Advocacy Guide: Tools and Tips

ADVOCACY GUIDE Tools and Tips

M U S E U M S A S S O C I AT I O N O F S A S K AT C H E WA N MAS Advocacy Guide

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Written by Gloria DeSantis, PhD, Consultant in collaboration with Wendy Fitch and Jessica Leavens, Museums Association of Saskatchewan Copyright Š 2010 Museums Association of Saskatchewan All rights reserved Published by: Museums Association of Saskatchewan 424 McDonald Street Regina, Saskatchewan S4N 6E1 ISBN: 978-0-919683-52-5 MAS gratefully acknowledges the support of:

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Dear Member: The Guide reflects the Museum Association of Saskatchewan’s commitment to its members to provide self-directed learning opportunities, promote a museum community that is adaptable and responsive to a changing social climate, and encourage a strong, collective voice involved in advocacy, consultation, and decision-making within our larger community.

We hope you find the Guide thought provoking and encourage you to integrate advocacy activities into your regular museum work. We hope it helps you to think critically and collaboratively, encourages you to develop and maintain strong partnerships, and increases your abilities to design and run effective advocacy processes in order to achieve your identified goals.

We encourage you to act on what you learn, share your learning, and continue to build a strong, healthy, and vibrant Saskatchewan community!

Our thanks to those who have worked on this Guide throughout the process including Gloria DeSantis, MAS Staff past and present, and our members for requesting this resource. We also extend our deepest appreciation to the four museums that participated in the pilot – thank you for your time, helpful feedback and honesty.

We look forward to your comments and suggestions and will incorporate your feedback in future versions of the Guide.

Thank you!

MAS Board and Staff Museums Association of Saskatchewan

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TABLE OF CONTENTS MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………. 7

1.1 WELCOME TO THE ADVOCACY GUIDE……………………………………….. 7

1.2 HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE ………………………………….…………………… 7

MODULE 2: BASIC GUIDE TO ADVOCACY………………………………….…………......11

2.1 WHAT IS ADVOCACY?………………………………….………………………. 11

2.2 WHY ADVOCACY?………………………………….…………………………… 12

2.3 WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE?………………………………….…………………. 13

2.4 ADVOCACY TIMELINES AND TIMING………………………………….……. 13

2.5 ADVOCACY SKILLS NEEDED………………………………….……………… 15

2.6 BENEFITS AND RISKS………………………………….……………………….. 16

MODULE 3: UNDERSTANDING YOUR ADVOCACY ENVIRONMENT…….……………. 17

3.1 GOVERNMENTS: FUNDING A POLICY MAKING………………………………17

GOVERNMENT OF CANADA………………………………………………... 20 PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT……………………………………………….. 20 MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS……………………………………………….. 21 ABORIGINAL GOVERNMENTS……………………………………………… 21

3.2 BUSINESS/PRIVATE CORPORATIONS………………………………………….. 23

3.3 MEDIA……………………………………………………………………………… 23

3.4 ADVOCACY RULES IN CANADA…………………………………………………24

FEDERAL GOVERNMNET LAWS……………………………………………. 24 LOBBYISTS REGISTRIES…………………………………………………….. 27

LETTERS OF AGREEMENT WITH GOVERNMENT FUNDERS…………... 28

3.5 HOW OTHERS VIEW YOUR MUSEUM…………………………………………. 28

3.6 INTERNAL MUSEUM ENVIRONMENT…………………………………………. 29

3.7 SUMMARY…………………………………………………………………………. 30 MODULE 4: THE ADVOCACY PROCESS - FOUR MAJOR STEPS………………………... 31

4.1 THE ADVOCACY PROCESS: OVERVIEW………………………………………. 31

4.2 A BRIEF NOTE ABOUT RESEARCH……………………………………………... 36

4.3 A BRIEF NOTE ABOUT POLITICS AND POWER……………………………….. 38

4.4 STEP 1: THINK, DISCUSS, DECIDE……………………………………………… 39

4.5 STEP 2: PLAN………………………………………………………………………. 43

4.6 STEP 3: DO IT………………………………………………………………………. 53

4.7 STEP 4: ASSESS……………………………………………………………………. 55

4.8 SUMMARY…………………………………………………………………………. 57

MODULE 5: APPLY YOUR LEARNING (URBAN ADVOCATES)………………………….. 61

5.1 CASE STUDY ONE: FUNDING…………………………………………………… 62

5.2 CASE STUDY TWO: COMMUNITY AWARENESS……………………………… 68

5.3 CASE STUDY THREE: GOVERNMENT POLICY……………………………….. 73

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MODULE 6: APPLY YOUR LEARNING (RURAL ADVOCATES)…………………………...79

6.1 CASE STUDY ONE: FUNDING…………………………………………………… 80

6.2 CASE STUDY TWO: COMMUNITY AWARENESS…………………………….... 86

6.3 CASE STUDY THREE: GOVERNMENT POLICY………………………………...91

MODULE 7: RESOURCES FOR FURTHER LEARNING……………………………………..97

7.1 RESOURCES SPECIFIC TO SASKATCHEWAN MUSEUMS’ ADVOCACY WORK………………………………………………………………………………..97

7.2 RESOURCES SPECIFIC TO MUSEUM ADVOCACY………………………….....97

7.3 RESOURCES FOR FURTHER LEARNING ABOUT ADVOCACY IN THE

NON-PROFIT SECTOR……………………………………………………………….... 98

MODULE 8: GLOSSARY……………………………………………………………………... 101

MODULE 9: WORKSHEETS AND REFERENCE SHEETS………………………………… 109

REFERENCE SHEET: ADVOCACY SKILLS NEEDED…………………………….. 110

REFERENCE SHEET: FORMS OF POWER…………………………………………. 111

REFERENCE SHEET: EIGHT KEY COMPONENTS OF PLANNING……………... 112

WORKSHEET A: THINK, DISCUSS, DECIDE……………………………………… 114

WORKSHEET B: WHAT WE HAVE AND WHAT WE NEED……………………….117

WORSKEET C: SUMMARY ADVOCACY PLAN……………………………………119

MODULE 10: EVALUATION FEEDBACK FORM…………………………………………...121

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Module 1: Introduction 1.1 Welcome to The Advocacy Guide The Advocacy Guide is a self-directed learning resource designed for first-time advocates.

This basic guide to advocacy includes key information and concepts to build your skills and knowledge and tips and exercises to apply your learning in practical ways. The guide will help you become an effective advocate for your museum and community. If you are already doing advocacy (and many of you are!), this guide will provide you with new ideas, inspiration, and tools to enhance your advocacy.

We recommend that you begin in Module One and work your way through the modules consecutively. Each module has key points and information that is integral to do advocacy. However, this is your guide! You can also use different parts of the guide to address your immediate situation or questions - we encourage you to use it in a way that will best aid your own situation, learning, and needs.

Advocacy is a dynamic process that has many benefits and can be used for many purposes.

The advocacy approach promoted in this guide is collective and participatory. This means that advocacy is carried out by a group of people who are actively involved in meetings over time and make decisions together about their advocacy plan.

By developing an advocacy plan and advocacy strategies (refer to Module 4: The Advocacy Process), you will be able to: • work for change at a community and government level, • strengthen your community connections and relevancy • increase your human and financial resources • advocate to achieve your museum’s goals

1.2 How to use this guide There are ten modules in the Guide that are in a logical order for first-time advocates. Each module is self-contained for easier downloading and self-directed learning. You can work through these at your own pace and by yourself or with a group - or both depending on the topic and/or exercise.

The three main advocacy issue areas, which provide a focus for the guide, are: • increase funding • enhance community awareness • alter government policies

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Let us briefly look at what each module contains.

• Module 1 welcomes you to the Guide and gives you the basic guide to using the Guide.

• Module 2 provides learners the opportunity to learn the basic concepts and skills needed to understand and undertake advocacy.

• Module 3 is an essential guide to the legislative world of advocacy and asks you to think about your museum’s environment (external and internal). This is important information and you should refer back to this module as you develop your advocacy process.

Once you understand the basic concepts and skills needed to advocate effectively and develop a broad understanding of the political and social environment that advocacy takes place in, you are ready to move on to Module 4: The Advocacy Process.

• Module 4 describes the advocacy process in four major steps ~ Think, Plan, Do It, and Assess.

As you read through this module, there will be opportunities for you to stop and reflect how what you are reading fits your situation. Tips are also provided.

• Modules 5 and 6 provide an opportunity for your group to apply your learning. Module 5 is designed for urban advocates and Module 6 is designed for rural advocates. Each module contains three case studies – funding, community awareness, and government policy to help your group work through the advocacy process.

• Module 7 provides resources for further learning. Explore this module whenever you need more information. You will find information about government, advocacy, and relevant information.

• Module 8 is the Glossary. This is a list of all advocacy related words and their definitions.

When these words are used for the first time in the guide, they are bolded and italicized.

• Module 9 is where you will find all the worksheets to guide you through the advocacy process.

Also included are reference sheets (information taken out of modules) to print off and keep in your files for easy reference.

• Module 10 is where you will find an evaluation feedback form. The Advocacy Guide is for you – please help us fit your needs. We suggest that you fill out the evaluation and return it after you’ve completed all of the modules.

Four graphics: STOP AND REFLECT – think carefully and assess where you are

TIPS – things to remember

ACTION – hands-on opportunity to create something LIGHTENING BOLTS – negative or positive surprises along the way 8

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What you will learn: • Build basic knowledge and skills required to be an effective advocate; • Understand how to set goals and measurable objectives with realistic timelines; • Understand how to choose specific advocacy strategies to achieve desired goal(s) within specific environments/contexts; • Understand the risks and benefits to doing advocacy work; • Understand the four major steps of the advocacy process; • Learn how to evaluate the results of the advocacy process; • Apply the advocacy process to your own museum’s needs and priorities; and • Feel comfortable to share your knowledge and skills with your museum and community.

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Module 2: Basic Guide to Advocacy This module will provide a description of advocacy and examine the reasons why museums do advocacy, who advocacy is directed at, and the importance of timelines and timing in the advocacy process. We examine the skills needed within your advocacy group in order to be effective and successful. The module concludes with a description of the benefits and risks associated with advocacy.

2.1 What is advocacy?

In its most basic form advocacy is about speaking out and pushing for some kind of change. For the purpose of this guide: Advocacy is defined as a collaborative process wherein a group of people and/or a group of museums come together to identify, define, plan, and implement a plan in order to bring about a specific change in funding, community awareness or government policy. Advocacy is “the act of speaking or disseminating information intended to influence individual behaviour or opinion, … or public policy and law.”

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When we hear the word advocacy, other similar words also come to mind including lobby, educate, promote, mobilize, facilitate, campaign, agitate, negotiate, convince, collaborate and confront. These words are all part of the advocacy process and will be used throughout this guide.

Advocacy is a process that is intended to educate and inform governments, funders and businesses in order to persuade them to change something. However, advocacy could be perceived to be a political activity, for which there are risks for museums – especially if they are registered charities with the federal government. These risks are explained in Module 3: Understanding Your Advocacy Environment (Section 3.4).

There are many advocacy strategies and activities which may be used in advocacy work, but decisions about which ones to use require careful thought about the people involved, the governmnets or funders targeted, the change goals, and the environment in which all of this unfolds.

Some advocacy strategies include: • direct contact with governments through meetings; • working with the media; • confrontation with government through street demonstrationsl • doing research; • using legal approaches through the courts; 1 Government of Canada, Voluntary Sector Initiative, and Privy Council Office. 1999. Working together: A Government of Canada/voluntary sector joint initiative - report of the joint tables. Ottawa, ON: Privy Council Office, Government of Canada, p. 50.

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• mobilizing community residents through public meetings; • using cyberspace; and • networking with other groups to gather momentum.

Advocacy work may include one or more of these strategies.

Please note: In this guide, advocacy does not refer to: • advocating against local businesses regarding their unethical marketing campaigns; • participation in and support for a person running for political office in an election; • one person tackling a government policy.

The Advocacy Process: 4 Main Steps This guide explains four main steps to doing advocacy: STEP 1 ~ THINK, DISCUSS, AND DECIDE on your issue, purpose, goals and your advocacy group or committee membership STEP 2 ~ PLAN your advocacy process STEP 3 ~ DO IT and monitor your progress as you roll out your advocacy plan STEP 4 ~ ASSESS if you achieved your goal(s) Module 4: The Advocacy Process explains the four major steps in more detail.

2.2 Why advocacy?

We have chosen to focus this guide on the following three main goal areas, or reasons, for doing advocacy: a) to increase funding, for example, to: • better manage current/new programs/exhibits; • stop the government or a business corporation from cutting funding to an existing program. b) to increase community awareness and understanding of museum programs (both existing and/or new), for example, to: • increase the number of volunteers; • increase community involvement in museum programs; • expand partnerships with businesses, schools, governments, or seniors institutions; • validate the important role of museums in the life of communities.

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c) to focus on government policies, for example, to: • support a new government policy; • argue against a new government policy; • convince the government to keep an existing policy in place; • modify an existing government policy.

In some cases, a museum may want to achieve all three advocacy purposes. In order to maximize the chances of succeeding in advocacy work though, a museum should concentrate on achieving one purpose at a time. Related purposes should be built into a longer-range advocacy strategy (refer to Module 4: The Advocacy Process) because if groups try to do too much and do not have enough resources, they will likely not achieve any goal.

This guide is designed to guide you through the steps you need to achieve your goals.

2.3 Who is your audience?

Advocacy processes are usually directed at a certain group or audience. The audience you will direct your advocacy at will depend on your issue and museum’s environment (external and internal).

For example, if your museum: • needs to increase funding, it will direct its advocacy efforts at a particular government, a funder (e.g., a nonprofit organization like Sask Culture, a foundation) or a business; • wants to introduce a new heritage policy, it will direct its efforts at which ever government is responsible for that area of policy (e.g., municipal, provincial or federal government); • wants to increase awareness about a particular issue and gather community support, it will work with newspapers, television and/or websites to circulate stories and statistics to reach the broader community.

2.4 Advocacy timelines and timing Time is a difficult concept in advocacy work. First let us look at “timelines” for advocacy.

Unpredictable Timelines The only sure thing about advocacy timelines is they are unpredictable. The timeline for any advocacy process depends on the issue and goal. Some advocacy work focusing on increased government funding could take 18 months while advocacy work to change a government policy could take five years. The amount of time and work required by an advocacy group depends on many factors.

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These factors are described in Module 3: Understanding Your Advocacy Environment and Module 4: The Advocacy Process.

Advocacy takes time. It is probably wisest for all new members to an advocacy group, to be able to make a long-term commitment to the process (e.g. it could be three or four years of working together). If the process is done earlier and goals have been achieved earlier, great!

Group Dynamics Pay attention to your group dynamics. As time goes on, group members may burn-out, not have enough time, feel territorial, and sometimes some members get left behind. 2 Be sure to look after yourself and one another – it is not solely about achieving your advocacy goals. You are developing relationships that may be able help you in all areas of your museum work.

Keeping Continuous Records Since the time frame for doing advocacy can be long and you may have staff and/or volunteer turnover – depending on the issue – advocacy groups need to prepare properly. It is essential that your group write everything down.

For example, • Record minutes of meetings; • Take notes about what happens at special meetings with governments and funders.

A continuous record of your group’s advocacy process as it unfolds will help create an enduring memory, remind everyone of where you have been and reduce the time spent on duplicating efforts.

Timing is Critical Finally, timing in advocacy work is critical.

Module 4: The Advocacy Process (Section 4.4) describes how important it is that your advocacy group knows what is going on around it so that it can choose the right moment to act. For example, if your group is seeking additional funding from a lottery corporation yet the provincial government has just announced cross-the-board cuts to all departments including the corporations, you will have to re-plan and re-strategize. The time to seek an increase in funding would not be at that moment!

2 For information on how to deal with these potential committee problems, read Dobson, Charles. 2003.

The troublemaker’s teaparty: A manual for effective citizen action. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.

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2.5 Advocacy skills needed The following are skill types that are helpful for doing advocacy work and making change. 3 No one person or museum possesses all of these skills, however, one person may possess a number of these skills. What is helpful is that a museum forms a group of people that together, possess many of these skills in order to be successful in their advocacy work. It may also mean a museum secures the commitment from a person who volunteers her/his time and expertise to assist the advocacy committee periodically as the need arises.

Advocacy skills needed • Visionary – sees things and imagines goals that do not seem realistic; they aim high, take risks and re-order priorities.

• Strategist – can see what part of the vision is attainable, creates a road map to get there, and gets around obstacles – including difficult coalition members.

• Statesperson – a champion of an issue who carries authority, is trusted and is credible in the community.

• Expert – knowledge, skill and credibility to create well-reasoned and factual documents.

• Sparkplug – has the ability to make people in power (e.g., politicians) uncomfortable in order to move them to make certain decisions.

• Inside advocate – knowledgeable about political processes and is a skilled negotiator; this person may occupy a position of power or simply know which doors to open.

• Strategic communicator – translates complex ideas into easily understandable messages for the public.

• Movement builder – ability to reach out and bring new people into the advocacy work as necessary; they make new people feel welcome and longer term members feel valued. They encourage a diversity of voices to be heard at meetings.

• Generalist – a person who has many skills and able to do many different tasks based on many years of experience.

• Historian – skilled at tracking a group’s past experiences including the evolution of issues, things tried, lessons learned, relationships formed and destroyed, yet continues to call for action in the present.

• Cultural activist – a trusted person who works inside government and who is a public opinion leader; her/his main goal is cultural preservation and building bridges between groups.

Note: This list can be found in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets.

3 Advocacy Institute. 2002. Leadership roles within an advocacy movement. Washington, DC: Institute for Sustainable Communities. Available at http://www.iscvt.org/what_we_do/advocacy_and_leadership_ center/.

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2.6 Benefits and risks Engaging in advocacy processes present both benefits and risks. 4 The following list is not comprehensive – you and your group may identify and experience other risks and benefits along the way.

The benefits are: • museum staff and volunteers can offer their own knowledge to help solve local issues; • the greater the diversity of people involved in informing government policies, the greater the likelihood of more effective policies; • advocacy is a form of public participation that helps to bring people together and create more active communities; and • advocacy can enhance democracy.

The risks are: • members in your advocacy group may get tired of working on the issue over time and leave the group; • members will not be able to free-up time to work on the advocacy process because they already have too much to do; • your museum may end up being treated negatively by governments, funders, the community, or the media because your group appears to be to pushy; and • if any of your group members are registered charities, they must follow the Canada Revenue Agency guidelines for doing advocacy or they risk losing their charitable number.

4 Ibid., Dobson 2003.

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Module 3: Understanding Your Advocacy Environment This module is essential reading! It is important to know and understand the advocacy environment within which you will be doing advocacy – this will help you as you embark on your advocacy process.

In this module we discuss your multidimensional environment that comprises different levels of government, businesses/private corporations, the media, Canadian laws, public perceptions of your museum, and your internal museum environment. Look for the graphic that indicates reflection time or a tip.

