NOW HEAR THIS

NOW HEAR THIS THE NINE LAWS OF

SUCCESSFUL ADVOCACY
COMMUNICATIONS
With Words of Wisdom From
More Than 25 Leading Experts
Not too long ago, the former U.S. Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD), Andrew Cuomo,
spoke to a group of nonprofits and progressive
organizations assembled together on the eve of the
2001 Presidential Inaugural. He said something that
struck a particular chord in me: “Compassion and
competency equal success.”

Most of the work we do to improve the lives of others

and the lives of generations to come is born of our
compassion and stubborn hope that, if we just keep
at it, we will make a difference. We will protect our
natural resources. We will guarantee in practice that
everyone has equal protection under the law. We will
not let American children die in poverty. We will help
the millions in far away places conquer the raging
killer, AIDS.
NOW HEAR THIS
But our persistent hoping and sometimes aimless
grinding away, and yes, our compassion, are only good
for so much. Ultimately, we are effective only when we
are competent — when we buy or develop the right
skills for a job, think creatively, focus resources, exploit
opportunity and come out of our world long enough
to listen to the people in the worlds we want to talk to.
The change we seek will elude us forever if we do not
INTRODUCTION
bring the right skills and the right strategy to bear on Nonprofit organizations are at work on issues of critical
the problems we so desperately wish to solve. social importance.
To succeed, they face the challenge of trying to educate,
This report, written by Kristen Wolf of Fenton
motivate and mobilize a public that is too often stressed
Communications, is about competence — and really,
out, overextended, even apathetic. This process has never
common sense in communications. Communication
been easy, but now it is harder than ever. Even interested
is not an end. It can be a powerful means to changing Good communication cuts through the clutter, and well-meaning people are cynical, confused, and
hearts and minds and changing votes. We live in the it doesn't add to it. It does this by getting the right difficult to reach. Public opinion is not easily moved.
information age and negotiating our time and place People hear more “noise” than ever and they tune out
in history requires good communications. message, in the right medium, delivered by
far more than they tune in.
the right messengers, to the right audience.
The “no nonsense”voices of communications This document is not intended as a blueprint for creating
professionals and advocates for social change, who communications campaigns, but offers a way of thinking
were crucial in helping to develop “Now Hear This,” about campaigns from a strategic marketing and
challenge us to hold fast to our compassion and communications perspective.
dedicate ourselves to competence.

— Maggie Williams

© 2001, Fenton Communications • 1320 18th Street, NW, Washington DC 20036 • 202-822-5200 • www.fenton.com
Sponsored by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation
 “It’s not only about being righteous,
it’s about being righteous and smart.”
— Bobby Muller, Co-founder,
International Campaign to Ban Landmines

They also face challenges: We all know this, yet too often we move forward on
■ Sometimes they go from being right to being campaigns without using these three criteria as our
righteous, losing supporters along the way. guide. How do we ensure these three core components
are at the center of the campaign?
■ They often want to win the battle and the war in one
step, when history tells us this is not the way it works. 4) Start with systematic planning that is reviewed and
They have to be committed for the long-term. then revised.

■ They often build campaigns and initiatives on 5) Specify for people what to do, how to do it, and why.
assumptions — not tested, well-honed strategies. 6) Make the case for why action is needed now.
■ They sometimes think the issues are too complex for 7) Match strategy and tactics to target audience.
simple, concise messages. 8) Budget for success.
People working in the nonprofit world sometimes
In preparing this report, we searched for common 9) Rely on experts when needed.
have trouble adopting a marketing mindset, but in the
denominators that helped to define the most
end, the goal is for people to “buy” our ideas — ideas What follows is a closer look at these common
successful campaigns — as well as the Achilles’ heel
for a better world. That means we need to find or denominators, along with words of wisdom from some
of some failures.
create willing consumers. And we can’t simply hit exceptional communicators from the nonprofit sector.
“Nonprofits are experts on the issues that affect all of us, them over the head. Browbeating is rarely a successful One conclusion: there are three MUST HAVES
sales technique. for any successful campaign:
but are not always experts on the best way to
From a marketing perspective, when nonprofits conduct 1) Clear, measurable goals.
communicate what they know. They have staff who
communications campaigns they have assets: 2) Extensive knowledge of whom you are trying
believe, who care, and who are really passionate about ■ They have tremendous public trust. to reach and what moves them.
what they do. They just need to learn how to harness ■ They have credibility. 3) Compelling messages that connect with your
that enthusiasm.” ■ They work on inspiring issues that by their very
target audience.

nature garner attention.

