This report, and the evaluation that informed it, examines what it takes for advocacy to build power in addition to achieving wins.
While getting policy wins and systems changes remains a necessary and important objective, what does it mean to center impacted communities as the drivers of change? What does it mean to make building their power the ultimate goal of advocacy work? What does it require of the broader ecosystem of actors—funders, professional advocates, and other allies—who also are involved in the work?
This report begins with background on BHC, describes our evaluation approach, and defines key terms. It then offers the conceptual framework we used to guide data collection and analysis, followed by our findings about advocacy that builds power. The report ends with implications for funders who support advocacy.
The research for this report was conducted in close coordination with research by CSSP. The CEI and CSSP reports base their analysis on a common power building framework; they draw on the same case documentation (summarized in Appendix A); and the two reports have complementary findings. The resulting reports are companion pieces, and readers are urged to review and learn from both.
This report focuses on advocacy that builds power and what distinguishes it from advocacy focused only on a policy win. The CSSP report focuses on the power ecosystem, its six core elements, the capacities needed to build power, and how organizations in the ecosystem self-organize. The report also explores the role of grassroots organizing groups, how the ecosystem builds power, and the role of the foundation. (author abstract)