As we discussed in Module 2: Basic Guide to Advocacy Section 2.6, advocacy has many benefits but there are risks too. It is important to be aware of the risks, even if they may or may not apply to your particular advocacy situation.

Please remember this guide focuses on advocacy for the following purposes: • increase funding, • enhance community awareness and, • change government policies.

3.1 Governments: funding and policy-making Four levels of government In Saskatchewan there are four levels of government of which advocates need to be aware. These are the places where policy and funding decisions are made.

In general, these governments are: • Municipalities including cities, towns and villages and RMs; • Provincial government – known as the “Government of Saskatchewan”; • Federal government – known as the “Government of Canada”; • Aboriginal governments – includes locals, regions, band councils, tribal councils, provincial organizations, and national organizations.

Advocacy groups should direct their efforts at one or more of these government levels depending on the nature of the policy they want to change or the funding they are seeking.

Government Policy Let us focus for a moment on policy. In general, a policy lies within a government administration and is defined as a plan adopted from a list of alternatives that is designed to guide and influence current and future decisions and actions made by that government. For the purpose of this guide, policy refers to government Acts, regulations and by-laws even though in reality these are all very different.

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Generally, the policy-making process is made up of the following steps facilitated by government staff: • initiation of policy agenda and identification of problem, values and issues; • policy research, options assessment, priority setting and policy drafting; • policy adoption; • policy implementation; • policy impact evaluation.

Advocacy can take place at any step along the way.5 Advocates need to be aware of this policy process and know that at any given time, what step the government is working on. Advocates should attempt to get involved in the first step and participate in the subsequent steps; doing advocacy at the policy implementation step is too late.

“In a nutshell, Canada’s political system is comprised of different branches: the Legislative, the Executive and the Judicial. In other words ‘politics governed by the rule of law’ is an organized system in which different bodies adopt, implement and interpret laws.

These bodies can be identified as follows: • Legislative Branch includes Parliament, provincial legislatures and municipal councils; • Executive (or Administrative) Branch includes the public service; • Judicial Branch includes the Courts such as the Supreme Court of Canada and other federal and provincial courts.

Laws and policies are the result of political and administrative processes that determine the way we are governed.”6 In essence, both elected representatives (i.e., politicians) and administrative staff (i.e., civil servants, bureaucrats) play roles in formulating and modifying policies. In any advocacy effort, one must explicitly choose to direct advocacy efforts at politicians or government staff or both.

TIPS If you find any of this material on government policies and policy-making foreign and complicated and you are not sure you understand it, consider seeking out an “inside advocate” – someone who knows this inside-government-system really well – to join your advocacy committee (refer back to Module 2: Basic Guide to Advocacy – Section 2.5).

5 Government of Canada, Voluntary Sector Initiative. 2002b. A code of good practice on policy dialogue: Building on an accord between the Government of Canada and the voluntary sector. Ottawa, ON: Privy Council of Canada.

6 Hegel, Annette. 2003. Advocacy on the agenda: Preparing voluntary boards for public policy participation. Ottawa, ON: Volunteer Canada, p. 11.

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As well, you can seek out and read resources from government websites and libraries about government structures in Canada (some of these can be found in Module 7: Resources for Further Learning).

Advocacy, Funding, and Government In general, funding for which your museum or group of museums are advocating may exist at one or all four levels of government. You need to be clear about which governments and which government departments you are directing your advocacy efforts.

For example, if a museum is seeking funding to develop a local historical site adjacent to its museum that has ties to World War II, that museum would want to include • a municipal government heritage department; • a municipal government parks and recreation department; • a provincial government department of tourism and culture; and • a federal government heritage department and veterans affairs department.

Be aware that all governments have funding cycles with deadlines. You must ensure that your advocacy work rolls out far enough in advance of a government deadline to have an impact on the decision-makers. Knowing where in these funding cycles are possible points of influence is important too.

For example, find out when draft government staff reports are being tabled. Is there a chance you can make a presentation to a government staff committee? Once a staff report has been created and it has been sent to a committee of politicians, can your advocacy group appear as a delegation to speak in favour of what staff are recommending or to argue against a staff recommendation?

TIPS If you already receive funding from any of these levels of government, you need to understand there may be concerns about “don’t bite the hand that feeds you”. Some governments perceive advocacy as a negative phenomenon and may, in reaction, threaten to withdraw funding from your museum if you continue to advocate for a change.

Whether you want to change a government policy or access increased funding, be aware that governments at these four levels have both elected representatives (i.e., politicians) and staff (i.e., civil servants, bureaucrats). As part of your advocacy strategy, you will need to discern whether to target your advocacy activities at government staff or politicians – or both. Module 4: The Advocacy Process will assist you to make those decisions.

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A Basic Guide to Government Structures in Canada What follows next is information that relates more to public policy advocacy than funding advocacy. However, having a basic understanding of government structures in Canada is necessary for funding advocacy too; you need to know which level of government to target and whether to seek out politicians and/or government staff.

Government of Canada The two main places where advocacy committees can influence policy development occurs in the Legislative Branch and the Executive Branch. It is essential for an advocacy committee to know which place to take their issue.

Legislative policy development involves Parliament which has a set of rules and laws which govern this development process. Parliament is made up of two Houses: the House of Commons and the Senate. There are times during the process when advocacy groups from communities can send written material and/or appear in person as a delegation to explain and make requests of federal politicians.

The Executive Branch comprises government staff that also play a role in researching and drafting policy alternatives. The Executive Branch is structured in a hierarchy with different levels of staff expertise and different government departments. This Branch tends to be less politicized than the Legislative Branch. Because of this, advocacy committees and other organizations from communities tend to concentrate their efforts on this Branch. Although the Legislative and the Executive Branches are distinctly separate, they are interrelated during policy-making processes.

Provincial government Policy making also happens at the provincial and territorial levels in Canada. The Province of Saskatchewan is headed by a Premier. Similar structures and processes exist; there are provincial politicians that work through a legislature and there are provincial staff that provide an administrative function similar to that described above in the federal Executive Branch. However, there is no Senate at the provincial/territorial level of government. At the provincial level, advocacy committees have the choice once again to direct their change efforts at provincial politicians or provincial staff – or both.

TIPS Check to see who your provincial politician (MLA) is for your riding. If that person is also responsible for the topic within which your advocacy goals lie, your advocacy committee suddenly has access to a politician who can make policy decisions – you simply have to convince her/him to do so!

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Municipal governments Municipal governments are headed by mayors in cities and towns or reeves in rural municipalities. At the municipal level policy-making is not broken down into legislative and executive functions to the same degree as provinces/territories and the federal government. Instead, a municipal council comprising elected representatives – politicians known as ward councillors or aldermen – make the final decisions about policies and funding. These decisions are made after advisory committees and boards have deliberated over the content, produced reports containing recommendations and sent these to council.

Once again advocates can connect with municipal staff or municipal politicians at public meetings or meet them in their offices in an attempt to influence their thinking and decisions. Generally advocacy directed at this level of government is most successful when advocates target both politicians and staff.

Aboriginal governments Saskatchewan is where the Numbered Treaties were signed therefore all residents are Treaty People; First Nations Treaties are recognized at all levels of Canadian government.

First Nations First Nations governance begins at the local level with the First Nation Band Council; Band Councils or Chief and Headmen, depending on the electoral procedures, of the First Nation are elected into their positions and answer to the people. The Chief and Council make decisions regarding programs, policy and funding initiatives as it relates to their people. Through the Band governance a First Nation has a right to draft and implement legislation that supersedes both provincial and federal legislation through a Band Council Resolution (BCR).

Some First Nations are independent while others belong to District Tribal Councils and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN). Tribal Councils enable the First Nations to advocate on behalf of issues that pertain to their populations. Each of the tribal councils is affiliated with the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations is the provincial political entity; the role of FSIN is very similar to that of the tribal councils but on a provincial level.

Métis Nation The Métis Nation exists throughout the province of Saskatchewan and its governance exists on the local, provincial, and national levels. Métis membership is self-determined by birthright and genealogical history. Métis Nation of Saskatchewan (MNS) is the provincial political entity with a mandate to protect and secure the rights of Métis people in regards to their Aboriginal rights. This entity has divided the province into twelve regions and within the regions there are approximately one hundred and thirty Métis locals. Each Métis local has an elected president and elect membership to sit

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on the twelve regional boards. Within each region, members vote for their regional representative to the Provincial Métis Council (a council within the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan).

National Organizations There are three national levels that represent the concerns of Aboriginal peoples residing in Canada: the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP), and the Métis National Council. The Assembly of First Nations is the collective voice of First Nations living in their communities. The Congress of Aboriginal People represents the rights of Aboriginal people; it is the voice for off reserve aboriginals living in urban, rural and remote communities. The Métis National Council represents the interests and rights of the Métis Nations (from Ontario westward) on a national and international level and provides information, advocacy, and education.

Summary Aboriginal Governance begins at the local level then goes to provincial and federal levels.

First Peoples and Métis may choose to work in collaboration with you on your projects if they pertain to their objectives and criteria for funding initiatives. The first thing to find out is which Aboriginal governments are affected by your project and whether you fall into their criteria for funding.

TIPS Module 7: Resources for Further Learning and Module 8: Glossary are important resources for this section. Please take some time to look through these two Modules to help you understand the complex systems of governance and how they relate to your museum’s advocacy process.

STOP AND REFLECT Where really does your funding or policy issue fit? Is it within federal, provincial, municipal or Aboriginal government? Or might your advocacy goal target all four governments?

One way to check is to scan these government websites looking for your funding or policy area (some of these may be found in Module 7: Resources For Further Learning).

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3.2 Businesses/private corporations Businesses are private corporations in your communities. Depending on the advocacy issue, some of these businesses may be resources for your advocacy processes. The following are some examples: chambers of commerce, banks, insurance companies, grocery stores, sports stores, and craft shops. Businesses may be major supporters of museums if they are aware and understand museums and their contributions to the life of communities. Businesses have been known to make major financial contributions to museums, especially if the museum publicly acknowledges that business on flyers and at public meetings.

Your advocacy group will need to consider if you want a link with businesses, which businesses to approach, and how best to approach them. If your group decides it needs a link with businesses in your community, what kind of link should that be (e.g., a formal partnership)? To seek permission for a link with a business, sometimes, it works well to go straight to the business owner with your request. In other instances, it works better if someone in your group knows an employee that works at the business and you work through them to get to the decision makers.

3.3 Media Media includes newspapers, radio, television, billboards and the internet through websites and blogs. The media can be a simple tool to promote an advocacy message or it can be a major advocacy strategy that you use to achieve your goals. The media is also considered a key feature of the environment of most communities.

In the book, The Troublemakers’ Teaparty, Dobson (2003, p. 129 –154) explains that media does a lot, thus it is a useful tool for advocacy work: • it puts the spotlight on your issue; • it drives government – although some would disagree with this statement; • it speaks to large numbers of people; • it rallies people together; • it can make enemies because it can point fingers and name names; and • getting media coverage means risking negative coverage.

The media can facilitate or inhibit your advocacy work. In Module 4: The Advocacy Process you will learn more about the media including how to draft messages about your issue, how to assess timing, and getting properly prepared so that your group is seen as positive and credible.

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TIPS If you are not familiar with dealing with the media, you should proceed with caution because some media look for stories rooted in conflict.

If your advocacy group has decided to try and work co-operatively with a government or funder, then be careful using the media because your process could end up being confrontational instead of co-operational.

You might consider connecting with non-mainstream media like alternative newspapers and magazines too.

You might want to consider creating your own medium (social media) to promote your advocacy message (e.g., a website, a blog, a flyer, social networking sites). Refer to Module 7: Resources for Further Learning.

3.4 Advocacy rules in Canada This section will offer a brief explanation of advocacy laws, lobbyists’ registries, as well as letters of agreement between your museum and different government funders.

Federal government laws Nonprofit museums that are registered charities with the federal government must understand and follow the law regarding advocacy work – specifically policy advocacy and community awareness. In Canada the main law governing registered charitable organizations is the Income Tax Act which is administered through the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). If a registered charity does not follow the law, its charitable status can be revoked which means it will no longer be able to issue tax receipts for donations.

The law and regulations specify what kinds of advocacy activities are permitted, however there is still much confusion about what activities are permitted or not as a result of outof-date government definitions and lack of clarity. Depending on what you advocate for, how you do advocacy, and whether this becomes labelled a “political activity” by the federal government is critical.

CRA definition The following CRA definition is important: “Under the Income Tax Act, a registered charity can be involved in non-partisan political activities as long as it devotes substantially all of its resources to charitable activities. Any political activities have to help accomplish the charity’s purposes and remain incidental in scope. A registered charity cannot be involved in partisan political

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activities. A political activity is considered partisan if it involves direct or indirect support of, or opposition to, a political party or candidate for public office.” 7 Basically, this means that the following charitable activities are permitted, but there are conditions attached to each: • distributing your research to the media as long as there is no call for political action; • presenting your research report to a Parliamentary Committee as long as it is based on a well-reasoned and balanced position; • doing an interview with a newspaper reporter – that the reporter initiated - about a research report that your museum did which concluded there needed to be a change in a government policy.

The following activities are not permitted: • supporting an election candidate in your newsletter; • distributing leaflets highlighting the lack of government support for your organization’s goals; • inviting competing election candidates to speak at separate events.

There are some permitted political activities. “A charity that devotes substantially all of its resources to charitable activities may carry on political activities within the allowable limits.” 8 The following are some examples: • buying a newspaper advertisement to pressure the government is permitted because it uses a very small portion of your museums resources; • organizing a conference to gather support for your museum’s perspective on a policy; • organizing a rally on Parliament Hill.

CRA allowable limits The CRA also spells out “allowable limits” regarding how much of the charity’s resources can be put into political activities because “substantially all of its resources” should be devoted to charitable, not political purposes.

CRA offers the following guide: • “registered charities with less than $50,000 annual income in the previous year can devote up to 20% of their resources to political activities in the current year;

7 Government of Canada, Canada Revenue Agency. 2002a. Summary policy: Political activities. Ottawa, ON: Canada Revenue Agency. Accessed Jan. 14, 2009. Available from http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/chrts/ plcy/csp/csp-p02-eng.html.

8 Ibid.

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• registered charities whose annual income in the previous year was between $50,000 and $100,000 can devote up to 15% of their resources to political activities in the current year; • registered charities whose annual income in the previous year was between $100,000 and $200,000 can devote up to 12% of their resources to political activities in the current year.” 9 In conclusion, registered charitable nonprofits may work at raising public awareness of a museum policy or funding issue provided the museum: • does not explicitly connect its views to a political party or candidate; • connects its issue to its mission and mandate; • bases its views on a well-reasoned and balanced position; • ensures the resources dedicated to the public awareness campaign falls within the allowable limits specified by CRA.

STOP AND REFLECT Is your museum a “registered charity” with the Canada Revenue Agency?

If your museum is not a “registered charity”, you do not have to think about or deal with the Canada Revenue Agency and its policies.

If your museum is a registered charity, then you must read and understand the Canada Revenue Agency policy on advocacy and political activities available on their website (refer to Module 7: Resources for Further Learning) and consider reading the following books: R. Bridge (2002) The law governing advocacy by charitable organizations: The case for change and L. Rektor (2002) Advocacy - the sound of citizens’ voices. A position paper from the advocacy working group (refer to Module 7: Resources for Further Learning).

TIPS Charities law is a very complicated area of government policy. Your museum should consider finding a lawyer who could volunteer his/her time to interpret and apply Canada Revenue Agency policies to your proposed advocacy work.

9 Ibid.

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Finally, there are other Acts at the federal government level which may affect nonprofit organizations’ advocacy work. However, many of these pertain to advocates who use more confrontational approaches (e.g., a sit-in at a government office, a public demonstration in front of a legislature). For example, the language of terrorism is applied to some activists wherein there is increased police power to deal with activists through Bill C-36, Anti-Terrorism Act. 10

TIPS If your advocacy committee adopts a more confrontational advocacy strategy, then you should read and understand the Canadian laws governing activists today.

Please search for and understand the Acts and their regulations listed above as well as understand Canada Revenue Agency policies (refer to Module 7: Resources for Further Learning).

Lobbyists Registries Different levels of government have recently passed policies regarding the lobbying of politicians and government staff. At the federal level there is the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada. This Office defines who is considered a lobbyist, how lobbyists should register with the federal government and who is exempt from registering. There are also provincial and municipal government offices that have passed similar Acts and by-laws. In some of these cities, nonprofits have been exempt from registering.

Lobbying is defined as: “The Lobbying Act defines activities that, when carried out for compensation, are considered to be lobbying. These activities are detailed in the Lobbying Act. Generally speaking, they include communicating with public office holders with respect to changing federal laws, regulations, policies or programs, obtaining a financial benefit such as a grant or contribution, in certain cases, obtaining a government contract, and in the case of consultant lobbyists (see below), arranging a meeting between a public office holder and another person.” 11

10 Sheldrick, Byron. 2004. Perils and possibilities: Social activism and the law. Halifax, NS: Fernwood Publishing.

11 Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada, http://www.ocl-cal.gc.ca/eic/site/lobbyistlobbyiste1.nsf/vwapj/Info_booklet_Eng.pdf/$FILE/Info_booklet_Eng.pdf

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TIPS Check to see if your community has a requirement regarding registering as a lobbyist. In some communities in Canada, organizations may be fined for not registering as lobbyists.12 Letters of agreement with government funders Some non-profit organizations that receive funding from governments make commitments to behave in certain ways. For example, some executive directors sign funding contracts with governments, which include a statement that the organization will not advocate against that government. Thus, you need to check this before moving forward on any advocacy work.

STOP AND REFLECT At this point it is expected that you will be tempted to decide not to do any advocacy work because there appear to be many risks. If you get discouraged, look at the list of resources in Module 7 and talk to other museums.

Remember that nonprofits across Canada are doing all kinds of advocacy work with no negative repercussions.

The more important thing to remember is that your museum is serving a public benefit and working on community needs – this alone is justification to do carefully designed advocacy.

3.5 How others view your museum It is important to know what governments, funders, businesses and the wider community think about your museum. If you have a positive history and reputation, then chances are your advocacy efforts will be more positively received. If your museum has had to deal with a scandal recently (e.g., a staff person was fired for inappropriate behaviour, a board member was found guilty of fraud), chances are, you will have to work extra hard on your advocacy process. In fact, if your museum has recently struggled with some negative publicity, you should consider focusing on a community awareness advocacy process to re-build positive perceptions. Similarly, if your museum is struggling with a lack of community relevance, you may want to focus your work on building community awareness first. Once this has been achieved, you can go on to advocate for new funding or a new government policy.

12 For example, in Toronto Ontario, if you do not register and you lobby a municipal politician, your organization could be fined $25,000. However, in 2008 Toronto passed a resolution exempting some nonprofits from this registry.