— Candy Cox, DDB
■ They have a strong record.
 “You can never really say what you’ve accomplished,
The International Campaign to or whether you’ve accomplished anything at all,
Ban Landmines made their goal
simple: Ban them. So far 111
unless you have very specific and quantifiable goals
countries have ratified the 1997 against which you can measure your effect.”
treaty banning landmines.
— Carl Safina,
National Audubon Society

1
CLEAR GOALS, MEASURABLE PROGRESS
Winning campaigns have clear, measurable goals. articulated a plan of action. Bobby Muller, who Jon Haber of Fleishman-Hillard reminds us that goals
Ban landmines. Secure a federal management plan co-founded the International Campaign to Ban need to come before everything else, especially in
for North Atlantic swordfish (Give Swordfish a Break). Landmines, was sitting in his office one night and coalition politics. “Is your goal to have a pure coalition
Decrease litter on Texas highways (Don’t Mess with said, “Why don’t we just ban the goddamn things.” of people you agree with or is your goal to save the trees?
Texas). Decrease incidents of drunk driving He’d just articulated his goal — so clearly that everyone If your goal is to save trees, let’s figure out how to do
(Don’t Drink and Drive). These are clear goals. understood what the International Campaign to that, and it might mean picking up people who are not
“People start from the wrong place and have the A communications program can be put in place to Ban Landmines was out to do. normally politically on our side, but will help us win.”
support such goals.
wrong goal. Ask yourself: what behavior do you want According to Bill Novelli of AARP, picking the wrong
to achieve and by what degree. Is it doable…?” We can measure our progress toward achieving these goal is one of the mistakes nonprofits repeat the most.
goals. How many countries have signed a treaty to ban “Too often, people create an elegant plan around the
— Bill Novelli, AARP landmines? How many chefs have said they won’t serve wrong premise or the wrong goal.”
swordfish until a fisheries management plan is in place?
“A successful campaign, no matter how we define it,
How much have we saved in Texas highway
has got to begin with very clear, realistic, measurable
maintenance fees because fewer people are throwing
goals,” says Barbara Beck of the Pew Charitable Trusts.
trash out the windows of their cars? Are drunk driving-
“Campaign goals that are not explicit and realistic are
related accidents going down?
very hard to evaluate. You’ve got to evaluate so you can
Many organizations were talking about the problem of see where you’ve made mistakes. You need to know
landmines, and the toll they were taking on humans, where the holes are. That’s how we move forward.”
especially children, around the world. But no one had
 “We don’t pay enough attention to
who the ultimate audience is.
"Give Swordfish a Break" successfully We don’t assess where they are
reached key gatekeepers in the
seafood industry. on a certain issue so that we can
be more sophisticated in our
messages to them.”
— Vikki Spruill, SeaWeb

2 AUDIENCE IDENTIFICATION
AND SEGMENTATION
There’s an old saying in advertising: If you want to sell to Who makes decisions about food for consumers? Chefs, Once you know who to reach, you need to figure out
fish, don’t use skywriting. Fish don’t read. People often among others. SeaWeb and the Natural Resources how to reach them. You must assess their belief system
spend a lot of time figuring out exactly what to say, Defense Council, the groups behind the “Give Swordfish and find common ground. “We have to study our target
without a lot of consideration of to whom it should a Break” campaign, targeted chefs as the second most audiences and find out what we can say that will make
be said. important audience for their campaign (the Secretary of them change their behavior,” notes AARP’s Bill Novelli.
“Today’s social marketplace is increasingly crowded Don’t say you are trying to reach “the general public.”
Commerce being most important). And they didn’t need
In Texas, they had a litter problem. When GSD&M,
every chef in the country, they needed famous chefs, the
and competitive. Targeting and segmentation are While this might be true in a very broad sense, the more
trendsetters, the ones who regularly appear in the media.
the ad company hired to develop a campaign to decrease
pertinent fact is that you need to persuade the small litter on the Texas highways, conducted research to
crucial to breaking through and having the edge The audience target has been refined from massive to
group of people who can actually change things. The find out who was responsible for the majority of litter,
to persuade.” trick is to find out who those five, 50 or 5,000 people are.
manageable, e.g., from the general public to famous
they identified their target audience: young men
chefs. Now the campaign can create messages, materials
15-24 years old. Once they knew who they needed
— Celinda Lake, Consider the “Give Swordfish a Break” campaign. and outreach programs to reach this very specific
to reach, they created a theme and position that
The goal was to get a strong fishery management plan audience. This was much easier, and a far more strategic
Lake Snell Perry and Associates, Inc. in place. The U.S. Secretary of Commerce, who oversees
resonated with this group — being cool and macho.
thing to do, than trying to reach the general public.
GSD&M made it uncool to litter. Andy Goodman, a
the National Marine Fisheries Service, is responsible for In the end, “Give Swordfish a Break” had more than
communications consultant to foundations and public
fishery planning. How does one put pressure on the 750 chefs not serving swordfish. This captured the
interest groups, notes that when guitarist Stevie Ray
Secretary? A group could get masses of U.S. consumers attention of the press, and, ultimately, of the Secretary
Vaughn uttered four magical words “Don’t Mess With
to agree not to eat the fish, but that would take a long of Commerce.
Texas,” within 12 months, litter decreased statewide by
time. Action was needed within two years. It takes a lot
an astonishing 29 percent.
of money to get to individual consumers one at a time.
 CDF’s campaign told
teenage girls how
pregnancy negatively
affects lifestyle.

