Step 5 Engage

Engagement and communication are the heart of advocacy. It requires selecting appropriate communication channels to reach your audience at the right moment.  It requires defining the most cost-effective and high-impact communication strategy that is suited to your organisation, your political context, your stakeholder targets and your budget.

Budgets can quickly snowball. Direct engagement, talking and meeting with key decision-makers, is very cost effective. However, advocacy success often requires additional direct and indirect communication strategies. Advocacy practitioners must consider how build association memberships, coalitions, third parties and consultants can bolster and add value to their engagement.