What We Do
Advocacy - Advocacy Tips - Strategies for Everyone When advocating, consider - Your audience — to whom do you want to send your message? (Supporters/potential supporters, general public, news media, policy makers)
- Your key messages — what you want to say. Keep them brief, clear, and focused — on the issue, the solution, the rationale
- Your communication method — who/what can reach your audience best? (Personal visit, phone call, fax, e-mail, third party intermediary, etc.)
1. Collaborate - What other organizations in your community have an interest in/need for adult literacy? How can you work together to achieve both organizations’ goals?
- Get support from opinion leaders and community celebrities and involve them in your advocacy efforts.
2. Articulate the Issue - Show the policymaker why he/she should care about adult literacy. Link literacy to other important issues such as employment, skilled workforce, immigration, health care, etc.
3. Be prepared! - Have student success stories and statistics at hand that show how your program makes a difference. Know how your community's literacy statistics compare to other communities, the state, and the country. Know the arguments against your position and be ready to respond to them.
4. Involve Adult Learners! - They humanize the statistics and are living proof of the effect that literacy programs have on “real people.”
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