CDF staff personally preferred some of the other ad everything to do with being a Texan. The goal was to
concepts created for this campaign. There was one that associate the idea (cleaning up litter) with something
said, “It’s like being grounded for 18 years.” The visual the target audience (Texans) already believed (being
is a young woman holding an infant. But when CDF from Texas is special).
tested their concepts in front of teens, teens themselves
Identifying your audience’s key values will help you
connected most with the “pimple” concept. The target
persuade them initially. You will also have an idea where
audience is the most important critic of your message
your effort may be vulnerable to messages from your
and approach. It is essential to go with what is most
opponents. This will enable you to prevent, preempt
effective in reaching your key audience, not what most
or defeat those attacks.
appeals to those within your organization.
Think strategically about your audience and the best
Vikki Spruill of SeaWeb thinks we need to pay more
The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) wanted to reduce ways to reach them. Only then can you create effective
attention to the target audiences’ beliefs and attitudes.
teenage pregnancy rates. Their target: teens. They could messages.
“We think we are the audience. We don’t pay enough
have made the mistake that Bill Novelli says nonprofits attention to who the ultimate audience is. We don’t Whenever you think: “The fact that I am right should be
often make — starting with messages that appeal to assess where they are on a certain issue so that we enough,” think about the nerd at the frat party, who,
them, as opposed to developing messages that actually can be more sophisticated in our messages to them. around midnight, starts warning people about toxicity
resonate with the target audience. We may be inclined to
“Most organizations have limited resources. It’s not Nonprofits don’t listen to the audience and they don’t levels in beer.
tell teens to abstain from sex for moral reasons or that pay attention to how the audience perceives the problem.
strategic nor practical to spend time and money teen pregnancy often leads to poverty, but these messages If anything, they are condescending about what the
reaching audiences that can’t help you. Put your PR may not be nearly as effective in preventing teen pregnancy audience doesn’t know.”
as developing messages that are credible and have an
dollars to work more effectively by targeting and immediate relevance to teens’ lives. For example, as CDF Remember: It is easier to motivate someone around
prioritizing your audiences.” did, tell them about the serious negative consequences something they already believe than to convince them
sex has on a teen’s lifestyle, like how they look or what of something new.
— Robert Bray, SPIN Project parties they can’t go to. This they can believe. Media wizard Tony Schwartz has written about
CDF took this approach and disseminated these kinds “responsive chords” — plucking a value in your audience
of messages. The one message that tested best with the with your issue. Good persuasion, according to Schwartz,
teens featured a close-up picture of a pregnant stomach doesn’t tell people anything new; it reminds them of
with the words “If You’re Embarrassed By a Pimple, something they already know. The “Don’t Mess With
Try Explaining This.” Texas” campaign had nothing to do with litter and
 “Nonprofits suffer from
literal sclerosis.”
The “Don’t Mess With Texas” campaign
tapped directly into Texans’ macho pride
— Billy Shore,
to get young Texan males to stop littering. Share Our Strength

3
CLEAR, SIMPLE, CONCISE MESSAGES
Clear goals and measurable steps toward them are Messages are designed to achieve goals. A winning One method sells coffee. The other puts people to sleep. a creative way to tell people to stop littering. GSD&M’s
supported by simple, concise messages that resonate message takes into account what will work with the research showed the public didn’t care about litter. As
Let’s go back to litter in Texas. As we said in section 2,
with target audiences. And that resonance is important. audience to build support. This does not mean restating Andy Goodman notes, “Once GSD&M identified they
this was a problem. In 1987, $2 million in tax revenues
Making an emotional connection that touches a your goals. It means making your case in a way that will needed to reach 15-24 year old males, they were able to
went to pick up trash, and that cost was escalating
pre-existing belief turns passive support into action. be compelling to your target audiences. According to come up with a compelling message: Don’t Mess
15-20 percent every year. Yet by 1997, trash on Texas
Billy Shore of Share Our Strength, “Nonprofits suffer With Texas. If they’d had Stevie Ray Vaughn saying
highways was down 76 percent.
from literal sclerosis. They are so literal about everything ‘Come on, everybody. Let’s put litter in its place!’
that they don’t translate things into language that people How did this happen? Andy Goodman asserts that the it’s doubtful if anybody would be writing about this
can understand.” “Don’t Mess With Texas” campaign is a case in point of campaign. But when Stevie uttered those magical four
how important the right message can be. The goal of the words, he tapped into something deep in the heart of
“Everybody else in communications makes big bold
anti-litter campaign was to protect the environment and every Texan: state pride.”
“We realized our audience was 15-24 year claims for things that they don’t really know. ‘The best
save taxpayer dollars. However, the litterbug population,
part of waking up is Folger’s in your cup.’ Is that really The message “Don’t Mess With Texas,” which didn’t
old males and that ‘crying Indians’ were not the best part of waking up?”
15-24 year old men, was indifferent to messages about
sound anything like the goal, “Keep Texas beautiful and
scenic beauty and oblivious to the costs of cleaning up
going to appeal to them.” Some nonprofits would argue this last question for the roadsides. Clearly restating the goal of the campaign
save tax dollars” did the trick because it persuaded the
target audience to take the action needed in a way they
— Judy Trabulsi, GSD&M weeks, hold a summit on it, and then decide they was not going to work.
understood and that resonated with them.
couldn’t make the claim without more documentation.
GSD&M, the agency charged with developing a
They would stick to outlining the numerous physical Messages need to be “spot on” from the get-go. “Once
campaign to decrease litter, did not assume that
and psychological benefits of caffeine ingestion when you’ve defined the playing field, the game is over,”
a) littering is bad, b) everyone knows it, and therefore,
trying to get going in the morning, buttressed by data says Jon Haber. “If it’s birds vs. jobs, you’re dead.
c) Texas Department of Transportation simply needs
and charts.
 “People start from the wrong premise:
‘if the public only knew the truth,
they’d do the right thing.’ ”
— Alan Metrick,
Natural Resources Defense Council

