and political scientists; and wrote 51,549 words. We did it so you don’t have to. Here’s the abridged version about what we learned:
Money isn’t everything
Most of the campaigns we studied were grassroots campaigns going up against powerful and well-funded corporations. They were usually outspent by the opposition — sometimes by 10:1.
Money matters but it has never been the only lever of power. One antidote to deep pockets is a large coalition with people power and effective leadership. In the campaign to block the Keystone XL pipeline, the large and organized coalition of climate activists helped to defeat the money of the well-resourced oil and gas industry. Soda tax campaigns in cities around the United States were regularly outspent by the beverage industry by a ratio of 2:1, but learning from failure and experience, strong grassroots support and genuine local leadership gave activists an overwhelming home-field advantage. It’s impossible for campaigns to succeed without money, but overestimating the importance of financial resources can create unconvincing and overconfident campaigns. Put simply, you can’t buy passion, community, and people’s commitment to their values.
Framing is key
One of the biggest challenges for a campaign is choosing the right message frame. How are you selling your audience on your message? Successful frames must a) make people believe that change is possible, and b) shift the blame from the victims to faulty policy.
In 2016, Brexit’s “Vote Leave” campaign was a true underdog — it was never expected to win. One of the reasons it did win was because their message frame resonated with voters who were feeling the pinch of economic and identity anxiety. Vote Leave convinced voters that leaving the EU would allow them to take back control of Britain and connected people back to the idea of a cohesive British identity in a time of acute chaos. Their opposition — the campaign to remain in the EU — relied heavily on facts and logic and didn’t emotionally connect with voters.
Proponents of healthcare reform argued that human life is inherently valuable and therefore should not be susceptible to corporate greed. The Tea Party reminded its adherents of American roots in individualism and freedom from tyranny.
These messages worked because they were simple, emotional (not fact-based) and connected to people’s core values.
Build communities to build movements
The internet has helped us create smarter and more effective campaigns. However, even though it’s tempting to digitize your whole campaign and rely solely on online activations like petitions, emails, and Tweetstorms, savvy campaigns know that offline activations are still key to success.
Even a digitally-heavy campaign like Net Neutrality hosted small in person protests at targeted Congressional offices. These meetings built personal connections among activists and fostered a sense of community. It was also the first time elected officials saw people show up in person about what was once an obscure issue. That in-person presence made them sit up and take notice that Net Neutrality was now a mainstream issue.
Visionary leaders
Successful campaign leaders today look very different from the model of the past, where the campaign lead played more of a top-down CEO role. We found that the traits valued in successful leaders today are about more than strategic and tactical acuity. Leaders of modern, successful campaigns are expected to build teams that bring out the best in people, have a clear vision, be adaptable and willing to listen to criticism, and be able to lead diverse coalitions while keeping everyone on the same page. No small task!
We found a few examples of top-down leadership campaigns that were still successful — sometimes because of a strong CEO-type leader. Brexit’s Vote Leave boss, Dominic Cummings, was often referred to as a ‘benevolent dictator’ by his team but his tight grip on strategy ultimately led to their success.
But for the most part, from Health Care for America Now to Keystone and Net Neutrality, the best leaders were the ones who brought out the best in others, knew how to collaborate and trust their teams, and surrounded themselves with smart capable people.
Iterate, iterate, iterate
There’s a popular saying in the business world: “innovate or die.” In a way, the same holds true for the world of campaigns. Iteration is not only the ability to change and adapt, but the ability to recognize the need to change.
The best campaigns didn’t rely on the same strategies and tactics, but in order to be nimble and adaptable, campaigns needed a structure in place that encouraged and allowed that flexibility. Campaigns like Net Neutrality that excelled at adaptability had people who were willing to ask smart questions, point out flaws, and were unafraid to try new things, even if they didn’t always work out. Several of the practitioners we spoke with also spoke highly of bringing polling in-house. Though costly, the ability to quickly test messaging, adapt tactics in real-time, and react to shifts in public opinion was invaluable.
Diversity matters
A necessary prerequisite of successful iteration is diversity. A team where everyone has the same life experiences and points of view can lead to gaping blind spots that can sink a campaign. However, in the advocacy space, there’s still a long way to go before we can achieve full representation. Despite our best efforts, the majority of campaign strategists and leaders we were able to interview were white men. We sought out women and people of color who led the strategy and execution on campaigns, but they are still the exception, not the rule. However, this is beginning to change as more advocates recognize that representation is not only the right thing to do — it leads to more successful campaigns.
If you found this interesting, there are 50,000 more words, videos and infographics waiting for you at Fightingforchange.net.
RALLY is an issue-driven communications firm | Certified force for good by B Corporation
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