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STOP AND REFLECT Are there any examples of negative goings-on in your museum or other museums which might affect how you are perceived by governments, funders, businesses and the community? If yes, make a list of these including when they occurred and what they feel like today.

Check out your thinking with others inside and outside your museum. Make sure you talk about these perceptions in your advocacy committee.

TIPS Be careful that negative perceptions about your museum and its history do not immobilize your group completely. Think about the relationships and partnerships you already have and what they might offer your advocacy process.

3.6 Internal museum environment We have just walked through many important elements in your advocacy environment which lie outside your museum. Now we need to take a look at what is going on inside your museum.

Developing your advocacy team Advocacy requires human resources, financial resources and time. 13 Many organizations have very little, or an imbalance, of these. In fact, many organizations have few if any staff or volunteers skilled in advocacy. However, you can work with some of these limitations by engaging volunteers in a committee or forming a coalition of other museum staff and volunteers to share the advocacy workload.

Remember too that you might already be doing advocacy without realizing it!

Internal perceptions of advocacy What is also necessary is to consider staff, volunteers’ and board members’ perceptions of advocacy. If advocacy is perceived negatively by any of these groups, then you need to be prepared to work on selling advocacy as a positive endeavour within your organization before you do anything else.

13 Ibid., Hegel 2003.

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STOP AND REFLECT Is there anyone within your museum who has done advocacy work?

If yes, ensure these people become involved.

If no, keep an open mind regarding who in your community is a skilled advocate and could be invited to participate.

What does your board of directors think about advocacy in general as well as your advocacy plan more specifically? What do your staff and volunteers think?

Decide if you have work to change these perceptions.

TIPS Print off sections of this guide and go through parts together as an organization in order to get everyone on the same page. Take it to a board meeting, your AGM, your volunteer training session. Get people thinking and involved!

3.7 Summary This module has explained the variety of elements that may exist within your advocacy environment for which you need to be aware. There are many benefits and risks associated with these elements.

Your advocacy environment includes: • governments as funders and policy makers; • businesses as potential supporters of your advocacy issues; • the media including the internet as vehicles to spread information about your issues; • government rules within which your group must operate; • how your museum is perceived in the community; • what your internal museum looks and feels like.

In closing, remember: “Advocacy is as much a frame of mind as it is a set of skills or knowledge. It is important to remember that advocacy requires an organization’s attention not only to the delivery of services and programs but also to the environment in which these services are delivered.” 14

14 Ibid., Hegel 2003, p. 4.

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Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Four Major Steps 4.1 Overview This guide provides advocates with a flexible framework in order to customize advocacy processes to their own museum and their own purposes. Module 4 gives advocates an overview of the four major steps in the advocacy process. Within each step there are components that include questions and key points. The advocacy process can be complex and there are many aspects to think about, discuss, and decide on as a group. We have also included a brief section on the importance of research and a brief note on power within the advocacy environment.

Research and an understanding of power are key components of a successful advocacy process.

A visual representation of the advocacy process is provided – it is good idea to keep this within your advocacy group’s written records. It is called Diagram 1: Advocacy processes make messy diagrams.15 This module provides worksheets that will help to guide you through the advocacy process. All worksheets and reference sheets are found in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets. Take your time and refer to the Module 7: Resources for Further Learning and previous modules (as indicated and necessary) for information and encouragement.

Remember that advocacy takes time, commitment, and group communication. Working through the process carefully with your group will enhance your opportunities, allow you to respond to challenges, and develop an effective advocacy plan.

As you work through this module, keep the following in mind: Write it down Advocates should be prepared to write everything down (e.g., minutes of meetings) and not throw anything away because you need to track where you have been. This becomes organizational memory which can be more easily shared with summer staff, and new staff and volunteers.

What is advocacy?

In its most basic form, advocacy is about speaking out and pushing for some kind of change. For the purpose of this guide: advocacy is defined as a collaborative process wherein a group of people and/or a group of museums come together to identify, define, plan, and implement a plan in order to bring about a specific change in funding, community awareness or government policy. Advocacy is “the act of speaking or disseminating information intended to influence individual behaviour or opinion, … or public policy and law.” 16 15 Gloria DeSantis created this diagram for a Justice Studies Department course at the University of Regina.

16 Ibid., Government of Canada, Voluntary Sector Initiative, and Privy Council Office 1999, p. 50.

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The advocacy approach Remember that the advocacy approach promoted in this guide is collective and participatory.

This means that advocacy is carried out by a group of people who are actively involved in meetings over time and make decisions together about their advocacy plan.

Worksheet C – Summary of Advocacy Plan is located in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets. You may want to look at it now so that you can see an overview of the work you will do in this module.

The Advocacy Process – Four Major Steps Step 1 – Think, Discuss, Decide: your key issue, purpose, goal(s), group membership Step 2 – Plan your advocacy strategy(ies) and be prepared to be flexible Step 3 – Do It: implement and monitor your plan/strategy(ies) Step 4 – Assess where you landed regarding your goal(s) Underlying each of these steps is the need to do research and understand politics and power.

Before we explore the four major steps in-depth, we will examine research, politics, and power.

However, let us first take a look at a visual representation of the advocacy process – Diagram 1: Advocacy Processes make messy diagrams.17

17 Gloria DeSantis created this diagram for a Justice Studies Department course at the University of Regina.

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In the diagram below, the four major steps are not presented in a straight line because advocacy seldom moves in a straight line – in reality advocacy looks more like the messy diagram! The diagram is drawn like a circle. The two-way arrows show that each step in the circle may require an advocacy group to revisit previous steps as events unfold and impact the process.

Along the way, find resources and people, check your timing, and manage relationships.

Step #2

Along the way, find resources and people, check your timing, and manage relationships.

Plan your strategy, include lots of flexibility.

Step #3

Step #1 Think, discuss and decide on issue, purpose, goal(s) and group membership.

Every step of the way... reflection-action-reflection-action feedback loop

Do it – implement and monitor your strategy.

Step #4 Assess: achieved goals? No, then reflect on why not. Go back to step 1, 2 or 3 ... and keep working at it!

Achieved goals?

Yes, but more advocacy work to be done. Go back to step #1.

Achieved goals?

Yes, disband advocacy committee and go back to your daily work.

Diagram 1: Advocacy processes make messy diagrams 18 18 Gloria DeSantis created this diagram for a Justice Studies Department course at the University of Regina.

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Each major step will be explored in depth in the following sections. But first, let’s examine the points within the diagram that require further explanation: • Lightening bolts are found throughout the diagram. These represent surprises that happen every step of the way; • Between each step, there is a note to keep in mind: along the way, find resources and skilled people, check your timing and manage relationships; and • In the middle of the diagram is the reflection-action-reflection-action loop which indicates how important it is to think carefully and then act each step of the way.

Let’s further explore each of these important points.

Lightening bolts Lightening bolts are surprises that happen along the way as your advocacy process unfolds.

These can be events, issues or people which suddenly pop-up without warning, and either negatively or positively impact your advocacy process.

For example: o A funder suddenly decides to cut funding to the cultural community and your museum is one of them. You will have to choose whether to continue to work on your policy advocacy plan that has been unfolding over the past two years or join the fight to save your museum’s funding. o The federal government just created a new department whose mandate is to formulate a new cultural policy. They will be holding community consultations across the country in six months. o A politician who was very supportive of your museum’s drive to create a stronger heritage policy dies in an accident. You no longer have a political ally in government. You will have to decide how to handle this void in your plan. o One of your board members is being investigated for fraud in another nonprofit organization, but the local newspaper makes it sound like she/he is guilty before going to court – and the articles have made it clear this volunteer is connected to your museum. Suddenly your community awareness campaign to legitimize the contributions of your museum to the life of your community is in jeopardy. o Your museum just won a national award and now your organization can’t keep up with all the media calls requesting information about the award and your museum!

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Find resources and skilled people, check your timing and manage relationships along the way.

Advocacy is a dynamic and fluid process. This means that your group membership may not stay the same from the beginning of the process to the end, that your timeframe is not set in stone, and that once you have created collaborative relationships, these will endure throughout your process.

Find resources Along the way, look for offers of in-kind resources.

For example, a business offers to provide photocopying for free; someone offers to take minutes at meetings and circulate them after each meeting; someone wants to make a financial donation to keep your advocacy effort going.

Find skilled people As your process unfolds and you see what skills you are missing on your committee, you should bring them on board.

For example, an historian might have data that you need to prove a point; a professor might have just completed a review of a government policy and you could use her/his analysis in your advocacy plan.

Check your timing As you roll out your process, be aware of your timing.

For example, if your goal is to increase funding and your committee is intending to have a press conference next week, but the media leaks a government document containing news about an impending deficit this week, you should re-think your schedule of events.

Manage relationships Since advocacy processes take a year or more to unfold, chances are some people on your committee will begin to disagree about strategies, activities, etc. and there will be the need to stop and work on fixing these relationships.

For example, committee members might decide to resign so you will have to find new members to complete your advocacy team.

There are also relationships with people outside your advocacy committee that require constant attention. Most museums already have good working relationships with other museums, governments, funders, businesses, service clubs and community residents, so it is simply a matter of nurturing these.

For example, is that key government staff person still an ally? Is the manager of the grocery store still willing to let you hand out pamphlets? Is the newspaper reporter still prepared to work with you or has she/he moved on to another topic?

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Relationships can be formalized partnerships and in other instances these relationships are informal, loose-knit networks. Either way, do not forget to use your current relationships to help your group through your advocacy process. Ask these individuals or groups: • If they have done any advocacy work and if so, if they have any advice, • If they have any resources to share with your group, • If they have any time to commit to a few meetings with your group – especially at the beginning in order to get started on the right foot.

Reflection-action-reflection-action loop In the middle of the diagram # 1, this loop shows how important it is to think carefully and then act, regularly, during your advocacy process.

Remember, there are many different things that can interfere with your advocacy plan. Be flexible.

For example, you will create an agenda for a committee meeting in order help keep you focused on next steps but you will then postpone that agenda while you deal with issues like those just described.

Research, politics, and power Let’s move on to the concepts of research, politics and power. It is important to reach an understanding of each of these because they are major components of advocacy processes.

Politics and power underlie every step of advocacy processes. Research is an important part of the advocacy process – in fact, a successful advocacy process depends on doing research.

Basically, advocates should strive to be curious throughout the advocacy process; this means constantly asking yourselves and others, questions like: What’s going on here? Who is involved and why?

Advocacy work must “be based on accurate, reliable and sufficient information”.

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4.2 Brief note about research Definition of research Research is an organized process that seeks to gather information about a subject (including objects, events, people, processes, institutions, or communities), analyze the information, and present and share it with others. It is used to reach a new understanding, create relationships between topics, or expand understanding about specific topics.

As part of your advocacy process, research should be undertaken regularly on your i) advocacy environment/context and (ii) your advocacy issue. Why? 19 Tearfund International Learning Zone, Advocacy Guide, Accessed February 26, 2009 from http://tilz. tearfund.org/Publications/ROOTS/Advocacy+guide.htm

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(i) Your advocacy environment or context because it is constantly changing.

For example, government staff people move to different positions: You may have had an ally inside a government department one day, but three months later that person has moved to another department. Thus, you no longer have a supporter for your funding request inside that department. (ii) Your advocacy issue because you must be sure each member of your group understands it fully. Each of you should know the following: • where your issue came from, • why it became an issue for your museum, • when it became an issue, • who specifically was implicated in its creation and persistence, • how it came into being, • what your issue looks like quantitatively (e.g. statistics) and qualitatively (e.g. stories).

As you work on your advocacy process over time, your group will continue to learn new things about your issue because new information will surface as you work together, talk with experts, read books and articles, and meet with governments.

Solid research and good information will help your group: • understand what others are doing so you do not duplicate efforts, • create new partnerships where feasible, • be aware of the many factors which will impact your advocacy process, • justify your decisions for choosing certain advocacy strategies and tactics, • provide evidence for a stronger argument or case that you want to present to your funders, government policy makers and decision makers, or your community.

TIPS The distinction between researching your environment/context and researching your issue is somewhat artificial because in the real world these two influence each other.

For example, as you seek to understand your museum’s funding issue, you may discover, as you analyse this issue, that a particular government department, which is located in your environment, was the primary cause of a funding cut 10 years ago. Thus, your historical research offers analyses of both your context and your issue simultaneously.

Research will be explained further within the context of the four main steps of the advocacy process coming up.

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4.3 A brief note on politics and power It is also important to explain politics and power because you cannot embark on an advocacy process without being confronted by them.

Politics There are at least two types of politics. 20 Politics with a capital “P” refers to governments who govern reserves, towns/cities, provinces and countries. Politics with a small “p” is a broader concept and refers to the interactions of people with power. There are many different forms of power and each of us possesses some form of power. Everyone is therefore political and has the power to influence what goes on around them.

Power Different forms of power exist and can be used to move advocacy processes forward. Many definitions of power exist, but in general, power is the ability of individuals and groups to control a situation and influence other people to behave in certain ways. Power is also referred to as influence and strength. Different forms of power exist in different situations for different people.

The key questions to discuss in your group when analysing your situation are: Who holds what form of power and within what context? What do we need to do about this?

Reference sheet: Different forms of power in the advocacy environment Form of Power Persuasive power

Citizen power

Law or legal power Legislative power Systems power

Example – a charismatic person to whom others are attracted because of their enthusiasm – an “expert” who can deliver and explain information based on research that supports your position Two main forms – power in numbers, for example, when 100’s of people attend a municipal council meeting – power of experiential knowledge occurs when people testify about their lived experiences – a lawyer who knows about certain laws – a government staff person who knows about and implements various government Acts and Bylaws – an individual who knows about government and funder structures and processes and can make suggestions about appropriate advocacy strategies

20 Ibid., Tearfund International Learning Zone.

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Political power Power of knowledge Power of networking Power of creativity Power of ideology Power of money

– a person who is elected to political office (e.g., MPs. MLAs, City councillors), who can influence decisions about public policy and funding – a professor or other highly educated person who works with data and other evidence to create an argument that justifies your advocacy group’s position – members of your advocacy group intentionally connect with other groups and organizations to spread the word about your issue; often this includes an invitation to get involved – a person who has the ability to create a unique slant on an issue that will grab and hold people’s attention and imagination – faith/church groups who are able to appeal to what is morally right and speak publicly from that perspective – a person/family who is able to fund your advocacy plan so that you can hire experts like lawyers, etc. to work on your issue

TIPS Some forms of power may also be used against your advocacy process.

For example, if your group is making a presentation at municipal council and only three of your group members attend, you are weak on citizen power. Municipal councillors may then use their political power to decide to deny your request.

We will now walk through each of the four major steps from diagram #1 in more detail.

4.4 Step 1 – Think, Discuss, Decide The first step in the advocacy process is to think, discuss and decide about your issue, purpose, goal, and group membership. It sounds like the simplest of the four steps, but it is not. It is here that advocacy groups must do some individual thinking, group discussion and collective decision-making.

In this step, the focus of thinking, discussing and deciding are on: • the issue/problem, • the group’s purpose, • goal(s) and objectives, • who should be involved the advocacy group.

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ACTION In Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets, you will find Worksheet A: Think, Discuss, Decide. This is a resource for your advocacy group. This worksheet will be useful at one of your first meetings because it illustrates the key areas which require individual thinking, group discussion and group decision-making. It may take several meetings to fill out the entire worksheet.

Before completing the worksheet, be sure to have read through the rest of Section 4.3 because it gives important points to keep in mind.

The areas within the worksheet will require research - for example, under the Key Areas, section it asks your group to answer questions such as: What is the issue? Where did it come from? If you need more information, where should you go?

Once completed, Worksheet A provides your group with the necessary information you need to embark on Step 2 – Plan. It also provides your group with a shared understanding and the beginning of your advocacy plan.

When you have completed Worksheet A, you can summarize these details and input the information into Worksheet C: A Summary Advocacy Plan (found in Module 9).

TIPS Make sure all the decisions that your group makes are written down and everyone in the group agrees.

Goals Think carefully about your goals. Goals must be defined during this stage of your advocacy process because: • they are what will keep your group focused; • they will assist in pointing your group in a direction and an end point; • you will be better able to attract skilled people to join your effort if you are clear about what you hope to achieve.

Consider whether you need to define long-term goals (e.g., secure core funding from a new government department) and short-term goals (e.g., secure $2000 in special project funding next year). You might want to define content goals (e.g. a policy change) as well as process goals (e.g. building partnerships). The type of goals you set will depend on your group, your issue, and your environment/context.

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Once you have thought about and created goals, your group can create objectives.

Objectives Objectives are a type of goal, but they are more specific, measurable, attainable, and timespecific.

For example, Goal – to convince municipal government to increase its funding to your museum.

Objective – to convince both municipal politicians and staff to increase current funding to your museum by 5% before the end of the next funding cycle which is 15 months from now.

Think, Discuss, Decide Thinking, discussing, and deciding on the key areas outlined in Worksheet A: Think, Discuss, Decide will usually takes place in a series of meetings. Not everyone will come to meetings with a shared understanding of the central issue. Once there is a shared understanding of the central issue, then the group can discuss and decide on a purpose and choose a goal(s). Once there is a clear sense of the issue, the purpose and the goal(s), you can discuss who are key people and key skill areas that you need in your group.

STOP AND REFLECT A museum may understand their issue is connected to all three purposes at the same time – funding, community awareness and a government policy.

However, it is important to be clear about your central goal and what may be sub-goals or objectives because those shape your advocacy process – especially in determining what your starting point will be.

For example, you might think your museum’s central issue is a lack of funding, but another person may have very good information that indicates the central issue is your museum lacks credibility in your community such that funders are not comfortable funding you.

Each of these perspectives is relevant, but in one instance (lack of funding) the advocacy process begins with a focus on a funder while in the other instance (lacking credibility in the community), the process begins with a focus on the community.

Building your advocacy team During this stage, your group may be small – perhaps four people. As you work through the issues, purpose, and goals, more people may join. At this time, informal discussions work well.

People need to feel free to explore the issue fully so they can then go on to commit fully to the advocacy process the group creates. As your issue, purpose and goals become clearer, invite people to join your group, but remember to think and discuss key skill areas needed (refer back to Module 2: Basic Guide to Advocacy Section 2.5).

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Once your group is clear about its membership and these members are now regularly attending meetings, discuss and clarify roles, assumptions, time commitments/limitations, and the resources that each person brings with them to the advocacy process.

STOP AND REFLECT Advocacy is dynamic and fluid. If your process extends over a few years, your group membership and their roles, assumptions, commitments/limitations, and resources will change.

You will need to revisit who is in your group periodically and continually manage your relationships.

TIPS Regular meetings Regular meetings are important in order to keep everyone informed about progress and stay motivated to achieve the goal.