Some people still balk at tailoring their messages to their The nonprofit community can be seduced by the
target audience. They want to win campaigns, but they complexity of issues, losing their audience in scientific
want to win them with arguments that are complex, hard ambiguities. It isn’t necessary to be inaccurate or to dumb
to follow, and highly nuanced. In other words, they want down issues. But it’s essential to engage peoples’ passion,
to win based on their own knowledge and beliefs. whether the issue is the environment, their children’s
“Inevitably the messages will be too detailed and not health or social justice. You need to reach people
persuasive to the target audience,” says Jon Haber. emotionally first, and only then educate them. Hearts
first, then minds.
No one likes to be preached to or talked at. As Judy
Trabulsi says, “A non-preachy message has a better Messages also need to distinguish you from the
chance of cutting through.” Candy Cox of DDB agrees, opposition. “Nonprofits are often too soft,” says Jon
“Nonprofits spend a lot of time telling people that they Haber. “They tend to see the world as good versus evil.
You lose. If it’s corporate greed versus protecting the goes. Advocates need to identify wedge issues and should do things. Most of us do very little simply The problem is that reporters, elected officials and others
forests, that’s good. We should be going after companies specific messages that capture the public’s attention if because we should. Rather the message from consumers see the world as light gray versus dark grey. The key
that pay off their junk bonds by razing forests. That’s a they are to succeed.” is often ‘tell me how I can have everything I want and therefore is to use your messaging as a way to distinguish
winning message.” still feel good about myself.’ ” yourself from the opposition — and to do so in a factual,
The point is: create messages that help you meet
Another good example comes from Michael Shellenberger your goal. non-inflammatory way and in a manner that your
Motivating messages need to hit an emotional chord.
of Communication Works. “We are developing a audience will understand and accept.”
Chris DeCardy of Environmental Media Services says People are busy. They resist change. In order to get their
campaign plan to stop the expansion of the San Francisco attention and support for change, you have to connect “Nonprofits forget that Americans experience
nonprofit professionals often have a hard time doing
airport’s runways because it will require paving up to with people by plugging into their belief system, not sophisticated, high-quality messaging all the time,”
this: “There is a great TV episode of The Simpsons where
two miles of the Bay and destroying wildlife habitat. trying to rewire it. says Candy Cox of DDB. “They’re used to it and they
Homer gets Marge a bowling ball for her birthday that
The airport is justifying the expansion by promising expect it. If you create something that isn’t high quality,
has the name ‘Homer’ engraved on it. This is what In other words, you need to capture hearts first, then
fewer flight delays. So first we have to go after the it’s not likely to grab people’s attention. It may be a
environmentalists do all the time. We try to give bowling minds. Every imaginable gimmick has been employed
airlines for over-scheduling flights — a major reason for perfectly good message, but if people aren’t listening,
balls to people who don’t bowl. It wastes time and by commercial marketers to raise what Malcolm Gladwell
the delays — and then we’ll propose alternatives like a it will do nothing to advance a cause.”
money. If you know the people you need to reach and calls ‘the stickiness factor’, a way to involve the
better radar system. It may be that we’ll talk about the
know what they like, give it to them. The great thing consumer more effectively by linking emotional
impact of noise pollution before we talk about habitat
about the environment is that it’s all around us and experience to purchases.
destruction. That’s where people are at.”
means different things to different people. If we weren’t
Shellenberger continues, “A lot of nonprofits want to so hung up on winning for ‘our’ reasons, we’d be smarter
speak the whole truth to power. Once the whole truth about listening to everyone else’s reasons and appealing
is known then everyone will follow — so the thinking to them.”
 “Hope, as in ‘here’s hoping it works,’
is not a sound communications strategy.”
The less money you have, the more
you need to plan.
— Maggie Williams

4
PLANNING
We all know it pays to plan before executing a big campaign. 3) Pursue communications activities that move you TheTruth.com didn’t make the same mistake to
But let’s define “good” planning. closer to your goal. As you put together the elements get teens to say no to tobacco. They wanted to
of your marketing/communications campaign, ask develop a campaign that resonated with kids so
1) Spend time and money planning. Plan for the best-
yourself with each strategic and tactical choice: does they asked kids. In the end, they decided to let kids
case and worst-case scenarios. Look at the issue from
this move me closer to my stated goal? If not, don’t do the whole thing. The moral: test your ideas
every angle. Understand the problem backwards and
do it. before going forward.
forwards. Review potential solutions. Who are your
allies in pushing a specific solution? Who are your 4) Find your niche. There are a lot of campaigns out 6) Pre-test. Nonprofits often have limited budgets,
enemies? there; how is yours adding to the landscape? Assess making it critical that every communications dollar
“The laziest thing people do is go right to tactics.” It does cost money to plan, but thorough planning what others are doing. Review who is doing what in be spent wisely. This can lead nonprofits to “skip” pre-
means clearer goals, more concise messages, the right research, advocacy, and legislative efforts; identify testing. Unfortunately this increases the chances that
— Jon Haber, Fleishman-Hillard target audiences, and a road map leading to success. gaps and duplication. Figure out what you can do that the goal, messages, or target audiences are wrong; and
adds value. instead of finding out early when you can still change
2) Think strategy before moving to tactics. Jon Haber strategies and tactics, you only find out after spending
of Fleishman-Hillard says the “laziest thing people 5) Base every campaign on research — not assumptions.
$95,000 on a full-page ad in the New York Times.
do is go right to tactics.” A press breakfast is a tactic. For example: when the federal government launched
its “Just Say No” campaign, no one did the simple Pre-testing actually saves time and money. Pre-tests
You have to start with what you are trying to get
research to learn that teens trusted their peers more need not be prohibitively expensive. If you can’t afford
done, who can get it done for you, what you have to
than anyone else. One of the last people they would focus groups and a national poll, simply take your
tell them, and who has to tell them to persuade them.
listen to was Nancy Reagan, and certainly not messages directly out to your audience. Troll a
Nancy Reagan telling them what they should do. shopping mall and show people creative materials
 Want to test your message? Go to the mall.

