Ready, set, go!

Congratulation! You’ve reached the final step in our becoming and advocate toolkit. The final step in your advocacy journey is ACTION. But before you jump into advocating, use this checklist as a guide to ensure that you’ve completed all the necessary steps to become an effective advocate.

I understand what advocacy is.
I would like to become and advocate and understand my reasons for wanting to become an advocate.
I understand the decision-making process whether its legislature, a regulatory agency, or other decision-making body.
I have identified and set my SMART advocacy goals.
I understand my audience.
I have developed and practiced my message using The story of Self, Us and Now as my template.
I believe in myself and my advocacy abilities. You are ready and you can do this!

If you completed these steps, you are committed to change and willing and able to publicly share your commitment. You are now ready to connect with the decision-makers and make your voice heard.

Connecting with decision makers

Depending on the decision-maker you are aiming to reach, the method of connecting maybe different. To connect with a state legislator (representative or senator) it is common practice to contact their scheduler or legislative aide. You may do this at an individual level and contact their office to schedule an appointment, or for a stronger delivery – you may join a group or coalition to discuss several topics of interests. Many times, when you call or walk-in to a legislator’s office, you only get to speak with the legislative aide. If this is the case, ensure to get their name, email, and what role they play in the office. This will allow for follow-up communications via email where you can provide more information about the topic you are advocating for and establish a connection. You can also connect indirectly – see below for more details.

Ways that you can directly connect with a legislator’s office:

Make a phone call. You can leave a voicemail.

Send an email to their scheduler, legislative aide, or their designated email.

Meet via Zoom or in-person. Call or email to schedule an appointment with the legislative aid. Also, you can walk-in to schedule an appointment or meet with the legislator or their office staff.

Ways that you can indirectly advocate or connect with a legislator’s office:

Attend a district meeting or a meeting open to the public. These are typically held in-between the legislative seasons.

Post on social media. Remember to tag the legislator, their officer staff and any secondary audience or influencers that can persuade the decision-makers.

TIP!

If you decide to walk-in, it is better to go with a group increasing your chances of meeting with a representative or a senator.

Once you are ready to connect with a legislator, this guide will help you prepare your advocacy package.

Decide which legislator you would like to address.

Depending on your advocacy topics and your goals, appealing to the legislators that have the primary authority or voting history with respect to your topic is very important to your advocacy success.
Is your topic oral health? Check- out our list of oral health legislative champions (pdf).

Decide how would you like to connect.

Speak with a staff member OR you may leave a message.
Identify yourself & ask for a legislative assistant relevant to the issue you are calling about.
Ensure to have your 2-minute narrative developed and in front of you before you call. Use the Story of Self, Us and Now template to keep the message organized and concise. The template will help you outline your talking points including introducing yourself, outlining the issue, sharing your story, and what should be done.
Ensure to get a name, email, and position of the person your spoke to for follow-up reasons.
At the conclusion of the phone call, follow-up via email to share your written narrative, supporting evidence, contact information, and offer to provide additional information if needed. See instructions for emailing below.

For more information about developing your message visit Step 6: Build and practice your message.

Clearly state the subject in the email subject line and/or the first sentence of the email.
You can copy and paste your 2-minute narrative into the body of the email and rework it to keep it under 500 words or less. Use the Story of Self, Us and Now to develop your narrative or the general advocacy letter template (for more advanced advocates).
Attach evidence/supporting materials. If you are advocating for the development of an up-to-date Medicaid provider directory, you can share this issue brief developed by the Institute and Oral Health Parent Advisory Committee.
Offer to provide additional information if needed and thank the members for their attention.
For more information visit How to Write a Letter or Email from the American Psychological Association Guide to Advocacy.

Due to COVID-19 many legislative offices began conducting meetings remotely via zoom. These meetings are typically shorter in length.
Schedule your meeting appointment by calling the office scheduler.
Practice your 2-minute narrative before the meeting and time yourself.
Have you talking points/narrative in front of you in case you forget something.
Ensure to get a name, email and position of the person you spoke with.
Follow-up via email to thank the individual(s) for taking the time to meet, include evidence/supporting materials and your contact information if you feel comfortable.

If you choose to attend in person, by appointment or walk-in, go with a group/organization rather than by yourself to increase your chances of meeting with a representative or senator. There is strength in numbers.
Bring your talking points/narrative and evidence/supporting documents with you to leave behind at the office.
Don’t forget to leave your contact information.

Legislator and city council officials may hold public meetings to talk about topics that impact or will impact the community. You can request to present/share at these meetings. The public gets a small portion of the time to share. Take advantage.
Many local organizations travel to the state capital every year on designated days to advocate. For example, every year Catalyst Miami organizes a three-day trip to Tallahassee where participating community members, partners and staff can meet with elected official to discuss the issue of greatest concern to their communities.

Benefits if using social media to advocate:
Large platform for networking with other group/organization with similar advocacy priorities.
Connects you with every legislator that has a social media account.
Efficient resource to inform the public and gather support.
Cost-effective and easy to use.

Depending on the platform you choose to use, remember to tag and use hashtags to gain traction on your posts. Keep in mind that each social media platform has different requirements in terms of character count, image size, etc. Here is an example of a Twitter post that you can use if you are advocating for development of an up-to-date Medicaid provider directory.
Inaccurate and out of date provider directories pose unnecessary barriers for Medicaid-enrolled children impacting access to care and further contributing to oral health disparities among this population. @AHCA_FL here is what you can do to help #OralHealth