Mobilizing Your Community for Advocacy and Social Change

Mobilizing Your Community for Advocacy and Social Change

By Ciara Claraty, Senior Consultant, Alford Group

By the time Giving Tuesday arrives, nonprofit teams have put considerable thought into what they will ask. The appeal is written and the fundraising goal is set. Board members are reaching out to people they know, sharing why they care about the mission and inviting others to join them in supporting it.

I’d like to suggest one more question before we hit send: What are we inviting people to help change?

Giving Tuesday, on December 1 this year, creates an opportunity to connect generosity with a larger conversation about our communities. It can also give people a place in the work that continues long after the campaign ends.

This takes intention on our part as nonprofit leaders. People can care deeply about an issue and still have very little idea how to influence it. We have a role in helping them understand where their involvement can make a difference and making that first step easy to take.

Connect the Immediate Need to the Bigger Picture

At Alford Group, we help organizations articulate their philanthropic value proposition: why their work matters, what’s at stake and what becomes possible through community support. Being bold about the change you want to make and clear about why now is the time for others to get involved.

A strong Giving Tuesday appeal brings that larger purpose into focus through something tangible. Meals for a family. A safe place to sleep. Access to an arts program for youth. It helps people understand both the immediate difference they can make and the lasting change they can help advance.

There is also room to help supporters understand why that need remains important.

Let the Community Help Shape the Invitation

Before asking people to share a campaign, consider who helped decide what it would say.

People closest to an issue often understand things an organization’s leadership or donors may miss: where a process breaks down, which solutions are practical and whose perspective has been absent.

Invite those insights early enough to influence the campaign’s priorities and calls to action. Ask community members what they want others to understand and what they want people to do.

If we invite someone to share their experience publicly, they should have a say in how it is presented, where it appears and whether they participate at all.

A story can move people. The person telling it should also have influence over the work it inspires.

Give People a Specific Role

“Help us raise awareness” is commonly used, but it leaves a lot for a supporter to figure out. A useful invitation helps people recognize something they can contribute to and shows them where to begin.

Consider a few ways people could participate:

• As an ambassador: Personally invite a neighbor to a community conversation, share why the mission matters to them or introduce the organization to an employer or local partner.
• As an advocate: Attend a public meeting about an issue affecting the people you serve, with background information and a clear explanation of how to participate.
• As an advisor: Share lived experience or professional expertise to help shape priorities and identify barriers the organization should address.
• As a connector: Make thank-you calls to fellow supporters, ask what inspired their involvement and help them feel part of the community behind the work.

These roles give people a way to see themselves contributing. Someone who is uncomfortable asking for a gift might be delighted to thank a donor. Someone attending a community conversation may have insight that changes your approach.

You don’t need to launch all of these opportunities at once. Choose one your team can support well, explain the commitment and make a personal invitation.

Plan for December 2

Before launching, decide who will follow up with the people who raise their hands.

If someone volunteers to advocate, who will help them prepare for that first public meeting? If an ambassador offers an introduction, who will follow through? If an advisor identifies a barrier, how will you let them know what happened with their input? And if someone offers to make thank you calls, will they have guidance they need?

Decide who will welcome each person, help they get started and stay in touch. The invitation is only as meaningful as our ability to follow through.

Broaden What You Count

Keep your fundraising goal! Alongside it, choose one or two measures that help you understand whether community participation is growing.

How many people took a first advocacy action? Who returned for a second conversation? Did community input change your approach? Did a new relationship help address a barrier?

Those questions can reveal progress that a campaign total alone cannot capture.

This Giving Tuesday, we have an opportunity to ask for support in a way that helps people see a meaningful role for themselves. A gift can meet an immediate need. A conversation, introduction or shared decision can help move the longer work forward.

What would you invite your community to do on December 1 if you were already thinking about what you could accomplish together by next December?