This isn’t an ego thing; it’s rear guard protection. 10) Secure funding that fits your needs. When the
Take, for example, guns. Anti-gun advocates have President of the United States suddenly makes your
made enormous strides to get stringent gun safety issue “the issue of the week,” be in a position to
laws in place, but many go unenforced. The pro-gun leverage this. Get funding that is flexible enough to
activists say these laws are a failure. If gun control give you leeway to deal with huge unforeseen
advocates don’t set the record straight, the criticism obstacles and leverage unimaginable opportunities.
is adopted by the media and then by politicians. After ingenuity, money is the most important
It becomes accepted wisdom. An exit strategy is ingredient for successful rapid-response
just as important as a launch. communications. Build flexibility into your grant
requests. Make deals where money will come sooner
9) Review and revise. When your campaign gets
if you hit certain goals early.
funded, there is good news and bad news. The good
with your draft messages. Ask them for feedback. news is, you have money. The bad news is, you often 11) Measure success. Everyone involved with your
They will give you a reality check. are given money to do a very specific campaign in a campaign will want to know: “how are you doing?”
7) Be flexible. According to SeaWeb’s Vikki Spruill, very specific way. This creates a disincentive to review This means funders, mobilized constituents, even
“Communications is 90 percent opportunistic.” strategies and plans. Yet, when you wrote that budget your family. Have benchmarks in place to answer
Long-term campaigns encounter obstacles and at midnight for a five-city television buy, you may this question. Send out frequent reports. Tell
“It is necessary, but not sufficient, to know what you want moments of serendipity. Your campaign needs to be have had too many cups of coffee. Or those messages interested parties how you are achieving your goals
to say. You also have to know how your audience hears adaptable enough to overcome hurdles and leverage you developed at an internal staff meeting were every week. These are your stakeholders; just like in
opportunities as they occur. If the environment actually a flop with the soccer moms at the mall ...you a business, you want to show that you are meeting
your words and responds to your images. So you survey know, the ones we have to motivate to create social and exceeding expectations.
changes, rethink your plan.
how different audiences understand your message when change. Sometimes a slight modification is in order; “There’s confusion about outputs and outcomes.
8) Keep planning. Like a book, campaigns have a other times, a complete overhaul is needed. Either
you use different approaches. After you discover the most beginning, middle and end. Plan for everything. Most
People are not evaluating outcomes and not
way, build expectations with funders and partners that changing their resources in order to affect
convincing way of stating your message, you can safely energy and resources are usually spent on the launch. provide for changes once you’re underway. And it is outcomes. They are instead measuring campaigning
The middle is often when creative thinking is needed
spend serious money actually delivering the message.” important to ask ourselves every day: is this working? by outputs, but this doesn’t actually deliver the
most to make sure the campaign doesn’t sputter out. Are we moving closer to our goal? If the answer is not results,” says Chris Rose, a former Greenpeace
— Denis Hayes, Bullitt Foundation And the end is the legacy. Too often we declare a resounding “Yes!” go back to the drawing board. campaign director.
victory and leave the field before the game is over.
In the end, funders want successful campaigns. The
Have a strategy to ensure that the public education
only way to ensure success is to continually review
effort was viewed as important and lasting, and that
and revise based on new developments, not the first
the work we initiated moves forward. Preserving the
draft of the communications plan.
legacy of the campaign often involves partners.
 People were told to race for the cure and they did.
The Sudden Infant Death campaign told parents to
put their babies on their backs. “Your dry cleaner closes at seven.
The earth will eventually fall into
the sun. We panic about the first,
but the second will be forgotten
before you finish this page.”
— Peter Loge, The Justice Project