Understand your advocacy environment As you think, discuss, and decide on your issue, purpose, and goal, use one of your meetings to discuss how others (e.g., community residents, other museums, governments, businesses) perceive and define this issues, purpose, and goal. Understanding what these other groups think will help you to design a more effective advocacy strategy.

Write it down Write notes about everything your group discusses and does. This includes group meetings, meetings with governments and funders, as well as what happens at presentations to government committees. These notes will become a written history of your advocacy process.

It should include a record of what went well and not so well and people/groups who appear to resist or support your process.

Keep minutes of your meetings Write up minutes from your meetings because these will help newcomers orient themselves to your issue, purpose, goal and objectives.

Organize!

Get a binder and keep all minutes and correspondence related to your advocacy work in it. Take this binder to all your committee meetings so that you can easily find information pertaining to past discussions and decisions. Create a folder in your computer that you can keep e-files of minutes, etc. organized in one spot.

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Keep everything Keep everything related to your advocacy work – do not throw anything way! Even after you have achieved your goal, place your binder and e-copies with other board and committee files and keep them for 5 years. These will become important reference materials for future work at your museum.

4.5 Step 2 – Plan Step 2 – Plan is a process that your group will undertake only after completing Step 1. Once your group has come to a clear and shared understanding of your issue, purpose, and goals, you are ready to create an advocacy plan.

What is an advocacy plan?

An advocacy plan is a map containing an assessment of where you are now, where you want to go, who can help you, and how you are going to get there. Developing an advocacy plan requires your advocacy group/committee to think, discuss and decide on the following eight major elements that will form the basis of your advocacy plan.

TIPS The eight major components of planning will form the basis of your advocacy plan. Each element contains a key question and helpful points to think about. Use the questions to guide your planning discussions during your advocacy meetings.

Working through the eight components of planning will take serious discussion and may take several meetings.

Once you have answered addressed all the components, and answered the question within each, you will be ready to weave it all together in an effective advocacy plan that includes key messages and strategies.

Remember to build in flexibility.

Before embarking on any actions (Step 3 – Do It), you need to work together to create an advocacy plan.

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Eight key components within your advocacy plan The following are eight key components 21 that your group should work on before you take any action. Each element contains a key question and helpful hints. Answers to these questions become part of your advocacy plan (Worksheet C in Module 9 is a practical resource to guide your group through this process). This plan becomes your guide as you launch your advocacy process.

Later on in your advocacy process, if your advocacy work becomes confusing, this plan will help re-orient your group back to your original goal(s).

Eight key components of planning: 1. Target audiences – Who is the audience we need to target to make change?

2. Messages – What do these audiences need to hear?

3. Messengers – Who do they need to hear the message from?

4. Resources and gaps – What do we have and what do we need?

5. Strategies – How can we get the audiences to hear the message?

6. Timing – When should we do it?

7. First steps – How should we begin?

8. Evaluation – How will we know if our plan is working?

Let us now explore each of these in more detail.

1.TARGET AUDIENCES – who is the audience?

Who are the people and/or institutions you need to change?

This includes those who have the actual formal authority to deliver your goal (i.e., governments and lottery corporations make decisions about funding). This also includes those who have the capacity to influence or pressure those with formal authority (e.g., the media). In both cases, an effective advocacy effort requires a clear sense of who these audiences are and how you may be able to pressure them.

Identifying who the target is will help determine what strategies you will use to accomplish your goals.

STOP AND REFLECT Who are the actual decision-makers who have the power to give you your goal (e.g., a cabinet minister, a CEO of a lottery corporation)?

21 Adapted from Jim Shultz of the Democracy Center, Advocacy Institute, 2002, Washington, D.C., A Strategy Planning Tool for Advocacy Campaigns

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Who are policy-makers (i.e., government staff) who have the power to influence the decisionmakers (politicians) either directly through organizing meetings with a politician or indirectly through the media by circulating information intended to change public opinion in support of your goal.

Who has access to what channels, either formal or informal, to make change?

TIPS Be aware and think about ‌ Who benefits from your proposed goal?

Who benefits if you do not attain your goal?

Think about people and groups who may be directly affected/involved AND those who may be indirectly affected/involved.

Answering these questions will help you pinpoint where potential sources of resistance to your advocacy efforts may be. It will also help you pinpoint potential collaborations or partnerships to pursue.

2. MESSAGES – What do these audiences need to hear?

Reaching different audiences requires crafting and framing a set of messages that will be persuasive and appeal to those specific audiences.

Your group needs to say the right things to the right people.

Messages must always be rooted in the same basic facts and all your group members must have a common understanding about these basic facts.

Messages also need to be tailored differently to different audiences depending on what they are ready to hear.

In general, government staff, politicians, business owners and journalists are very busy people.

Your group needs to understand you might only get one opportunity to ask .

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ACTION Spend one (or more) meeting working on messages for the different audiences you have identified. Be creative, clear, and collaborative.

22 Adapted from Advocacy Institute at http://www.iscvt.org/what_we_do/advocacy_and_leadership_ center/ and Ryan Clark, Advocacy Solutions, www.advocacysolutions.ca. Accessed February 28, 2009.

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To help the group be clear about your messages, answer these two key questions:

1. How will the problem be understood by the variety of individuals/groups around you? Think about your advocacy environment!

2. Why should your issue matter to anyone?

The next step is to work together to create two or three key messages that explain all your information. To do this, you need to distil a large amount of information into a simple form.

Your message must be clear and factual. The beginning of the message must contain the end.

Your group’s message must be based on group consensus. Everyone in your group must understand it and be able to communicate it to others. Ensure you have back-up material to explain your messages and your explicit request. This should include statistics and historical information, in case you are asked for it by your audience(s).

STOP AND REFLECT In order for you to be able to explain your message your group has to know it very well themselves. Does your group fully understand the issue and your goal(s)?

How might different audiences react to your carefully crafted message and explicit request?

How might the media handle your issue, purpose and goal? Would they be friend or foe?

TIPS Do not expect “the facts” to speak for themselves – key messages will help others to understand your issue.

Remember the beginning of your message contains the end.

Focus on one request and make it explicit and simple.

Avoid creating a long list – as tempting as it might be.

3. MESSENGERS – Who do they need to hear the message from?

The same message can have a very different impact depending on who communicates it.

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ACTION As a group, take some time to think, discuss and decide on the following: 1. Who are the most credible messengers for different audiences?

In some cases, the messenger may be the “expert” whose credibility is largely technical (e.g. an art historian). In other cases, we need to engage those who speak from personal experience (e.g. a war veteran who speaks to the need to preserve WWII photographs).

2. What do we need to do to help the messenger be effective?

What information does this messenger need? How can we increase his/her comfort level as an advocate speaking to decision-makers, policy-makers, the media?

STOP AND REFLECT Re-read and think about the skill types in Module 2: Basic Guide to Advocacy (Section 2.5).

Who in your advocacy group or in your community would be a good messenger for which messages?

TIPS Remember, behind this messenger is your advocacy group and your museum, which should appear very informed and credible.

4. RESOURCES AND GAPS – What do we have and what do we need?

An important part of your plan creation is taking some time to analyse and discuss what resources and people you already have as well as those you do not have.

ACTION As a group, answer these key questions: • Do we have the messengers identified above?

• What skills do we have within our group already? What skills do we need?

• Who has what form of power? Within what context? What do we need to do about this?

• Do we need money? Can we arrange for in-kind donations and volunteer time?

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Analysing your environment At this point in the process, it is a good idea to look at the ideas of resources, people and gaps a little more closely.

This type of work is known as analysing your environment - what is already in it and what gaps there appear to be. Some people refer to this as an environmental scan while others refer to it as SWOT – Strengths and Weaknesses (internal to the group) and Opportunities and Threats (external to the group). During this part of your process, your group analyses its own strengths and weaknesses as well as assesses the opportunities and threats that exist in its environment.

TIPS Review Module 3: Understanding Your Advocacy Environment for information about media, laws, and business community.

An effective advocacy plan takes stock of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) and builds on them. This includes examining past related advocacy work, partnerships already in place, staff and other people’s capacity, information and data, political knowledge and type of power. Paying particular attention to gaps is necessary early in your process so that you can fill them soon, thereby increasing the likelihood of a successful advocacy process.

ACTION In Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets, you will find Worksheet B: ‘What we have and what we need’. This worksheet will guide your group through the process of a SWOT analysis within your own advocacy environment. Completing this worksheet will provide your group with a shared understanding and help you implement your chosen advocacy strategy(ies).

Use one of your meetings to work through this worksheet.

5. STRATEGIES – How can we get the audiences to hear the message?

Once you have analysed your strengths and weaknesses as well as your threats and opportunities (SWOT analysis), you can choose a strategy(ies) that will most likely be successful in delivering your message. There are many strategies or ways to deliver an advocacy message. Delivery strategies refer to “how” you will attempt to convince funders, the community or governments that your issue requires attention. These strategies vary from situation to situation. The key is to think carefully, discuss with your group, decide which ones to try and then and apply them appropriately to your environment/context by weaving them together in a winning mix.

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Eight main advocacy strategies There are eight main advocacy strategies and none of them are mutually exclusive. This means that a group may choose one strategy or a few strategies in order to achieve their purpose and goal. Within each of these strategies is a collection of advocacy tactics/ activities that comprise that strategy.

Direct conversations with decision-makers and policy-makers – this can happen through: • phone calls to politicians, • calling and arranging a meeting with government staff, • making presentations to government committees and answering their questions, • having one-on-one lunch meetings with a key decision-maker who your group believes you can influence.

Confrontation with decision-makers and policy-makers – this is the advocacy strategy which generates the most public awareness, however, it is the strategy which gives advocacy a bad name. Confrontations include the following tactics: • a noisy parade with placards denouncing a government policy decision; • sit-ins at court houses; • marches on legislatures; and • boycotts of private businesses.

Work through media – as explained earlier, the media may be a tactic or tool to promote a simple message or it may be the main strategy by which you advance your purpose.

Examples of tactics within this strategy include: • translate your research findings into clear messages; • create media advisory or news releases; • write an article for the editorial page of your newspaper; • create a video news release; • organize a press conference; • run an ad in a newspaper that you design such that it becomes big news; • create a section on your website or a blog to promote your message;23 and • work with your local cable company to run a special program or series on your museum’s advocacy issue.

Engage community residents in public discussions – organizing public forums in order to engage residents in conversations about your issue, purpose and goals should be a two-way process. Your group lets them know what you are working on and what changes you hope to make, but also ask them what they think about your issue and goal. This leads to increased community awareness and possibly community pressure in support of your issue.

23 See Advocacy, activism and the internet: Community organization and social policy by Hick and McNutt in Module 7 for more information about advocacy and the internet.

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Engage in research – participatory action research and public opinion polling get communities involved in conversations about your issue. These conversations can help make your issue more public and current. Participatory action research, 24 by definition, involves community residents as key participants in research that has as one of its products, action recommendations. These recommendations focus on your issue and add evidence to your advocacy group’s goal(s).

Monitoring and assessing governments’ activities – this strategy helps your group locate where the main change barriers might be, how to tailor advocacy activities to move them, and start conversations with governments because you are asking them questions. This approach also helps you better understand governments’ perspective on your issue so you can better design your message and delivery.

Networking with other groups – networking with other local groups or with groups across the province, country or internationally can yield interesting approaches to making change that your group may not have considered ( e.g., a museum in Newfoundland may have created an interesting message that just sold that provincial government on a new policy).

Legal strategies – these are usually last resort strategies when advocacy groups have exhausted the above strategies. Legal strategies involve the courts and lawyers in advancing issues and goals. This strategy is time-consuming, expensive and requires expertise which most advocacy groups do not possess.

STOP AND REFLECT Which strategy or collection of strategies is most likely to move your advocacy group toward your change goal?

Hint: If you want to work co-operatively with government decision-makers you will not want to adopt a confrontational strategy or engage the media with strong messages about the government not doing its job regarding a specific policy. If you want to work co-operatively then choose direct conversations with policy makers that are amicable.

TIPS Discuss and Assess Your advocacy group should discuss and assess past change strategies including pros, cons and where those efforts landed.

24 See Community-Based Participatory Research for Health by Minkler and Wallerstein in Module 7 for more information about research.

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Technology and advocacy If your group chooses to use the Internet, email, e-lists, online bulletin boards, and/or facebook, check to ensure your group members have both the access and skills to participate in them.

Technology has become a source of great stress for many advocacy groups whose members have different levels of familiarity (Refer to Module 7: Resources – Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) is a good example and resource).

6. TIMING – when should we do it?

This is one of the most important elements in advocacy work, yet it one of the hardest to describe. In fact, it is fair to say that you should ask, “Is this the right time?” at every step of your advocacy process. In fact, bad timing could destroy the implementation of an advocacy plan over night. You may sketch out the best advocacy plan based on working through all of the above sections, however, if you do not stop and ask if the timing is right and be prepared to be flexible (i.e., take a fork in your advocacy road), you will not likely achieve your goal.

Module 3: Understanding Your Advocacy Environment presented a diversity of elements in your environment with which you must familiarize yourself.

Elections One element from Module 3 that has not been made explicit but is connected to timing and governments is elections. All four levels of government have election cycles. Many advocacy groups can use upcoming elections as platforms to attract attention to their issues and goals.

For example: • An all-candidates meeting is taking place and cultural policies and cultural program funding are listed as agenda items. Representatives from your group can pre-plan a statement along with two or three key questions and attend the meeting. At that meeting, the media, residents and other organizations will be there and hear about your issue. All the election candidates will hear about your issue too. Your issue could become an election issue!

• A candidate who is running for municipal office issues a press release related to your group’s advocacy issue to the local media. After your group has read and analysed the media coverage carefully, think about how your group could respond, create your own press release and contact the media.

Be careful and think about what you learned from Module 3: Understanding Your Advocacy Environment (Section 3.4) about advocacy rules and legislation – do not publicly discount or support the candidate.

• During some elections, referenda are held on certain community-wide issues. Think about whether your issue might fit; note that you would have to have significant lead time to work this through the proper regulatory channels.

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For example, a community with a population of 20,000 went to the polls to vote for politicians but there was also a written question about whether municipal council should spend tax money on building a new arena. Do you have time to create some community awareness about your museum and its link to the new arena?

STOP AND REFLECT Think about the following: • If you are asking for more funding, stop and think, is your community reeling from an announcement that the major mining company in your community is shutting down? This is probably not the right time to ask for money. In fact, you might encounter outright hostility if your funding issue is reported in the local newspaper.

• If you are seeking a policy change, has the government department with whom you must communicate just announced its priorities and your issue is not one of them?

• If you are trying to build community awareness for your museum’s programs, has your reeve and council just decided to put all its energy and resources behind becoming a major eco-tourist centre?

7. FIRST STEPS – How should we begin?

Now that you have an understanding of the first six components required to develop an advocacy plan, you are ready to think about how you should begin. This is still the planning stage! Step 3 – Do It is coming up, but not just yet.

Ask yourself and your group, what should be the first steps in beginning to roll out your advocacy plan? What should be priorized as your first few steps?

Take a look at your group’s answers and together create a priorized list of first and next steps.

Remember to think about timing – this will help to determine your success.

8. EVALUATION – How will we know if our plan is working?

The last part of your advocacy planning process is to think, discuss and decide on how you will evaluate your advocacy process.

How will you know if your advocacy plan is working? What criteria or markers along the way will your group want to watch for?

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As with any long journey, the course needs to be checked regularly. Your advocacy plan needs to be assessed by revisiting each of the questions above (i.e., are we still aiming at the right audiences; are we reaching them). It is important to make mid-plan corrections and to discard those parts of a strategy that do not appear to be working.

Ideally, evaluation should happen throughout your advocacy process, not just at the end as some people assume. This part of planning is re-affirmed in Step 4 – Assess your advocacy process.

TIPS • Make sure your group discusses what your priorities are. What are you prepared to settle for if it appears your goal may not be fully achievable?

• Have an explicit discussion about what you will not be doing • Inform your board of directors • Explore who has what power. Who may resist your efforts? Who may help your efforts?

Why? • Do not be afraid of research. Research can be used to create a solid argument in a message to be delivered to a government – a message that cannot be easily rebuked!

In Module 9, you will find Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan. This is a helpful resource to fill in as your advocacy group works through these eight key questions. The information that you gathered in Worksheet A: Think, Discuss, and Decide and Worksheet B: What we have and what we need will help to form the basis of Worksheet C.

4.6 Step 3 – Do It “Do It” means implement your plan - but remember to monitor your plan as it unfolds.

Implement and Monitor Implementation may take a few months, but it could take years depending on your issue and the environment within which you are working. Be particularly aware of the political, social and economic environment/context of your strategy. You may need to modify your strategy and actions along the way.

It is here that you will act on the answers you generated in Step 2 … no more sitting around discussing and planning things!

However, you will still need to meet regularly to keep each other informed.

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Moving Forward Implementing your advocacy plan is more than simply following a series of steps in a straight line.

“Moving forward …is about more than taking next steps - it’s about finding the forward motion in everything that happens. When acting on their strategies, successful advocates adopt a kind of ‘rolling incrementalism’ - an awareness of those aspects of their campaigns, whether results or processes, that signal moving forward towards their overall vision. Your environmental scan (i.e., SWOT) focuses on your capacities and on all the factors in your context that affect those capacities - timing, allies, knowledge, experience.” 25 As you implement your advocacy plan, keep in mind that you will continually monitor your plan.

The Advocacy Institute suggests that through ‘rolling incrementalism’, advocates go on to: • Refine goals/objectives – Continuously monitor events and people and then re-set advocacy objectives as necessary.

• Consolidate gains – Recognize and celebrate important gains that may take place - even during times of setbacks.

• Fine-tune strategic choices for greatest effectiveness – Recognize when small gains in certain areas may together warrant the reassessment of earlier choices and the selection of new strategic targets. Regularly pose questions at committee meetings: who holds what form of power and within what context, how might different forms of power be expressed, who is resisting your advocacy efforts and why, what do you need to do about this, what is working according to your plan and what is not, is there a new strategy that you need to adopt and shift course?

•Anticipate lightening bolts because no process is without surprises!

Refer back to Diagram 1: Advocacy processes make messy diagrams 26 at the beginning of this module. The back and forth checking, refining and fine-tuning are reflected in the arrows throughout the diagram.

It is important to realize that all things have life cycles. Your issue will have a life cycle that includes birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and renewal – or death – depending on how you perceive the world! Your advocacy group will also go through a similar life cycle.

25 Ibid., Advocacy Institute.

26 Gloria DeSantis created this diagram for a Justice Studies Department course at the University of Regina

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TIPS • Be realistic about the human, material and financial resources you have to do advocacy. Many times we try to do too much with too little.

• Do not underestimate the time required to do advocacy; some advocacy aimed at increased funding can be completed in a year but policy advocacy with governments can take five years to complete.

• Check your timing regularly; are you ready to move when the government appears ready?

• Watch for lightening bolts that come out of nowhere … some will help your group’s work while others will definitely hinder your process … some you will have no control over while others will require you to alter your plan.

