What is An Advocacy Website
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What Is Advocacy Itself
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Advocacy is a way of getting help in speaking up and being heard. When we need support from health and care agencies, it can sometimes feel overwhelming, confusing and even frightening to have to navigate the ‘system’ alone. An advocate is there to ‘walk’ alongside you and help you to make decisions, express these choices and be involved when decisions are being made. Advocacy in its broadest sense can be undertaken by any person and is often a part of health and social care roles. Social workers for instance need to advocate for the children and families they support by listening to their needs. Parents are also good examples of advocates as they often need to ‘stick up’ for their children and promote their rights. However there are differences between the type of generic advocacy undertaken by any person and the type of specialist advocacy provided by an Independent Advocate.
Independent Advocacy is concerned with working from a person led perspective. The person is always in control of the advocacy process, including terminating it. This means that an independent advocate:
1. Will always plan from the person’s definition of the problem
2. Will always work towards whatever outcome the person wants
3. Will provide access to information to enable the person to make their own decision
4. Will help the person to explore their options - without bias
5. akes action to promote and protect the person's legal human rights
Recognises the person as having the most specialised knowledge of their life, views, wishes and feelings
Why Do We Need A Website for Advocacy
As the nonprofit sector and the economy as a whole face unprecedented levels of disruption, planning out your nonprofit’s next campaign can certainly feel daunting. What works in a new virtual environment? What will be engaging for your supporters when they’ve got new concerns of their own? For nonprofits of all sizes, online advocacy is becoming an increasingly effective choice. Online advocacy campaigns, anchored around raising awareness or mobilizing political and social support for new legislation, tie together a number of key forces facing the nonprofit sector today:
1. Will always plan from the person’s definition of the problem
2. Surging public interest and awareness around missions related to social, economic, and public health issues
3. Increased digital engagement across the board amid social distancing and remote work
Online advocacy infrastructures and tech
There are a few key elements you’ll need in order to begin planning your next online advocacy push.
A relevant mission: Issues relating directly to the coronavirus pandemic are well positioned for online advocacy, but the pandemic’s much wider economic impacts mean that nonprofits with all kinds of missions have a stake in what’s happening. Think about your unique perspective and how your own community has specifically been impacted.
A specific goal: You’ll also need a specific target to build your advocacy efforts around. Mobilizing petition signers and constituents by promoting (or critiquing) upcoming legislation related to your mission are classic examples. If your goals are intangible or too vague, it becomes difficult to maintain the campaign’s energy and motivate supporters.
An online audience: For your online advocacy efforts to succeed, you’ll need a digitally engaged base of support. Of course, your online audience will grow—that should be a core aim of your campaign. If, however, you’ve never done much online outreach before or don’t have social media accounts for your nonprofit, you’ll need to build out that foundation before diving straight into online advocacy.