5
SPECIFY WHAT PEOPLE SHOULD DO
You’ve done your planning right, created messages that But “Race for the Cure”? That’s doable. If you can run or home, and if so, whether it is stored properly. Again, a before you finish this page. This is true for several
work for your target audience and you have their walk, if you don’t mind asking friends and acquaintances willing audience and a simple “ask.” reasons: if you don’t pick up the dry cleaning, you’ll run
attention. Now what? for money, you will help conquer breast cancer. It’s just out of clothes; picking up the dry cleaning is doable —
Recycling, however is a more complex “ask.” People have
like “Don’t drink and drive.” Short, sweet and easy to stopping the “earth’s collapse” is not. There is a
They have the facts; they know something needs to be to separate their trash, put out recycling on different
understand. timeliness issue with the dry cleaning — by seven today.
done. They are willing to help. Now is NOT the time days, follow instructions about what can and can’t be
A specific consequence of failure — wearing your old
to give vague instructions: “Stop Global Warming.” To decide what you want people to do, you need to recycled. Cities have to provide curbside pick up. In this
“Van Halen” tour t-shirt to a client meeting. There’s a
“Save Our Oceans.” “Justice For All.” People have no determine several things, among them: case, the “ask” was still simple and concise: “Reduce,
reward — a pressed and lightly starched shirt. And your
idea how to do this. 1) Are you asking for a one-time behavior change or a Reuse, Recycle.” The target audience was less willing to
action will solve the problem — drive down the block,
long-term commitment to a new way of life? consider these behavioral changes than the parents for
write a check, get clothes. Effective campaigns work the
the SIDS campaign or the gun control campaign.
2) Are you talking to a willing audience or a same way.”
skeptical one? Before designing a campaign, ask yourself: How many
Another example: at an Eddie Bauer store, there’s a sign
things do you want the audience to do, which is most
“People aren’t mind-readers., don’t ask them to be.” The campaign to prevent Sudden Infant Death
important, and what comes first? Bill Novelli advises
asking you to give a dollar to plant a tree. The sign
Syndrome had to get out one important message: doesn’t say, “The global environment is being threatened,
— Maggie Williams people to start with what you want to achieve. Then
put sleeping babies on their backs. The audience so do something — here’s hoping it works!” By making a
define the steps to get there.
(concerned parents) was very willing to do whatever specific request in response to a specific problem and
was necessary to prevent crib death. Our world is really complex and we often feel as though providing a specific solution, Eddie Bauer is successful.
we have little control over it. Consider this from Peter
Similarly, the Ask campaign run by PAX had one simple Don’t make people guess or jump over hurdles. Give
Loge of The Justice Project, “Your dry-cleaner closes at
suggestion for parents: before sending your child to play, them bite-size doable tasks that, when finished, help you
seven. The earth will eventually fall into the sun. We
ask neighbors or friends whether they have a gun in their build the support necessary to achieve your objective.
panic about the first, and the second will be forgotten
 “Nonprofits often don’t understand
the difference between the ‘What’
Larry Bohlen bought 10 kinds of taco and the ‘So What.’ ”
shells and tested for presence of
bio-engineered corn. Positive results — Billy Shore, Share Our Strength
put Larry and the issue center stage.

6
MAKE THE CASE: ACTION NEEDED NOW
There is a lot of noise out there. Forget about competing Friends of the Earth wanted to capture the public’s Drama helps. “Nonprofits are incredibly literal. They
against eBay and Amazon.com. There is also a lot of attention about bioengineered corn. Although not don’t make the translation from the difference between
“social issue noise” out there. An overload of noise leads approved for human consumption, there was concern the what and the so what. The nonprofits tell you what
to fatigue; people simply want to tune out. it could find its way into food. FOE kept saying this they’ve done. Fed this many people. Built this many
COULD happen. They wanted to dramatize the trucks. They don’t get to the so what. The need to
You may think: “But this issue of homelessness is really
fact that current government regulations are utterly legitimately dramatize what I think is the real power
“For so many issues, we use the campaign to important.” And it is. But people have been homeless for
inadequate. They had no hook, since the FDA had no of what we do. We change people’s lives. There are
a long time. People have been starving for a long time.
force the issue, force a dialogue for a debate Lands are polluted, nations are ravaged and human
plans to alter its position about bioengineered corn millions of people watching which ad exec will survive
being used in food. on Survivor, as opposed to which kids are going to
that otherwise wouldn’t occur.” atrocities occur every day. Why is today the day to look
survive in Anacostia next week. That’s the really
at your issue? What is special? That is, not until Friends of the Earth’s Health and
— Vikki Spruill, SeaWeb Environment Director Larry Bohlen visited a half-dozen
dramatic story,” says Billy Shore.
Effective campaigns are built on decision points,
supermarkets, bought 10 kinds of taco shells and sent The public wants to know what to do, how to do it and
real or manufactured. Maybe legislation is possible
them to a testing lab in Iowa. Sure enough, two of the why now. Answer the question by highlighting one of
now or an international conference is addressing the
samples contained bioengineered corn that had been the upcoming decision points.
issue soon or some event has made your issue timely.
approved only for animal feed. The story hit the
Tell people why now. Brainstorm possible developments that might push
headlines and stayed there for weeks. Now Bohlen had
your issue into the spotlight. Check the legislative
Vikki Spruill insists that if there aren’t milestones, you the public’s attention. He could have waited for someone
calendar. Look for state action. Think of related
have to create your own. “For so many issues, we use the else to force the issue, but with a lot of ingenuity and a
lawsuits, anniversaries, and big announcements. If there
campaign to force the issue, force a dialogue for a debate little cash, he was able to get his message heard.
aren’t any, think like Larry Bohlen and get creative.
that otherwise wouldn’t occur.”
 “Tactics are always the same.
If you focus on just one way of The same people are doing
reaching people, you’re limiting your
chance to get your message out.
the same tactics.”
— Vikki Spruill, SeaWeb