• Stay connected with each other – communicate!

• Be flexible in your thinking – seldom do plans go the way we anticipate they will.

• Stay motivated! Talk to other advocates and other museums. Encourage each other and work together.

4.7 Step 4 – Assess The final step is to assess, or evaluate, your advocacy process. Has your group has achieved its goal(s)? Is your work is finished? As a group, take some time to think, discuss, and assess your advocacy process and determine your successes and challenges.

Assess throughout the process This step sounds like work that you need to do only at the end of your advocacy process, but as shown in diagram 1, it is not. We discussed evaluation in Step 2 – Plan because it is critical that your group think about this during your planning stage (Step 2).

STOP AND REFLECT Remember that during Step 2, your group discussed and decided on specific goals and objectives. Review these so that you can evaluate your success.

Indicators of Achievement and Success Your specific goals and objectives are linked to your indicators of goal achievement and indicators of success. However, these indicators may not be the same for everyone in your group.

For example, if you set a goal of a 4% increase in funding from a government department and your museum ends up with a 3% increase, would your group say you achieved your goal? Partially?

What if, during Steps 1 and 2, you had decided that your museum was seriously under funded and that your strategy would be to ask government for your ideal and 3% is more your reality?

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Ensure you have talked about this, as a group, during the planning stage. That way, when you get to the end of your process, you can ask your group, “did we achieve our goal?” and you know there will be many different ways of looking at group members’ answers.

Did you achieve your goal?

• If the answer is “no”, then problem-solve together. Ask why it was unsuccessful: Was it an unrealistic goal? Not enough effort put into the advocacy strategy? Did you lose too many group members over the five-year process? Or maybe your group chose the wrong strategy, paid too little attention to timing, or did not have a government staff person on your side? Was a lightening bolt mishandled?

If your group did not achieve its goal and your group is committed to continuing on, think about whether you need to go back to Step 1, 2, or 3.

• If the answer is “yes”, and the group believes there is no more advocacy work to do be done together, then celebrate and disband the group.

• If the answer is “yes” and the group believes there is more work to be done, head back into your process at Step 1. This time you will have some seasoned advocates on board!

Outcomes Outcomes can be difficult to measure, however, it is important to think, discuss, and understand the results of your advocacy process. This will help your group understand areas of success and areas of improvement.

Think about the following: • Did you get the change that you were hoping for … totally or partially?

o Can you live with this outcome and disband now? Or are you and your group growing

and building momentum with your sights set on something bigger?

o Have you made progress? But still need to work on your advocacy strategies with a

particular group (e.g. the government department or business/corporation)?

• Would you consider this advocacy work successful? Why? • What ripple/spin-off effects happened?

Note: Ripple effects/spin-off effects are things that were unintended at the beginning of your process, but happened anyway. They may be negative or positive.

o Are there exciting possibilities now obvious through those ripple effects?

o Should your group do something with those ripple effects?

For example, during your advocacy work to increase funding to your museum a senior government staff person became aware that your museum does not offer a benefits package to its employees; she asked her labour standards branch to look into this issue and begin the process to formulate new standards.

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Processes and strategies Think about and discuss the following: • Did you make more allies and create more partnerships along the way? Can these new partnerships assist your group work on a revised or new advocacy agenda?

• Did anyone get injured along the way? What needs to happen to repair the injury?

• Who do you need to say “thank you” to?

• What did you learn about advocacy processes? What will you do differently next time?

4.8 Summary This module has focused on the advocacy process and its four major steps. We reviewed the definition of advocacy and discussed the advocacy approach that is taught in this Guide – one that focuses on the group as active and engaged in decision-making and planning.

A brief note on research showed that research is a key component of the advocacy plan. Solid research and good information helps to strengthen your group’s understanding and position.

For example, when you can provide statistics and stories to your audiences they gain a better appreciation of your issue.

Politics and power are key components of your advocacy process. The reference sheet ‘Forms of Power’ is a helpful tool for your group as you start to think about your audiences, who to advocate to, and who might help or hinder your efforts.

A visual representation of the advocacy process (Diagram 1: Advocacy processes make messy diagrams27 ) shows that advocacy is not linear. It is important to be aware of lightening bolts (surprises), find resources, skilled people, and manage relationships along the way, and constantly be reflecting and acting on your advocacy plan. Be flexible!

The advocacy process can be complex and there are many aspects to think about, discuss, and decide on as a group. Within each of the four major steps of the advocacy process there are questions and key points to think about.

27 Gloria DeSantis created this diagram for a Justice Studies Department course at the University of Regina.

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The advocacy process: four major steps Step 1: Think, Discuss, Decide – requires thought, discussion and decision making about your issue, purpose, goals, objectives and group membership.

Step 2: Plan – requires the formulation of a plan and an examination of the following eight components (and answers to the questions): 1. Target audiences – Who is the audience we need to target to make change?

2. Messages – What do these audiences need to hear?

3. Messengers – Who do they need to hear the message from?

4. Resources and gaps – What do we have and what do we need?

5. Strategies – How can we get the audiences to hear the message?

6. Timing – when should we do it?

7. First steps – How should we begin?

8. Evaluation – How will we know if our plan is working?

Step 3: Do It – requires an advocacy group to roll out their plan … do it … and monitor how it unfolds.

Step 4: Assess – requires an advocacy group to assess whether they achieved their goal or not.

Worksheets The worksheets are designed to guide your group through specific parts of the advocacy process. The information you gain by working through Worksheet A and B will be compiled into Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan – this final worksheet summarizes the important advocacy questions that have been presented in this module. It is the basis of your advocacy plan.

Remember that advocacy takes time, commitment, and group communication. Your group must write everything down so you can share your work with others as they join your advocacy group.

Working through the process carefully with your group will enhance your opportunities, allow you to respond to challenges, and develop an effective advocacy plan.

Apply your learning Now that you have read and understand the basic guide to advocacy (Module 2), the advocacy environment (Module 3), and four major steps to doing advocacy (Module 4) the next step is to apply your learning. The following modules provide opportunities to work through the advocacy process with case studies that are modelled on real-life scenarios. Be sure to refer back to the previous modules as they provide the knowledge and information you need to support you as you work through these practical examples.

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Module 5: Apply Your Learning: Urban Advocates is designed for those advocating for museums located in cities. Module 6: Apply Your Learning: Rural Advocates is designed for those advocating for museums in rural areas.

Advocacy can be quite different if you are in a rural environment or an urban environment.

Rural and urban museums may be advocating for the same broad issues • increase funding, • increase community awareness, and • alter government policies, However, rural and urban museums may face different risks and benefits, choose different strategies and tactics, have access to different forms of politics and power, and/or may have to research different information to learn about the issue and the advocacy environment.

If you are in an urban environment, move on to Module 5. If you are in a rural environment, move on to Module 6.

Resources Remember to check out Module 7: Resources for Further Learning.

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Module 5: Apply Your Learning – Urban Advocates Module 5: Apply Your Learning – Urban Advocates is designed for people working with museums that are located in cities. By working through these case studies, you have the opportunity to apply your understanding of the information you learned in Modules 2-4: A basic guide to advocacy (Module 2), the advocacy environment (Module 3), and four major steps to doing advocacy (Module 4).

This module is built on the following three key purposes for which museums most often engage in advocacy: • increase funding, • increase community awareness, and • change government policies.

These were described back in Module 2: Section 2.2 (Advocacy for what reasons). In this module, there are three case studies - one for each purpose.

Take a deep breath because you are now ready to jump into a process for which we have concluded “advocacy processes make messy diagrams”. Remember back to diagram 128 …

Step #2 Plan

Step #1 Think, discuss and decide.

Step #3 reflection-action-reflection-action feedback loop

Do it

Step #4 Assess No goals?

Reflect why.

Achieved goals?

Yes, but more advocacy work to do.

Achieved goals?

Yes, disband group.

28 Gloria DeSantis created this diagram for a Justice Studies Department course at the University of Regina.

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Remember the four major steps to the advocacy process: Step 1 – Think, Discuss, Decide: your key issue, purpose, goal(s), group membership Step 2 – Plan your advocacy strategy(ies) and be prepared to be flexible Step 3 – Do It means implement and monitor your plan/strategy(ies) Step 4 – Assess where you landed regarding your goal(s) achievement Research, politics, and power underlie each of these steps – these were explained in Module 4: The Advocacy Process - Sections 4.2.

5.1 Case Study One (Urban): Increased Funding from Municipal Government Case Study Your museum has not had an increase in funding for the past six years. You begin with a belief your museum needs more funding in order to run more effective programs. So you have informal conversations with staff and volunteers – everyone agrees.

However, last week in your local newspaper there was a major article about municipal council deciding to hire a consultant to study and make recommendations about the curling club facility.

That facility has been in the city for the past 40 years.

You organize a meeting and a small group of museum-based staff and volunteers get together to begin discussions.

TIPS Ensure everyone in your organization – especially your executive director and president of the board - know you are embarking on an advocacy process so they are not surprised later on when you show them your group’s advocacy plan … and you get even busier! Check to see if you actually need to have formal approval from your museum to be working on this.

Step 1 – Think, discuss and decide The first step is to think, discuss and decide about your issue, purpose, goal, and group membership. It sounds like the simplest of the four steps, but it’s not. It is here that advocacy groups must do some individual thinking, collective discussion and collective decision-making.

This step takes several meetings.

The focus of this thinking, discussing and deciding are on: • the issue/problem, • the group’s purpose, • goal(s), • who should be involved the advocacy group.

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ACTION At this point, your group would use Worksheet A: Think, Discuss, and Decide in Module 9: Worksheet and Reference Sheets.

To prepare for the meeting, each person should think carefully by yourself about: your funding issue, purpose, goal, objectives, and who should be involved in your advocacy group. Write down notes about these and bring them to your first meeting.

Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process, Section 4.3 as your guide.

Fill the sheet in according to the information given in the case study.

What is missing? How would you go about making these decisions? Finding this information?

Note that this worksheet requires your group to do some research - for example, the first section is all about defining and analysing your issue!

Once you have answers and details for this worksheet, you will want to summarize these details and add them to Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan found in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets Remember the Research component (Refer to Module 4: Section 4.2 Brief Note About Research) Your group is made of four people, comprising your museum staff and volunteers, has met three times and worked through Worksheet A. As part of identifying, defining and analysing your issue, your group had to do research into the history of funding for your museum.

What would your group need?

You asked the museum treasurer to pull out these historical records going back 10 years. You also pulled out your board of directors’ minutes for the same period of time and examined all relevant sections for information about funding issues (e.g., what led up to a past funding cut and from which government). Your group also discussed the general economic climate and the current state-of-affairs regarding your municipal government and what it has been funding lately.

Issue, Purpose, Goals, Objectives The next steps are, as a group, to discuss and decide (and write down) the following: Issue – Your museum has received the same amount of funding from municipal council over the past six years, but you received a 1.1% increase per year from the provincial government for the same period of time. While a 1.1% increase is better than no increase, there is probably the need to create an advocacy effort to increase funding from both levels MAS Advocacy Guide

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of government.

There appears to be a good relationship with municipal, as well as provincial politicians and staff, however, their priority areas appear to be enhancing sports programming and attracting more tourists to the area.

As a group, decide on the following: Purpose – Suggestion: To create an advocacy plan that will result in increased funding from municipal government.

Goal – Suggestion: to have municipal government approve an increase in funding to your museum.

Objective – Suggestion: to convince municipal politicians and staff to increase current funding to your museum by 5% before the end of the next funding cycle which is 15 months from now.

ACTION Who do you need in your group?

Take some time in your meeting to carefully think and discuss the types of people and skill areas your advocacy process will need in order to be successful.

Re-visit the list of that highlighted the skills needed in an advocacy group: visionary, strategist, statesperson, expert, sparkplug, inside advocate, strategic communicator, movement builder, generalist, historian, and cultural activist.

Refer to Module 2: Section 2.5 Advocacy skills needed (also found in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets).

Discuss and decide who you will invite to join your advocacy group and attend the next and subsequent meetings.

TIPS Keep minutes of meetings Organize!

Keep everything related to your advocacy work

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Step 2 – Plan Remember, planning occurs after your group has a clear and shared understanding of your issue, purpose, and goals in order to then formulate a plan. In Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4, you learned about the planning process.

There are eight key components (with helpful hints) that will guide that process and, taken together, these components become your group’s advocacy plan. The end product from Step 2 – Plan, is a complete Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan (found in Module 9). This plan becomes your guide as you launch your advocacy process. Later on in your advocacy process if your advocacy work becomes confusing, this plan will help re-orient your group back to your original goal(s).

Determining the answers to these eight key components will form the base of a half day working session (e.g. on a Saturday) or a series of evening meetings. The following eight key questions require answers before your group takes any action.

The eight key questions are: 1. Target audiences – Who is the audience we need to target to make change?

2. Messages – What do these audiences need to hear?

3. Messengers – Who do they need to hear the message from?

4. Resources and gaps – What do we have and what do we need?

5. Strategies – How can we get the audiences to hear the message?

6. Timing – when should we do it?

7. First steps – How should we begin?

8. Evaluation – How will we know if our plan is working?

Note: You can also find the eight questions in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets.

Let us now work through each of these questions using the case study described above.

1. TARGET AUDIENCES – Who is the audience we need to target to make change?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

2. MESSAGES – What do these audiences need to hear?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

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3. MESSENGERS – Who do they need to hear the message from?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

4. RESOURCES AND GAPS – What do we have and what do we need?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group.

Use Worksheet B in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets to help your group walk through the analysis.

Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

Your group will want to be aware and reduce its weaknesses and know how to face the challenges, while using its strengths and opportunities to make progress toward your goal(s).

5. STRATEGIES – How can we get the audiences to hear the message?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

Remember there is a list of eight strategies from which to make choices.

• Direct conversations with decision-makers and policy-makers • Confrontation • Work through the media • Engage community residents in public discussions • Engage in research • Monitor and assess government activities • Network with other groups • Adopt legal strategies Which strategy or combination of strategies is most likely to get you to your goal?

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6. TIMING – When should we do it?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

7. FIRST STEPS – How should we begin?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

8. EVALUATION – How will we know if our plan is working?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

SUMMARIZE YOUR PLAN You are now ready to complete your Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan.

ACTION One or two people from your group can now take the results of your past meetings and distill the information and key decisions into Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan (found in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets) . This worksheet may end up being 2 or 3 pages long depending on how many objectives and what advocacy strategies you adopt.

Once this draft worksheet has been completed, take it to the next committee meeting and work through what has been written for each cell. This is a way to double-check everyone’s interpretation of key elements. Make any necessary revisions and circulate the final copy to all committee members. This worksheet then becomes a shared map, or plan, on how you will move forward.

After doing all of this - your group is ready to head for Step 3 - Do It, that is implement and monitor your plan as well as Step 4 - Assess, regarding goal(s) achievement.

Remember as you are doing Step 3, refer back to Module 4: Section 4.5. As you are doing Step 4, refer back to Module 4: Section 4.6.

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5.2 Case Study Two (urban): Advocating for greater community awareness Case Study You are a member of the board of the newly formed ‘City Hospital Museum.’ The idea for the museum is a result of the recent 80th anniversary of the hospital which included a reunion of former staff. A small exhibit was created and placed in the hospital lobby for the reunion. At the time several people offered their photos, uniforms and stories/memories to the hospital and suggested a museum be created. You now have a collection of documents, photos and material some of which was recently donated and some of which had accumulated by the hospital over the years. Its currently located in the hospital basement. Your board is made up of 3 retired nurses, 2 retired physicians and the current head of the Pharmacy department.

The hospital administration had provided the funds for the reunion exhibit and is providing the storage space for the museum. They have not provided any further funding for the museum.

TIPS Ensure everyone in your organization – especially your executive director and president of the board - know you are embarking on an advocacy process so they are not surprised later on when you show them your group’s advocacy plan … and you get even busier!

Check to see if you actually need to have formal approval from your museum to be working on this.

Step 1 – Think, Discuss and Decide The first step is to think, discuss and decide about your issue, purpose, goal, and group membership. It sounds like the simplest of the four steps, but it is not. It is here that advocacy groups must do some individual thinking, collective discussion and collective decision-making.

The focus of this thinking, discussing and deciding are on: • the issue/problem, • the group’s purpose, • goal(s), • who should be involved the advocacy group,

ACTION At this point, your group would use Worksheet A: Think, Discuss, and Decide in Module 9: Worksheet and Reference Sheets.

To prepare for the meeting, each person should think carefully by yourself about: your funding issue, purpose, goal, objectives, and who should be involved in your advocacy group. Write down notes about these and bring them to your first meeting.

Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process, Section 4.3 as your guide.

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Fill the sheet in according to the information given in the case study.

What is missing? How would you go about making these decisions? Finding this information?

Note that this worksheet requires your group to do some research - for example, a) section is all about defining and analysing your issue!

Once you have answers and details for this worksheet, you will want to summarize these details and add them to Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan found in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets.

ACTION Who do you need in your group?

Take some time in your meeting to carefully think and discuss the types of people and skill areas your advocacy process will need in order to be successful.

Re-visit the list of that highlighted the skills needed in an advocacy group: visionary, strategist, statesperson, expert, sparkplug, inside advocate, strategic communicator, movement builder, generalist, historian, and cultural activist.

Refer to Module 2: Section 2.5 Advocacy skills needed (also found in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets).

Discuss and decide who you will invite to join your advocacy group and attend the next and subsequent meetings.

TIPS Write up minutes from your meetings because these will help newcomers orient themselves to your issue, purpose, goal and objectives.

Get a binder and keep all minutes and correspondence related to your advocacy work in it. Take this binder to all your committee meetings so that you can easily find information pertaining to past discussions and decisions.

Create a folder in your computer that you can keep e-files of minutes, etc. organized in one spot.

Keep everything related to your advocacy work – do not throw anything way! Even after you have achieved your goal, place your binder and e-copies with other board and committee files and keep them for 5 years. These will become important reference materials for future work at your museum.

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Remember the Research component What research would your group need to do?

Refer to Module 4: Section 4.2 Brief Note About Research.

Issues, Goals, Objectives What is the issue? What are the goals? What are the objectives?

Refer to Module 4: Section 4.4 – Step 1: Think, Discuss, Decide.

Step 2 – Plan Remember, planning occurs after your group have a clear and shared understanding of your issue, purpose, and goals in order to then formulate a plan. In Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.5, you learned about the planning process.

There are eight key components (with helpful hints) that will help guide that process and, taken together, these components become your group’s advocacy plan. The end product from Step 2 – Plan is a complete Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan (found in Module 9). This plan becomes your guide as you launch your advocacy process. Later on in your advocacy process if your advocacy work becomes confusing, this plan will help re-orient your group back to your original goal(s).

Determining the answers to these eight key components will form the base of a half day working session (e.g. on a Saturday) or a series of evening meetings. The following eight key questions require answers before your group takes any action.

The eight key questions are: 1. Target audiences – Who is the audience we need to target to make change?

2. Messages – What do these audiences need to hear?

3. Messengers – Who do they need to hear the message from?

4. Resources and gaps – What do we have and what do we need?

5. Strategies – How can we get the audiences to hear the message?

6. Timing – when should we do it?

7. First steps – How should we begin?

8. Evaluation – How will we know if our plan is working?

Note: You can also find the eight questions in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets.

Let us now work through each of these questions using the case study described above.

1. TARGET AUDIENCES – Who is the audience we need to target to make change?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

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2. MESSAGES – What do these audiences need to hear?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

3. MESSENGERS – Who do they need to hear the message from?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

4. RESOURCES AND GAPS – What do we have and what do we need?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group.

Use Worksheet B in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets to help your group walk through the analysis.

Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

Your group will want to be aware and reduce its weaknesses and know how to face the challenges, while using its strengths and opportunities to make progress toward your goal(s).

5. STRATEGIES – How can we get the audiences to hear the message?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

Remember there is a list of eight strategies from which to make choices.

• Direct conversations with decision-makers and policy-makers • Confrontation • Work through the media • Engage community residents in public discussions • Engage in research

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• Monitor and assess government activities • Network with other groups • Adopt legal strategies Which strategy or combination of strategies is most likely to get you to your goal?

6. TIMING – When should we do it?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

7. FIRST STEPS – How should we begin?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

8. EVALUATION – How will we know if our plan is working?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

SUMMARIZE YOUR PLAN You are now ready to complete your Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan.

ACTION One or two people from your group can now take the results of your past meetings and distill the information and key decisions into the worksheet on the following page. This worksheet may end up being 2 or 3 pages long depending on how many objectives and what advocacy strategies you adopt.

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Once this draft worksheet has been completed, take it to the next committee meeting and work through what has been written for each cell. This is a way to double-check everyone’s interpretation of key elements. Make any necessary revisions and circulate the final copy to all committee members. This worksheet then becomes a shared map, or plan, on how you will move forward.

After doing all of this - your group is ready to head for Step 3 - Do It, that is implement and monitor your plan as well as Step 4 - Assess, regarding goal(s) achievement.

Remember as you are doing Step 3, refer back to Module 4: Section 4.5. As you are doing Step 4, refer back to Module 4: Section 4.6.

5.3 Case Study Three (urban): Advocating for change in government policy Case Study You are the director of a museum located in a small Saskatchewan city. You know that your programs, both on-site and outreach, make a difference in the lives of many city residents and you would like to increase the museum’s role in community development beyond the traditional exhibits and programs.

The provincial government has recently been actively promoting ‘quality of life’ as integral to community development. You see several opportunities for the museum but discover that the provincial government officials are focussing on sports, recreation and tourism. They seem to be unaware of the changing role of museums within communities.

You have discussed this situation with your colleagues from other museums in the province and agree that a provincial museum policy would be extremely helpful. A provincial policy would provide a broad framework to guide museum development throughout the province. Equally important, it would inform provincial officials of the valuable role museums can play within their communities.

TIPS Ensure everyone in your organization – especially your executive director and president of the board - know you are embarking on an advocacy process so they are not surprised later on when you show them your group’s advocacy plan … and you get even busier!

Check to see if you actually need to have formal approval from your museum to be working on this.

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Step 1 - Think, Discuss and Decide The first step is to think, discuss and decide about your issue, purpose, goal, and group membership. It sounds like the simplest of the four steps, but it is not. It is here that advocacy groups must do some individual thinking, collective discussion and collective decision-making.

The focus of this thinking, discussing and deciding are on: • the issue/problem, • the group’s purpose, • goal(s), • who should be involved the advocacy group.

ACTION At this point, your group would use Worksheet A: Think, Discuss, and Decide in Module 9: Worksheet and Reference Sheets.

To prepare for the meeting, each person should think carefully by yourself about: your funding issue, purpose, goal, objectives, and who should be involved in your advocacy group. Write down notes about these and bring them to your first meeting.

Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process, Section 4.3 as your guide.

Fill the sheet in according to the information given in the case study.

What is missing? How would you go about making these decisions? Finding this information?

Note that this worksheet requires your group to do some research - for example, the first section is all about defining and analysing your issue!

Once you have answers and details for this worksheet, you will want to summarize these details and add them to Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan found in Module 9: Worksheets Remember the Research component What research would your group need to do?

Refer to Module 4: Section 4.2 Brief Note About Research.

Issues, Goals, Objectives What is the issue? What are the goals? What are the objectives?

Refer to Module 4: Section 4.4 – Step 1: Think, Discuss, Decide.

Step 2 - Plan Remember, planning occurs after your group have a clear and shared understanding of your issue, purpose, and goals in order to then formulate a plan. In Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.5, you learned about the planning process.

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There are eight key components (with helpful hints) that will help guide that process and, taken together, these components become your group’s advocacy plan. The end product from Step 2 – Plan is a complete Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan (found in Module 9). This plan becomes your guide as you launch your advocacy process. Later on in your advocacy process if your advocacy work becomes confusing, this plan will help re-orient your group back to your original goal(s).

Determining the answers to these eight key components will form the base of a half day working session (e.g. on a Saturday) or a series of evening meetings. The following eight key questions require answers before your group takes any action.

The eight key questions are: 1. Target audiences – Who is the audience we need to target to make change?

2. Messages – What do these audiences need to hear?

3. Messengers – Who do they need to hear the message from?

4. Resources and gaps – What do we have and what do we need?

5. Strategies – How can we get the audiences to hear the message?

6. Timing – when should we do it?

7. First steps – How should we begin?

8. Evaluation – How will we know if our plan is working?

Note: You can also find the eight questions in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets.

Let us now work through each of these questions using the case study described above.

1. TARGET AUDIENCES – Who is the audience we need to target to make change?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

2. MESSAGES – What do these audiences need to hear?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

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3. MESSENGERS – Who do they need to hear the message from?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

4. RESOURCES AND GAPS – What do we have and what do we need?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group.

Use Worksheet B in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets to help your group walk through the analysis.

Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

Your group will want to be aware and reduce its weaknesses and know how to face the challenges, while using its strengths and opportunities to make progress toward your goal(s).

5. STRATEGIES – How can we get the audiences to hear the message?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

Remember there is a list of eight strategies from which to make choices.

• Direct conversations with decision-makers and policy-makers • Confrontation • Work through the media • Engage community residents in public discussions • Engage in research • Monitor and assess government activities • Network with other groups • Adopt legal strategies Which strategy or combination of strategies is most likely to get you to your goal?

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6. TIMING – When should we do it?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

7. FIRST STEPS – How should we begin?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

8. EVALUATION – How will we know if our plan is working?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

SUMMARIZE YOUR PLAN You are now ready to complete your Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan.

ACTION One or two people from your group can now take the results of your past meetings and distill the information and key decisions into the Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan (found in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets). This worksheet may end up being 2 or 3 pages long depending on how many objectives and what advocacy strategies you adopt.

Once this draft worksheet has been completed, take it to the next committee meeting and work through what has been written for each cell. This is a way to double-check everyone’s interpretation of key elements. Make any necessary revisions and circulate the final copy to all committee members. This worksheet then becomes a shared map, or plan, on how you will move forward.

After doing all of this – your group is ready to head for Step 3 – Do It, that is implement and monitor your plan as well as Step 4 - Assess, regarding goal(s) achievement.

Remember as you are doing Step 3, refer back to Module 4: Section 4.5. As you are doing Step 4, refer back to Module 4: Section 4.6.

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Module 6: Apply Your Learning – Rural Advocates Module 6: Apply Your Learning – Rural Advocates is designed for people working with museums that are located in smaller communities and rural areas. By working through these case studies, you have the opportunity to apply your understanding of the information you learned in Modules 2-4: A basic guide to advocacy (Module 2), the advocacy environment (Module 3), and four major steps to doing advocacy (Module 4).

This module is built on the following three key purposes for which museums most often engage in advocacy: • increase funding, • increase community awareness, and • change government policies.

These were described back in Module 2: Section 2.2 (Advocacy for what reasons). In this module, there are three case studies - one for each purpose.

Take a deep breath because you are now ready to jump into a process for which we have concluded “advocacy processes make messy diagrams”. Remember back to diagram 1 …

Step #2 Plan

Step #1 Think, discuss and decide.

Step #3 reflection-action-reflection-action feedback loop

Do it

Step #4 Assess No goals?

Reflect why.

Achieved goals?

Yes, but more advocacy work to do.

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Achieved goals?

Yes, disband group.

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Remember the four major steps to the advocacy process: Step 1 – Think, Discuss, Decide: your key issue, purpose, goal(s), group membership Step 2 – Plan your advocacy strategy(ies) and be prepared to be flexible Step 3 – Do It means implement and monitor your plan/strategy(ies) Step 4 – Assess where you landed regarding your goal(s) achievement Research, politics, and power underlie each of these steps – these were explained in Module 4: The Advocacy Process - Sections 4.1 and 4.2.

6.1 Case Study One (Rural): Increased Funding from Rural Municipality Case Study Your museum receives regular funding from the town in which it is located. It does not, however, receive any funding from the local rural municipality. This despite the fact that the majority of the museum’s collection came from residents of the RM and the museum’s story focuses on farming.

The majority of museum volunteers, including Board members either live in the RM or did so at one time. There appears to be a good relationship with the Reeve and RM Councillors. The Reeve is son-in-law of the Museum’s Treasurer and two RM Councillors are married to Museum Board members. The RM, however, consistently states that because the museum is located in the town proper they have no responsibility to provide regular funding.

TIPS Ensure everyone in your organization – especially your executive director and president of the board – know you are embarking on an advocacy process so they are not surprised later on when you show them your group’s advocacy plan … and you get even busier! Check to see if you actually need to have formal approval from your museum to be working on this.

Step 1: Think, Discuss and Decide The first step is to think, discuss and decide about your issue, purpose, goal, and group membership. It sounds like the simplest of the four steps, but it is not. It is here that advocacy groups must do some individual thinking, collective discussion and collective decision-making.

This step takes several meetings.

The focus of this thinking, discussing and deciding are on: • the issue/problem, • the group’s purpose, • goal(s), • who should be involved the advocacy group.

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ACTION At this point, your group would use Worksheet A: Think, Discuss, and Decide in Module 9: Worksheet and Reference Sheets.

To prepare for the meeting, each person should think carefully by yourself about: your funding issue, purpose, goal, objectives, and who should be involved in your advocacy group. Write down notes about these and bring them to your first meeting.

Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process, Section 4.3 as your guide.

Fill the sheet in according to the information given in the case study.

What is missing? How would you go about making these decisions? Finding this information?

Note that this worksheet requires your group to do some research - for example, the first section is all about defining and analysing your issue!

Once you have answers and details for this worksheet, you will want to summarize these details and add them to Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan found in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets.

Remember the Research component (Refer to Module 4: Section 4.2 Brief Note About Research) As part of identifying, defining and analysing your issue, your group had to do research into the history of funding for your museum.

What would your group need?

You asked the museum treasurer to pull out these historical records going back 10 years. You also pulled out your board of directors’ minutes for the same period of time and examined all relevant sections for information about funding issues. Your group also discussed the general current economic climate and the current state-of-affairs regarding your town and rural municipality and what it has been funding lately.

Issue, Purpose, Goals, Objectives The next steps are, as your group, to discuss and decide (and write down) the following: Issue – Your museum has received no funding from the rural municipality over the past six years, but you received a 1.1% increase per year from the town for the same period of time.

While a 1.1% increase is better than no increase, there is probably the need to create an advocacy effort to increase funding from the rural municipality.

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As a group, decide on the following: Purpose – Suggestion: To create an advocacy plan that will result in increased funding from your rural municipality.

Goal – Suggestion: To have the rural municipality approve funding to your museum.

Objective – Suggestion: To convince the rural municipality to fund your museum by 5% before the end of the next funding cycle (15 months from now).

ACTION Who do you need in your group?

Take some time in your meeting to carefully think and discuss the types of people and skill areas your advocacy process will need in order to be successful.

Re-visit the list of that highlighted the skills needed in an advocacy group: visionary, strategist, statesperson, expert, sparkplug, inside advocate, strategic communicator, movement builder, generalist, historian, and cultural activist.

Refer to Module 2: Section 2.5 Advocacy skills needed (also found in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets).

Discuss and decide who you will invite to join your advocacy group and attend the next and subsequent meetings.

TIPS Keep minutes of meetings Organize!

Keep everything related to your advocacy work Step 2 – Plan Remember, planning occurs after your group have a clear and shared understanding of your issue, purpose, and goals in order to then formulate a plan. In Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4, you learned about the planning process.

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There are eight key components (with helpful hints) that will help guide that process and, taken together, these components become your group’s advocacy plan. The end product from Step 2 – Plan is a complete Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan (found in Module 9). This plan becomes your guide as you launch your advocacy process. Later on in your advocacy process if your advocacy work becomes confusing, this plan will help re-orient your group back to your original goal(s).

Determining the answers to these eight key components will form the base of a half day working session (e.g. on a Saturday) or a series of evening meetings. The following eight key questions require answers before your group takes any action.

The eight key questions are: 1. Target audiences – Who is the audience we need to target to make change?

2. Messages – What do these audiences need to hear?

3. Messengers – Who do they need to hear the message from?

4. Resources and gaps – What do we have and what do we need?

5. Strategies – How can we get the audiences to hear the message?

6. Timing – when should we do it?

7. First steps – How should we begin?

8. Evaluation – How will we know if our plan is working?

Note: You can also find the eight questions in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets.

Let us now work through each of these questions using the case study described above.

1. TARGET AUDIENCES – Who is the audience we need to target to make change?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

2. MESSAGES – What do these audiences need to hear?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

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3. MESSENGERS – Who do they need to hear the message from?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

4. RESOURCES AND GAPS – What do we have and what do we need?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group.

Use Worksheet B in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets to help your group walk through the analysis.

Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

Your group will want to be aware and reduce its weaknesses and know how to face the challenges, while using its strengths and opportunities to make progress toward your goal(s).

5. STRATEGIES – How can we get the audiences to hear the message?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

Remember there is a list of eight strategies from which to make choices.

• Direct conversations with decision-makers and policy-makers • Confrontation • Work through the media • Engage community residents in public discussions • Engage in research • Monitor and assess government activities • Network with other groups • Adopt legal strategies Which strategy or combination of strategies is most likely to get you to your goal?

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6. TIMING – When should we do it?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

7. FIRST STEPS – How should we begin?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

8. EVALUATION – How will we know if our plan is working?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

SUMMARIZE YOUR PLAN You are now ready to complete your Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan.

ACTION One or two people from your group can now take the results of your past meetings and distill the information and key decisions into Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan (found in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets) worksheet on the following page. This worksheet may end up being 2 or 3 pages long depending on how many objectives and what advocacy strategies you adopt.

Once this draft worksheet has been completed, take it to the next committee meeting and work through what has been written for each cell. This is a way to double-check everyone’s interpretation of key elements. Make any necessary revisions and circulate the final copy to all committee members. This worksheet then becomes a shared map, or plan, on how you will move forward.

After doing all of this - your group is ready to head for Step 3 – Do It, that is implement and monitor your plan as well as Step 4 – Assess, regarding goal(s) achievement.

Remember as you are doing Step 3, refer back to Module 4: Section 4.5. As you are doing Step 4, refer back to Module 4: Section 4.6.

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6.2 Case Study Two (rural): Advocating for greater community awareness Case Study Your museum was given the former feed mill building and volunteers have spent hundreds of hours renovating it to become the new, expanded, home of the museum. Your board has also spent hours planning out how the new space will be used. New exhibits have been planned to showcase local athletes particularly the strong hockey tradition in town. In addition, the board has set aside space for a temporary art exhibits and a gift shop to sell local crafts.

Your sources tell you that the talk on coffee row is that a museum is a waste of time and money because only the arty types go there. ‘Everyone’ is much more interested in going to the rink to watch the local hockey team. And anyway the old mill should have been sold to a local businessman wanting to expand because that will add to the local economy way more than a museum will. Interestingly, none of the coffee row regulars have ever visited the museum in its old location or been volunteers.

You gather a group of volunteers and board members together to address this issue.

TIPS Ensure everyone in your organization – especially your executive director and president of the board – know you are embarking on an advocacy process so they are not surprised later on when you show them your group’s advocacy plan … and you get even busier!

Check to see if you actually need to have formal approval from your museum to be working on this.

Step 1 – Think, Discuss and Decide The first step is to think, discuss and decide about your issue, purpose, goal, and group membership. It sounds like the simplest of the four steps, but it is not. It is here that advocacy groups must do some individual thinking, collective discussion and collective decision-making.

The focus of this thinking, discussing and deciding are on: • the issue/problem, • the group’s purpose, • goal(s), • who should be involved the advocacy group.

ACTION At this point, your group would use Worksheet A: Think, Discuss, and Decide in Module 9: Worksheet and Reference Sheets.

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To prepare for the meeting, each person should think carefully by yourself about: your funding issue, purpose, goal, objectives, and who should be involved in your advocacy group. Write down notes about these and bring them to your first meeting.

Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process, Section 4.3 as your guide.

Fill the sheet in according to the information given in the case study.

What is missing? How would you go about making these decisions? Finding this information?

Note that this worksheet requires your group to do some research - for example, the first section is all about defining and analysing your issue!

Once you have answers and details for this worksheet, you will want to summarize these details and add them to Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan found in Module 9: Worksheets

ACTION Who do you need in your group?

Take some time in your meeting to carefully think and discuss the types of people and skill areas your advocacy process will need in order to be successful.

Re-visit the list of that highlighted the skills needed in an advocacy group: visionary, strategist, statesperson, expert, sparkplug, inside advocate, strategic communicator, movement builder, generalist, historian, and cultural activist.

Refer to Module 2: Section 2.5 Advocacy skills needed (also found in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets).

Discuss and decide who you will invite to join your advocacy group and attend the next and subsequent meetings.

TIPS Write up minutes from your meetings because these will help newcomers orient themselves to your issue, purpose, goal and objectives.

Get a binder and keep all minutes and correspondence related to your advocacy work in it. Take this binder to all your committee meetings so that you can easily find information pertaining to past discussions and decisions.

Create a folder in your computer that you can keep e-files of minutes, etc. organized in one spot.

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Keep everything related to your advocacy work – do not throw anything way! Even after you have achieved your goal, place your binder and e-copies with other board and committee files and keep them for 5 years. These will become important reference materials for future work at your museum.

Remember the Research component What research would your group need to do?

Refer to Module 4: Section 4.2 Brief Note About Research.

Issues, Goals, Objectives What is the issue? What are the goals? What are the objectives?

Refer to Module 4: Section 4.4 – Step 1: Think, Discuss, Decide.

Step 2 – Plan Remember, planning occurs after your group have a clear and shared understanding of your issue, purpose, and goals in order to then formulate a plan. In Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.5, you learned about the planning process.