7MATCH STRATEGY AND TACTICS

TO YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
You’ve thought about the goal, the audiences and the it from another source, they may stop and think. If they on just one way of reaching people — ‘I know, let’s send
message. You’ve done your planning and pre-testing. hear about it one more time, they may actually do an editorial board mailing’ — you limit your chance to
Now you will pick how to reach your audience: what something. Our goal should be to figure out as many get your message in front of the same person from many
strategies and tactics will you employ? ways as possible to reach our target audience.” different directions. You fail at the ‘Rule of Three’.”
“I get discouraged when I hear that part of the strategy Your first instinct: earned media. It’s cheap. Your staff “They should read about us in the paper, see us on TV, David Fenton, Chairman of Fenton Communications,
calls for ‘the cover of the New York Times Magazine.’ calls reporters. The articles will help you change the hear about us from a neighbor and a friend at a soccer agrees: “A major goal of any communication campaign
world. Hold a press conference and all will be well. match, have their kid mention us from school, read must be to achieve frequent repetition of a message in
You need to focus not just on your headlines, but what about us on the Internet, get a postcard about us in the a short period of time. People only learn by repetition —
If only this were true. Too often, we go for the “tried and
the impact is going to be.” true” rather than think about who we are trying to reach
mail, see us in skywriting and so on. There are a million campaigns should be planned and structured to achieve
ways to reach the ‘Rule of Three’ but it takes discipline to it. A one-shot news event is usually of only limited value,
— Barbara Beck, Pew Charitable Trusts and how best to do this. Maybe it’s a letter. Perhaps
think of them and to make sure each avenue really does but when backed by other newsworthy events (legal,
chalking the sidewalk in front of their house. Think of all
connect to our target person. If older Americans don’t Congressional, direct action, celebrity involvement, etc.),
the ways to reach the people you need, then decide
watch music videos, then an endorsement by a band on and direct contact with the public (through advertising,
which best fits your resources and goals. It may be
BET is useless.” the Internet, and grassroots action), much more power is
earned media. It may be a bullhorn.
achieved for your goal. Also, politicians respond to a
“A mistake we make is finding one thing that works
“There is a sort of ‘Rule of Three’ that applies to getting story in direct proportion to how often it repeats — a
really well and simply applying it all over the place. In a
someone to act on a cause you believe in,” says Chris one day story has limited political clout, a two day story
basketball game, if you find a play that works, you stick
DeCardy of Environmental Media Services. “If they much more. By the third day committees are being
with it until the defense stops you. In our work, the rules
hear about it once, they may ignore it. If they hear about formed and announcements prepared.”
of the game are rarely the same twice. And if you focus
 Your audience listens to those they trust.
Teens didn’t trust Nancy Reagan, but kids
do trust their peers.

every time, we miss the big opportunities. Failing out, all of a sudden companies, foundations, everyone
shouldn’t be seen as a negative, as long as the effort started jumping on the bandwagon to support AIDS-
was well thought out.” related charities.”
There are many strategies and tactics you can consider Messengers can also be used strategically to thwart the
when deciding the best way to get messages to your opposition. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids used
target audience. Below are a few to consider: children as spokespeople. Kids were compelling on this
issue; they were also a tough target for the tobacco
Picking messengers companies to attack. In many ways, CFTFK inoculated
When researching the messages your audience will its messages from attack by having kids say the messages.
find persuasive, you also need to know who your The same messages coming from adult advocates,
audience trusts. “The American public listens to people, lawyers, etc., likely would not have had the same impact.
“Paradoxically, while people learn from repetition, Los Angeles with attention-getting taglines: “Nobody not organizations,” says Denis Hayes of the Bullitt
the culture of the media is structured against it. It takes says let’s go to California and see the largest stumps on Foundation. Considering both “earned” and “paid” media
careful creative planning to overcome the media’s earth.” They also went for a Hollywood appeal — Whether to advertise or rely on “earned media” is often a
reticence to report anything that isn’t ‘new.’” “Around here when you make it big, everyone wants to Hayes also says in many cases, lack of an effective
question. Both are important vehicles to consider when
take you down.” The effort generated tremendous local messenger is the big hole in a campaign. “If you ask
To break through the noise and get your target’s disseminating messages. Earned media is often cheaper,
media attention and lots of website traffic. In August, people to name a consumer advocate, they say Nader.
attention: think differently, try something new. If you but harder to control. Your message can take a real
Clinton declared the Sequoias a national monument. If you say, ‘name a feminist leader,’ they say Steinem.
have limited resources, this is even more important. beating when it goes through a reporter, editor or
If you say, ‘name a civil rights leader,’ they say Jackson.
The Natural Resources Defense Counsel (NRDC) Think different. There is so much fog out there already producer. Also, “earning” the coverage is sometimes
But ask them to name an environmental leader...
wanted to get the Giant Sequoias of California that doing the same old stuff often won’t cut it. impossible; your issue just isn’t getting the attention it
Not having a well-known spokesperson limits the
designated a national monument. They could have needs. When considering earned media, always think
“It’s about calculated risk,” says Chris DeCardy: “Wall effectiveness of our communications. You have to have
taken out a New York Times ad to get the Clinton about the downside. What can go wrong? Once the
Street understands smart risks and diversifying tactics. somebody who takes command of the issue.”
Administration’s attention. Instead they decided to media has characterized you, it is difficult to recover.
In an investment portfolio, you mix stocks with high risk Find the BEST spokespeople to raise the profile of your The front-page article that denounces you as “on the
motivate influential Californians who were most likely
and return with those of lower risk and return. You know issue. If you want to bring an issue into the mainstream, fringe” has more impact than the correction several days
to support their efforts to send letters, emails and
the high flyers may not hit, but when they do you get a use mainstream spokespeople. “When AIDS was an later on the inside. Advertising can be quite costly, but
faxes to Clinton urging him to act.
big reward. Too often, we act without thinking through issue defined by perceived extremists,” Hayes says, you get exactly what you pay for. You get to say what you
Their chosen tactic (with Underground Advertising’s the risks. If we do think them through, we shy away “marketers and advertisers had a tough time getting want, but you still need to think about the audience
help): buy the biggest billboard in the U.S. to save from those that may fail. A lot of foundations have behind it. When it became a cultural issue to everyone, reading it. Will they read a text-laden ad? Do they care if
the largest trees on earth. They hung vertical banners guidelines that reinforce this cautious approach. The when entertainers and the media got involved and spoke many allied groups are signed on? Coalitions often are
on a building on a major corner of Sunset Boulevard in problem is that if we avoid risks — even smart risks —
 Greenpeace enjoys world wide recognition while
TheTruth.com, a new effort, is branding “not smoking.”