There are eight key components (with helpful hints) that will help guide that process and, taken together, these components become your group’s advocacy plan. The end product from Step 2 – Plan is a complete Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan (found in Module 9). This plan becomes your guide as you launch your advocacy process. Later on in your advocacy process if your advocacy work becomes confusing, this plan will help re-orient your group back to your original goal(s).

Determining the answers to these eight key components will form the base of a half day working session (e.g. on a Saturday) or a series of evening meetings. The following eight key questions require answers before your group takes any action.

The eight key questions are: 1. Target audiences – Who is the audience we need to target to make change?

2. Messages – What do these audiences need to hear?

3. Messengers – Who do they need to hear the message from?

4. Resources and gaps – What do we have and what do we need?

5. Strategies – How can we get the audiences to hear the message?

6. Timing – when should we do it?

7. First steps – How should we begin?

8. Evaluation – How will we know if our plan is working?

Note: You can also find the eight questions in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets.

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Let us now work through each of these questions using the case study described above.

1. TARGET AUDIENCES – Who is the audience we need to target to make change?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

2. MESSAGES – What do these audiences need to hear?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

3. MESSENGERS – Who do they need to hear the message from?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

4. RESOURCES AND GAPS – What do we have and what do we need?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group.

Use Worksheet B in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets to help your group walk through the analysis.

Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

Your group will want to be aware and reduce its weaknesses and know how to face the challenges, while using its strengths and opportunities to make progress toward your goal(s).

5. STRATEGIES – How can we get the audiences to hear the message?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

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Remember there is a list of eight strategies from which to make choices.

• Direct conversations with decision-makers and policy-makers • Confrontation • Work through the media • Engage community residents in public discussions • Engage in research • Monitor and assess government activities • Network with other groups • Adopt legal strategies Which strategy or combination of strategies is most likely to get you to your goal?

6. TIMING – When should we do it?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

7. FIRST STEPS – How should we begin?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

8. EVALUATION – How will we know if our plan is working?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

SUMMARIZE YOUR PLAN You are now ready to complete your Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan

ACTION One or two people from your group can now take the results of your past meetings and distill the information and key decisions into the worksheet on the following page. This worksheet may end up being 2 or 3 pages long depending on how many objectives and what advocacy strategies you adopt.

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Once this draft worksheet has been completed, take it to the next committee meeting and work through what has been written for each cell. This is a way to double-check everyone’s interpretation of key elements. Make any necessary revisions and circulate the final copy to all committee members. This worksheet then becomes a shared map, or plan, on how you will move forward.

After doing all of this - your group is ready to head for Step 3 - Do It, that is implement and monitor your plan as well as Step 4 - Assess, regarding goal(s) achievement.

Remember as you are doing Step 3, refer back to Module 4: Section 4.5. As you are doing Step 4, refer back to Module 4: Section 4.6.

6.3 Case Study Three (rural): Advocating for change in government policy Case Study Your museum board has just learned that Town Council is planning to demolish the old brick bank building so a neighbouring auto repair business can expand their lot. This isn’t the first heritage building to be in jeopardy – last year the first hospital and the year before that two businesses on Main Street were demolished. The bank building is one of the oldest in town and is structurally sound. It could be renovated quite easily. You have spoken, casually, with members of the library and arts council boards and all agree it would work well as a community cultural centre. You’ve also heard from a neighbour that the wife of the new credit union manager would be interested in setting up a quilting shop which would primarily sell over the internet but needs an office space.

However, some members of Town Council don’t see how fixing up that ‘old building’ could be worth more than building a new one.

You would like to see the Town develop a municipal heritage policy to provide the framework for decision making for the preservation and use of the various remaining heritage resources in town.

TIPS Ensure everyone in your organization – especially your executive director and president of the board - know you are embarking on an advocacy process so they are not surprised later on when you show them your group’s advocacy plan … and you get even busier!

Check to see if you actually need to have formal approval from your museum to be working on this.

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Step 1 – Think, Discuss and Decide The first step is to think, discuss and decide about your issue, purpose, goal, and group membership. It sounds like the simplest of the four steps, but it is not. It is here that advocacy groups must do some individual thinking, collective discussion and collective decision-making.

The focus of this thinking, discussing and deciding are on: • the issue/problem, • the group’s purpose, • goal(s), • who should be involved the advocacy group.

ACTION At this point, your group would use Worksheet A: Think, Discuss, and Decide in Module 9: Worksheet and Reference Sheets.

To prepare for the meeting, each person should think carefully by yourself about: your funding issue, purpose, goal, objectives, and who should be involved in your advocacy group. Write down notes about these and bring them to your first meeting.

Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process, Section 4.3 as your guide.

Fill the sheet in according to the information given in the case study.

What is missing? How would you go about making these decisions? Finding this information?

Note that this worksheet requires your group to do some research - for example, the first section is all about defining and analysing your issue!

Once you have answers and details for this worksheet, you will want to summarize these details and add them to Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan found in Module 9: Worksheets.

Remember the Research component What research would your group need to do?

Refer to Module 4: Section 4.2 Brief Note About Research.

Issues, Goals, Objectives What is the issue? What are the goals? What are the objectives?

Refer to Module 4: Section 4.4 – Step 1: Think, Discuss, Decide.

Step 2 – Plan Remember, planning occurs after your group have a clear and shared understanding of your issue, purpose, and goals in order to then formulate a plan. In Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.5, you learned about the planning process.

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There are eight key components (with helpful hints) that will help guide that process and, taken together, these components become your group’s advocacy plan. The end product from Step 2 – Plan is a complete Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan (found in Module 9). This plan becomes your guide as you launch your advocacy process. Later on in your advocacy process if your advocacy work becomes confusing, this plan will help re-orient your group back to your original goal(s).

Determining the answers to these eight key components will form the base of a half day working session (e.g. on a Saturday) or a series of evening meetings. The following eight key questions require answers before your group takes any action.

The eight key questions are: 1. Target audiences – Who is the audience we need to target to make change?

2. Messages – What do these audiences need to hear?

3. Messengers – Who do they need to hear the message from?

4. Resources and gaps – What do we have and what do we need?

5. Strategies – How can we get the audiences to hear the message?

6. Timing – when should we do it?

7. First steps – How should we begin?

8. Evaluation – How will we know if our plan is working?

Note: You can also find the eight questions in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets.

Let us now work through each of these questions using the case study described above.

1. TARGET AUDIENCES – Who is the audience we need to target to make change?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

2. MESSAGES – What do these audiences need to hear?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

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3. MESSENGERS – Who do they need to hear the message from?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

4. RESOURCES AND GAPS – What do we have and what do we need?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group.

Use Worksheet B in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets to help your group walk through the analysis.

Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

Your group will want to be aware and reduce its weaknesses and know how to face the challenges, while using its strengths and opportunities to make progress toward your goal(s).

5. STRATEGIES – How can we get the audiences to hear the message?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

Remember there is a list of eight strategies from which to make choices.

• Direct conversations with decision-makers and policy-makers • Confrontation • Work through the media • Engage community residents in public discussions • Engage in research • Monitor and assess government activities • Network with other groups • Adopt legal strategies Which strategy or combination of strategies is most likely to get you to your goal?

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6. TIMING – When should we do it?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

7. FIRST STEPS – How should we begin?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

8. EVALUATION – How will we know if our plan is working?

ACTION Discuss this question and make decisions as a group. Use Module 4: The Advocacy Process – Section 4.4 as your guide.

SUMMARIZE YOUR PLAN You are now ready to complete your Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan.

ACTION One or two people from your group can now take the results of your past meetings and distill the information and key decisions into the Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan (found in Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets). This worksheet may end up being 2 or 3 pages long depending on how many objectives and what advocacy strategies you adopt.

Once this draft worksheet has been completed, take it to the next committee meeting and work through what has been written for each cell. This is a way to double-check everyone’s interpretation of key elements. Make any necessary revisions and circulate the final copy to all committee members. This worksheet then becomes a shared map, or plan, on how you will move forward.

After doing all of this – your group is ready to head for Step 3 – Do It, that is implement and monitor your plan as well as Step 4 – Assess, regarding goal(s) achievement.

Remember as you are doing Step 3, refer back to Module 4: Section 4.5. As you are doing Step 4, refer back to Module 4: Section 4.6.

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Module 7: Resources for Further Learning This module contains a list of resources for museum staff and volunteers to explore in order to further their understanding. There are resources specific to Saskatchewan museums, for museum advocacy in particular, and for advocacy in general.

7.1 Resources specific to Saskatchewan museums’ advocacy work Canada Revenue Agency policies regarding what are permissible advocacy activities http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/chrts/plcy/csp/csp-p02-eng.html Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) http://www.fsin.com/ Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre (SICC) http://www.sicc.sk.ca/ Gabriel Dumont Institute (GDI) http://www.gdins.org/home.html First Nations University Canada http://www.firstnationsuniversity.ca/ Government of Saskatchewan Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sports http://www.tpcs.gov.sk.ca/Contact SaskCulture Inc. #404 - 2125 11th Avenue Regina, SK S4P 3X3 Phone (306) 780-9284 Fax (306) 780-9252 Email saskculture.info@saskculture.sk.ca http://www.saskculture.sk.ca/ Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities http://www.sarm.ca/index Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association http://www.suma.org/siteengine/activepage.asp

7.2 Resources specific to museum advocacy Canadian Conference of the Arts, look for Advocacy Primer http://ccarts.ca/en/advocacy/publications/guides/documents/cca_advocacy_primer_en.pdf

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Canadian Museums Association http://www.museums.ca/en/ Charities Directorate website – for information about charities laws and rules http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/charities/ Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada http://www.ocl-cal.gc.ca/eic/site/lobbyist-lobbyiste1.nsf/eng/Home Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) http://www.chin.gc.ca/English/index.html Creating and Managing Digital Content http://www.chin.gc.ca/English/Digital_Content/index.html Best Practices in Museum Web Design http://www.chin.gc.ca/English/Digital_Content/best_practices.html Knowledge Exchange: Online Courses and Best Practices (Check out Web Presence and Best Practices sections for information on Social Media) http://www.chin.gc.ca/English/Knowledge-Exchange/e-tutorials.php

7.3 Resources for further learning about advocacy in the non-profit sector Websites Advocacy Institute c/o Institute for Sustainable Communities. http://www.iscvt.org/what_we_do/advocacy_and_leadership_center/ Advocacy Solutions Ryan Clark, Advocacy Solutions, www.advocacysolutions.ca.

Art Serve Michigan http://www.artservemichigan.org/advocacy/index.asp?section=6C35D6C379454538A87C7BE74 5979ED4 Ginsler and Associates Inc. http:/www.ginsler.com/html/toolbox.htp Imagine Canada, go to “Public Policy and Government Relations” section of website http://www.imaginecanada.ca/en/node/34

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Imagine Canada, Nonprofit Library Commons, search for “advocacy and public policy” http://nonprofitscan.imaginecanada.ca/en/advocacy Muttart Foundation Improving the nonprofit, voluntary and charitable sector’s effectiveness in influencing decisions of government by Sean Moore (2006?) http://www.muttart.org/download/Influencing%20Decisions%20of%20Government.pdf Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada http://www.ocl-cal.gc.ca/eic/site/lobbyist-lobbyiste1.nsf/eng/Home Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists “ Loud and Clear: Raising Archival Awareness in Saskatchewan” – A guide, developed by the SCAA’s Public Awareness Committee in 2007, provides an overview of strategies and best practices for communicating with government, the media, and the public. It includes templates for letters and media releases” http://scaa.sk.ca/publicawareness/resources.html Tearfund International Learning Zone – Advocacy Toolkit http://tilz.tearfund.org/Topics/Advocacy/Advocacy+toolkit.htm Voluntary Sector Initiative http://www.vsi-isbc.org/eng/index.cfm

Books and reports Bridge, Richard. 2002. The law governing advocacy by charitable organizations: The case for change. The Philanthropist 17, no. 2: 3-33.

Cohen, David, Rosa de la Vega, and Gabrielle Watson. 2001. Advocacy for social justice: A

global action and reflection guide. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press Inc. for Oxfam

America and Advocacy Institute.

Dobson, Charles. 2003. The troublemaker’s teaparty: A manual for effective citizen action.

Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.

Government of Canada, Voluntary Sector Initiative, and Privy Council Office. 1999. Working

together: A Government of Canada/voluntary sector joint initiative - report of the joint tables. Ottawa, ON: Privy Council Office, Government of Canada.

Government of Canada, Canada Revenue Agency. 2002a. Summary policy: Political activities.

Ottawa, ON: Canada Revenue Agency. Accessed Jan. 14, 2009. Available from http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/chrts/plcy/csp/csp-p02-eng.html.

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Government of Canada, Voluntary Sector Initiative. 2002b. A code of good practice on policy

dialogue: Building on an accord between the Government of Canada and the voluntary sector. Ottawa, ON: Privy Council of Canada.

Habitat for Humanity and Canadian Community Economic Development Network. no date. The

art of advocacy: A handbook for non-profit organizations. Waterloo, ON: Habitat

for Humanity and Canadian Community Economic Development Network.

Harvie, Betsy. 2002. Regulation of advocacy in the voluntary sector: Current challenges and

some responses. Ottawa, ON: Voluntary Sector Initiative, Government of Canada.

Hegel, Annette. 2003. Advocacy on the agenda: Preparing voluntary boards for public policy participation. Ottawa, ON: Volunteer Canada.

Hick, Steven and John McNutt, eds. 2002. Advocacy, activism and the internet: Community

organization and social policy. Chicago, IL: Lyceum Books Inc. Kretzmann, John and John McKnight. 1993. Building communities from the inside out: A path

toward finding and mobilizing a community’s assets. Evanston, IL: Northwestern

University, Centre for Urban Affairs and Policy Research.

Lee, Bill. 1999. Pragmatics of community organization. Mississauga, ON: CommonAct Press.

McHale, John. 2004. Communicating for change: Strategies of social and political advocates.

Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Minkler, M. and N. Wallerstein, (eds. 2003). Community-Based Participatory Research for Health. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Moyer, Bill. 2001. Doing democracy: The MAP Model for organizing social movements.

Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.

Rektor, Laurie. 2002. Advocacy - the sound of citizens’ voices. A position paper from the advocacy working group. Ottawa, ON: Government of Canada, Voluntary Sector Initiative Secretariat.

Sheldrick, Byron. 2004. Perils and possibilities: Social activism and the law. Halifax, NS:

Fernwood Publishing.

Shultz, Jim. 2002. A Strategy Planning Tool for Advocacy Campaigns. Washington, DC:

Democracy Center, Advocacy Institute. Found at http://www.iscvt.org/what_we_do/ advocacy_and_leadership_center/

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Module 8: Glossary Aboriginal – This term is used by the Federal government in the Canadian Constitution to define

and identify the unique contribution of First Nations, Métis and Inuit to Canada.

Advocacy – for the purpose of this guide, advocacy is defined as a collaborative process wherein

a group of people and/or a group of museums come together to identify, define, plan, and

implement a plan in order to bring about a specific change in funding, community

awareness or government policy. Advocacy is “the act of speaking or disseminating

information intended to influence individual behaviour or opinion, … or public

policy and law”29

Activism is a word that is often associated with advocacy, but it usually pertains to more confrontational approaches (e.g., public marches on a legislature) often used to convince governments to change public policies or fund a new program. For the purpose of this guide, activism is a subset of advocacy.

Advocacy group or committee – a collection of staff people and/or volunteers from your museum

and/or from other museums that agree to work together on an advocacy plan and work

toward achieving an agreed-upon change goal. The terms “advocacy committee”

and “advocacy group” are used interchangeably in this guide.

Advocacy plan – is the overall picture created when a group of people get together and

intentionally think, discuss and decide on key elements like their central issue,

purpose, goal(s), membership, target audiences, key messages, messengers, advocacy

strategies, advocacy tactics, internal group strengths and weaknesses, external

opportunities and challenges, time frame and indicators of success. This is usually

a written document, arrived at through group discussion and agreement, which an

advocacy group uses as its guide in order to achieve its change goal.

Advocacy strategy – is a scheme within the overall picture on how you will go about trying to

achieve an advocacy goal. Examples of advocacy strategies include: direct contact

with policy makers, confrontation with decision makers, working through the

media, engaging community residents in public discussions, engaging in research,

monitoring government’s activities, networking with other groups, adopting legal

strategies. Advocacy groups choose strategies they believe will be most successful

in achieving their goals.

Advocacy tactics – are specific actions within advocacy strategies – circulating petitions, writing

letters to the newspaper editor, staging a protest at the legislature – that are the building

blocks of your advocacy strategy.

29 Ibid., Government of Canada, Voluntary Sector Initiative, and Privy Council Office 1999, p. 50.

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Assembly of First Nations (AFN) – The Assembly of First Nations is national representative

organization of the First Nations in Canada. It serves as a collective voice of

First Nations living in their communities and presents their views on issues that are of

common concern. Through democratic processes, the National Chief is elected every

three years by the Chiefs-In-Assembly who represent the First Nation’s communities in

Canada. The organization works with national and international organizations,

particularly those working on issues concerning indigenous peoples.

The Assembly of First Nations states on their website “Few Canadians realize that the First Nations peoples are identified in the Constitution as one of the founding nations of Canada, along with the English and French. Few Canadians are aware that up until the 1983-87 First Ministers Conference on Aboriginal Rights, the First Nations People were excluded from taking part in the Constitutional developments of Canada. First Nations peoples have had to deal with conditions of extreme poverty and isolation, and vast geographical dispersion, within the tremendous diversity of aboriginal cultures, languages, and political ideologies. Improved communications and transportation have allowed First Nations Peoples to begin to talk to each other, to the rest of Canada, and to the rest of the world. These relatively recent developments have meant that the First Nations Peoples have had to work harder and faster in order to catch up with the federal and provincial governments in the fields of political knowledge, political reality, and especially in political expertise. The years of being excluded from Canada’s formal political process has left First Nations Peoples with an incredible void to fill just in order to attain a level of political, social, and legal knowledge that is on par with other groups in Canadian society”.

For more information: (http://www.afn.ca/article.asp?id=59).

Businesses – also known as corporations and the private sector and are different from

government and voluntary groups. The following are examples: chambers of commerce,

banks, insurance companies, grocery stores, and craft boutiques.

Community – for our purpose here, community may be divided into two main types: a)

geographic community includes businesses and neighbours located with the immediate

area of your museum; b) community of interest refers to the collection of people,

businesses, governments and funders that share your museum’s interests.

Committee – see “advocacy group” above.

Congress of Aboriginal People (CAP) – Founded in 1971, CAP is a national advocacy

organization that serves as the voice for the rights and interests of off reserve

Aboriginal people throughout Canada. This includes off-reserve and non-

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status individuals and Métis people living in urban, rural, and remote areas of Canada.

For more information: http://www.abo-peoples.org/

Consensus – “a style of decision-making in which all actors in a situation have the opportunity

to express their ideas and feelings and to be heard seriously. It is not the same as

unanimous consent. Rather it is a process which facilitates general support

of whatever decision is made within a group while at the same time maintaining mutual

respect among members.” 30 Culture – the collection of beliefs and norms that affect how we relate to each other both within

our own communities and beyond. It is noteworthy that communities usually possess

many different cultures beyond simply different ethnic groups. For example, there

are business, religious and sports cultures.

Environment or context within which advocacy unfolds – this goes beyond the usual scope of community as defined above. The environment/context can refer to the political environment (i.e., which political party holds office and what beliefs do they possess), the historical environment (i.e., what were the series of past events which lead to the current situation for a museum in a particular community), the social environment (i.e., what are the demographic characteristics of the people who live in a community and what do the relationships among these people look like), and the economic environment (i.e., surplus or deficit year for a municipal government, has a major business employing most of the town’s people recently closed their doors).

Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) – A provincial political entity representing over seventy First Nations in Saskatchewan that works as a collective voice of First Nations in Saskatchewan to advocate with all levels of government: Federal, Provincial and Municipal. The role of FSIN is very similar to that of the tribal councils but on a provincial level.

For a complete history, please visit: http://www.sicc.sk.ca/heritage/ethnography/fsin/ fsin_history.html First Nation Band Council – The Band Council or Chief and Headmen, depending on the electoral procedures, of the First Nation are elected into their positions and answer to the people. The Chief and Council make decisions regarding programs, policy and funding initiatives as it relates to their people. Through the Band governance a First Nation has a right to draft and implement legislation that supersedes both provincial and federal legislation through a Band Council Resolution (BCR).

30 Lee, Bill. 1999. Pragmatics of community organization. Mississauga, ON: CommonAct Press.

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First Nations – refers to the groups of Aboriginal peoples residing in Canada who are neither Métis nor Inuit.

Goals – a desired result for which we strive to achieve in our advocacy work; it is usually

expressed in general terms. Goals are usually developed along with objectives.

Government – is an institution that is responsible for the administration of communities. These include municipal, provincial, federal, and Aboriginal governments. Depending on the advocacy issue, a museum may have to incorporate all four of these levels into their advocacy plan.

Government staff – people who are paid to work for one of the levels of government. These

people are also known as “bureaucrats” or “civil servants”.

Government elected representatives – people who are voted into office through a formal, public process. They included tribal chiefs, municipal councillors, provincial members of the legislative assembly (i.e., MLAs), and federal members of parliament (i.e., MPs).

Indian – Spanish Sailors mistook First Peoples of America as being from India, yet five hundred years later this term is still used for First Peoples. The reason this term is still used is political; as in the INDIAN ACT which are the laws rules and regulations that define First Peoples through federal government jurisdiction. Many people prefer First Nation to the term Indian, or perhaps choose to identify by their nation specific for example Cree or Nishnabe.

Lightening bolts – are negative or positive surprises along the way that impact your advocacy

plan and require you to discuss, re-think, and often, revise your plan with your committee.

Lobby – is a word with multiple meanings. In general, it refers to communicating with a government staff person or politician in an attempt to influence their opinion and/or behaviour. It has a legal meaning within some governments, for example, the City of Toronto defines a lobbyist as “a person who communicates for payment with public office holders, a person who lobbies on a volunteer basis for a business or a not-for-profit professional, business, industry, trade or labour organization or a consultant or voluntary lobbyist who arranges meetings between public office holders and any other person for the purpose of lobbying” (City of Toronto website).

Thus, even though an advocacy group may not label the advocacy work they are doing or the advocacy strategies they have chosen as “lobbying”, their work may be defined as such by the governments with whom they must interact.

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Métis –“Métis” means a person who self-identifies as Métis, is of Historic Métis Nation ancestry,

and is accepted by the Métis Nation through the Acceptance Process”

Source: http://metna.sasktelwebhosting.com/rights/define.html “The Métis Nation grounds its assertion of Aboriginal nationhood on well-recognized international principles. It has a shared history, a common culture (song, dance, dress, national symbols, etc.), a unique language (Michif with various regional dialects), extensive kinship connections from Ontario westward, a distinct way of life, a traditional territory and a collective consciousness” (http://www.metisnation.ca/who/index.html) The Métis were recognized for their contribution to Canada as one of the founding Nations in the Canadian Constitution. Historically the Métis have concerns that are similar to that of First Nations yet are different. the Métis did not sign treaties but were awarded Métis Scrips. Scrip was either land or money which was offered to Métis families to compensate them for loss of their Aboriginal title to their historical and hereditary lands. Qualifying for scrip that was offered in 1885 the applicants had to prove they were living in the North-West Territories prior to 15 July 1870. The land scrip entitlement was for 240 acres that had to be selected from land that had been allocated as homestead land. Often Métis people would often sell their scripts for much less than the land was worth to land speculators because there were long distances away from where they were living.

Métis Locals – The MNS has divided the province into twelve regions and within the regions there are approximately one hundred and thirty Métis locals. Each Métis local has an elected president and members within each region vote for their regional representative to the Provincial Métis Council. Source: http://metna.sasktelwebhosting.com/governance/ regions/wrii.html Métis Nation of Saskatchewan (MNS) – The Métis Nation of Saskatchewan is the provincial political entity with a mandate to protect and secure the rights of Métis people in regards to their Aboriginal rights. It represents the interests and rights of the Métis Nation within Saskatchewan. The Métis Nation Legislative Assembly (MNLA) is the governing authority of the Métis Nation- Saskatchewan. It has the authority to enact legislation, regulations, rules, and resolutions governing the Métis of Saskatchewan. The organization also provides information, programs and services, and promotes the culture and heritage of the Métis peoples. Source: http://metna.sasktelwebhosting.com/ Provincial Métis Council (PMC) – The Council is the cabinet responsible for all Métis Nation of Saskatchewan (MNS) affiliates, departments, programs, and ministers.

It consists of elected regional representatives: the Executive, the president of the Métis Women of Saskatchewan and the president of the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan Youth Council. The MNS has divided the province into twelve regions, and members within

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each region vote for their regional representative to the Provincial Métis Council (PMC).

Source: http://metna.sasktelwebhosting.com/index.php?page=provincial-council Métis National Council – Begun in 1983, this organization represents the interests and rights of the democratically elected leadership of the Métis Nation (from Ontario westward) on a national and international front. It provides information, education, and advocacy and promotes the Métis Nation’s existence within the Canadian state. Source: http://www. metisnation.ca/ Museum – A museum is a nonprofit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment (International Council of Museums, Article 3, Section 1. Accessed March 7, 2009, ICOM Statutes, http://icom.museum/definition. html Networking – “the development of a communication system among a group of individuals that

enables them to share information” and act.31 Nonprofit sector – most museums are considered nonprofit organizations because they have the following characteristics: they are organized and have their own structure; they are independent from governments; they do not distribute profits like businesses do; they are self-governing in that they have their own internal democratic processes; and they have volunteers involved as board members and in many instances, volunteers are also involved in running museum programs. 32These organizations may also have paid staff.

Other labels for these organizations include voluntary, third sector, or community-based organizations.

Many organizations in the nonprofit sector are registered with the federal government as “charitable organizations” and must follow Canada Revenue Agency rules and the Income Tax Act. Many nonprofit sector organizations are registered with their provincial/ territorial governments and must follow rules regulated by provincial/territorial corporations acts.

Museums in Saskatchewan may be registered charities, registered nonprofits with the provincial government, or legally constituted as part of an existing nonprofit organization.

31 Ibid., Lee 1999, glossary.

32 Hall, Michael and Keith Banting. 2000. The non-profit sector in Canada: An introduction. In The nonprofit sector in Canada: Roles and relationships, ed. Keith Banting: 1-28. Kingston, ON: McGillUniversity Press.

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Objectives – a specific, concrete, measurable, achievable result which we strive to achieve in our

advocacy work. These are usually developed along with goals.

Politics – 33 Politics with a capital “P” refers to governments who govern reserves, towns/ cities, provinces and countries. Politics with a small “p” is a broader concept and refers to the interactions of people with power.

Politicians – see “government elected representatives” above.

Policy – In general, a policy lies within a government administration and is defined as a plan adopted from a list of alternatives that is designed to guide and influence current and future decisions and actions made by that government. For the purpose of this guide, policy refers to government Acts, regulations and by-laws even though in reality these are all very different.

Power – there are many forms of power and we all have some form of power but we often do not recognize this. Different forms of power exist and can be used to move advocacy processes forward. Many definitions of power exist, but in general, power is the ability and capacity of individuals and groups to control a situation and influence other people to behave in certain ways. Power is also referred to as influence and strength. Different forms of power exist in different situations for different people (e.g., political power, citizen power, power of knowledge, power of persuasion). It is important to note that power is always changing and shifting.

Research – is an organized process that seeks to gather information about a subject (including objects, events, people, processes, institutions, or communities), analyze the information, and present and share it with others. It is used to reach a new understanding, create relationships between topics, or expand understanding about specific topics.

Stakeholders – the different groups of people that advocates believe have a role to play in supporting or detracting from an advocacy process. Some of these groups include teachers, businesses, churches, voluntary organizations like the YWCA, seniors homes, police, and service clubs like Kiwanis. Depending on the advocacy goals, stakeholders might also include governments, funders, students, etc.

Treaties – Treaties are agreements made with individual First Nations and the Crown of England, through the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution in the 1980’s; Aboriginal rights were recognized and affirmed within the constitution. Treaties were agreements which are to last “as long as the Sun shines, the River flows and the Grass grows….” therefore Treaty Nations were given specific rights over their own governance.

33 Tearfund International Learning Zone.

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Tribal Councils – Tribal Councils enable the First Nations to advocate on behalf of issues that pertain to their populations. Tribal Councils address the common interests of their respective First Nations in an equitable and professional manner, while perhaps acting as an advocate for issues that pertain to their membership. Tribal Councils promote self-determination while protecting and implementing Treaty Rights in their prospective communities. Often Tribal Councils act as an advisory to their membership and provide technical support. Each of the tribal councils is affiliated with the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. Not all First Nations operate with a Tribal Council.

In Saskatchewan are Agency Chiefs Tribal Council; Battlefords Tribal Council; File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council; Fort Carlton Agency Council; Meadow Lake Tribal Council; Prince Albert Grand Council; Saskatoon District Tribal Council; Southeast Treaty #4 Tribal Council; Touchwood Agency Chiefs and Yorkton Tribal Council.

Please see http://www.sicc.sk.ca/bands/tribal.html for links to each of the perspective tribal councils.

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Module 9: Worksheets and Reference Sheets This Module provides you with all the worksheets that have been indicated throughout the Guide. It also provides you with reference sheets – these contain important information that you can print off and keep within your advocacy binder/files.

1. Reference Sheet: Advocacy Skills Needed 2. Reference Sheet: Forms of Power 3. Reference Sheet: Eight Key Components of Planning 4. Worksheet A: Think, Discuss, Decide 5. Worksheet B: What we have and what we need 6. Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan

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Reference Sheet: Advocacy skills needed The following are skill types that are helpful for doing advocacy work and making change. 34 • Visionary – sees things and imagines goals that do not seem realistic; they aim high, take risks and re-order priorities.

• Strategist – can see what part of the vision is attainable, creates a road map to get there, and gets around obstacles – including difficult coalition members.

• Statesperson – a champion of an issue who carries authority, is trusted and is credible in the community.

• Expert – knowledge, skill and credibility to create well-reasoned and factual documents.

• Sparkplug – has the ability to annoy people in power (e.g., politicians) in order to move them to make certain decisions. They are action-oriented.

• Inside advocate – knowledgeable about political processes and is a skilled negotiator; this person may occupy a position of power or simply know which doors to open.

• Strategic communicator – translates complex ideas into easily understandable messages for the public.

• Movement builder – ability to reach out and bring new people into the advocacy work as necessary; they make new people feel welcome and longer term members feel valued. They encourage a diversity of voices to be heard at meetings.

• Generalist – a person who has many skills and able to do many different tasks based on many years of experience.

• Historian – skilled at tracking a group’s past experiences including the evolution of issues, things tried, lessons learned, relationships formed and destroyed, yet continue to call for action in the present.

• Cultural activist – a trusted person who works inside government and who is a public opinion leader; her/his main goal is cultural preservation and building bridges between groups.

34 Advocacy Institute. 2002. Leadership roles within an advocacy movement. Washington, DC: Institute for Sustainable Communities. ttp://www.iscvt.org/what_we_do/advocacy_and_leadership_center/.

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Reference Sheet: Forms of power in the advocacy environment Form of Power Persuasive power

Example – a charismatic person to whom others are attracted because of their enthusiasm – an “expert” who can deliver and explain information based on research that supports your position

Citizen power

Two main forms – power in numbers, for example, when 100’s of people attend a municipal council meeting – power of experiential knowledge occurs when people testify about their lived experiences

Law or legal power Legislative power

– a lawyer who knows about certain laws – a government staff person who knows about and implements various government Acts and Bylaws – an individual who knows about government and funder structures and processes and can make suggestions about appropriate advocacy strategies – a person who is elected to political office (e.g., MPs. MLAs, City councillors), who can influence decisions about public policy and funding – a professor or other highly educated person who works with data and other evidence to create an argument that justifies your advocacy group’s position – members of your advocacy group intentionally connect with other groups and organizations to spread the word about your issue; often this includes an invitation to get involved – a person who has the ability to create a unique slant on an issue that will grab and hold people’s attention and imagination – faith/church groups who are able to appeal to what is morally right and speak publicly from that perspective – a person/family who is able to fund your advocacy plan so that you can hire experts like lawyers, etc. to work on your issue

Systems power Political power Power of knowledge Power of networking Power of creativity Power of ideology Power of money

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Reference Sheet: Eight Key Components of Planning The following are eight key components35 that your group should work on before you take any action. Each component contains a key question for your group to answer. Answers to these questions become part of your advocacy plan. This plan becomes your guide as you launch your advocacy process. Answering these questions is part of Step 2 – Plan.

Eight key components of planning: 1. Target audiences – Who is the audience we need to target to make change?

2. Messages – What do these audiences need to hear?

3. Messengers – Who do they need to hear the message from?

4. Resources and gaps – What do we have and what do we need?

5. Strategies – How can we get the audiences to hear the message?

6. Timing – When should we do it?

7. First steps – How should we begin?

8. Evaluation – How will we know if our plan is working?

35 Adapted from Jim Shultz of the Democracy Center, Advocacy Institute, 2002, Washington, D.C., A Strategy Planning Tool for Advocacy Campaigns.

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ACTION Worksheet A: Think, Discuss, Decide is a resource for your advocacy group that guides you through Step 1 in the advocacy process. This worksheet will be useful at one of your first meetings because it illustrates the key areas which require individual thinking, group discussion and group decision-making. It may take several meetings to fill out the entire worksheet.

The areas within the worksheet will require research - for example, under the Key Areas, section it asks your group to answer questions such as: What is the issue? Where did it come from? If you need more information, where should you go?

Worksheet A provides your group with the necessary information you need to embark on Step 2 – Plan. It also starts to provide your group with the base of your advocacy plan. The information you gather in Worksheet A can then be summarized and input into Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan.

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Worksheet A: Think, Discuss, Decide Key Areas

Think (think individually)

Discuss (discuss in your group)

Decide (decide as a group)

a) Identify, define and analyse your issue What appears to be the issue/problem?

Where did your issue come from?

Why has it become an issue for your museum?

When did it become an issue for your museum?

Who specifically was implicated in its creation and persistence?

How did the issue come into being?

What does the issue look like (i.e., both quantitatively and qualitatively)?

How should we define the issue?

What information do you have that helps to explain the issue?

If you need more information, what else do you need and from where can you get it?

– other museums – government and funders – universities, public libraries – internet websites, media (e.g. newspapers) – attend upcoming meetings

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b) Draft a purpose What is the general reason you have come together as a group to work? c) Sets goal(s) & objectives What do you hope to achieve or accomplish? What goal(s) changes do you want to make?

What specific, measurable, attainable, time-based objectives do you want to achieve? d) Who should be involved?

Now that you have (i) an understanding of your issue/problem, and (ii) a purpose and goal(s), you need to (iii) think about and decide who should join your group in order to help you achieve your goal.

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ACTION Worksheet B: ‘What we have and what we need’ will guide your group through the process of analyzing your advocacy environment by completing a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis.

This is a key part of Step 2 – Plan.

Completing this worksheet will provide your group with a shared understanding and help you implement your chosen advocacy strategy(ies).

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Worksheet B: What we have and what we need

Element Internal (within your advocacy group) Strengths

Weaknesses

External (outside your advocacy group) Opportunities

Challenges

Partnerships & networks with other organizations Links with governments & funders Human resources, skill & abilities Financial resources Information & data Types of power Timing & timelines Technology Who cares about your issue Other

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ACTION Worksheet C: Summary Advocacy Plan summarizes the important advocacy questions that have been presented in Module 4: The advocacy process – four major steps.

The information you gathered in Worksheet A: Think, Discuss, Decide can be summarized and inputted into Worksheet C. Once your group begins to work on this page and fill in each box, it will probably be more than one page in length, it all depends on the complexity of your issue.

The only new item on the following summary worksheet that was not presented in this module is the last column labelled “who responsible”. This refers to individual group members who agree to take on the lead role on certain tactics over the life of the advocacy process. Explicitly naming people to do certain tasks usually ensures tasks get done.

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3.

2.

1.

Objectives Indicators of Audiences Key Messengers Advocacy Advocacy Internal External success targeted messages strategies tactics strengths & opportunities (evaluation) (activities) weaknesses & threats

Issue: Goals and objectives:

Worksheet C - Summary Advocacy Plan

Time frame

Who is responsible

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Module 10: Evaluation Feedback Form The Advocacy Guide is for you – please help us meet your needs. Your evaluation and critical feedback is very important to us. We will take all comments into consideration for future editions of the Guide. Please write as much as you can – everything helps!

Please mail or email completed evaluation forms to: Museums Association of Saskatchewan 424 McDonald Street Regina, SK S4N 6E1 P 1-306-780-9279 F 1-306-780-9463 Toll free in SK 1-866-568-7386 mas@saskmuseums.org www.saskmuseums.org Content 1. After working through the Guide, do you think you have the basic knowledge and skills required to be an effective advocate?

2. Was the information in this Guide easy to understand?

3. What other information would be helpful to add to this Guide?

4. What, if anything, was the most helpful part of this Guide?

5. What, if anything, needs to be improved in this Guide?

6. What additional resources should be added to section 7?

7. What other words, if any, should be in the glossary in section 8?

8. Anything else?

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Organization and Layout: 1. Was the layout/design easy to follow? If not, why not?

2. Was the font appropriate? If not, please suggest an alternative.

3. Was the information presented in a way that helped you to understand it? If not, how could it be improved?

4. Anything else?

Additional Comments:

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