there’s nothing new. Consider an experiential approach. organization’s objectives. Greenpeace uses its brand
The Virginia Cooperative Extension put this idea to draw attention to issues it deems important.
into practice with great success. Low-income people Companies worry when they hear “Greenpeace is
face all sorts of obstacles in daily life — a reality that on site.” It works for Greenpeace, but it may not work
the higher-income majority may realize but never with your organization.
experience. This organization puts on a realistic
Issue branding. There is also issue branding, where an
welfare simulation program, designed to give
organization or coalition frames a specific issue. In the
participants an idea of what the typical low-income
early 90s several groups decided to “brand” breast cancer.
family experiences. What was initiated as a one-time
They wanted to set it apart from other cancers and make
program has now been implemented 60 times
it the disease of the decade. They did it 1) to raise
throughout the state with a total of more than 3,000
awareness about the prevalence of the disease to improve
challenged to produce effective ads while still meeting participants. Past participants, drawn from churches,
prevention — get mammograms, do monthly breast
the needs of the coalition. Remember the audience. health and social services departments and volunteer
exams, 2) to raise its profile and generate new funds for
If it isn’t the heads of the coalition you are trying to groups, report higher awareness of poverty issues and an
research, and 3) to make the point that this disease
persuade, then using them as your focus group is a increased interest in lending a hand in their communities.
affects everyone — countless women and their families.
mistake. Have someone outside, who doesn’t know the The raised profile benefited many groups and helped to
“There is a downside to creating advertising by coalition internal politics, write the ad for the intended audience. Branding
achieve their goals.
or committee. Group gropes invariably result in muffled, Branding — associating a cause or goal with an
Getting interactive organization or person and imbedding that combined Behavior/lifestyle branding. TheTruth.com, a campaign
mediocre messages.” image into the public’s brain — is today’s hot developed by Crispin, Porter and Bogusky, aimed to
People receive information differently in the age of the
communications buzzword. Is it right for your convince kids to stay away from tobacco. Faced with the
— Art Silverman, Fenton Communications Internet. The first place many people look is the web. It’s
fact that the coolness of smoking is a higher priority than
a new and different beast. To communicate effectively organization or cause? As a strategy, branding should
with target audiences, we have to know how to reach undergo the same scrutiny as any other strategy or tactic health risks, CP&B focused less on teen mortality and
them online. Be familiar with tactics like viral marketing. because branding, like everything else, is not a more on the fact that teens were victims of manipulation
The interactive component is key. Consumers expect communications panacea. There are several types of and duplicity by a callous older generation. Teens, upon
tailored, easy to read, eye-catching information in this branding to consider. hearing that tobacco and advertising industries were
format. It’s not as simple as digitizing a brochure. colluding to cavalierly take teens’ money and abuse their
Organizational branding. There are good institutional
bodies in return for billions in profit, got mad. This
reasons to brand an organization: to reach membership
Using experiential approaches anger provided the key to a new brand: “The Truth.”
goals, increase credibility among policymakers and
Sometimes our issues become stagnant. It happens. The campaign effectively unveiled a new (and evil)
simplify messaging, among others. Organizational
The stream is still polluted, racism is still a problem, but oppressor and made the rejection of cigarettes a hip way
branding usually takes tremendous resources. Only do
to strike back.
organizational branding if it clearly will contribute to the
 Budget realistically, fundraise vigorously,
and don’t start a campaign you can’t afford
to see through to a successful finish.
“A planning budget needs to be inversely
proportional to the budget for the campaign...
A small budget requires laser-like targeting
and strategy and cannot afford anything else.”
— Candy Cox, DDB

8
BUDGET FOR SUCCESS
Money may not be the root of all evil, but a shortage Spend part of your resources on planning and testing. Keep an open line of communication. Generally funders Work with allies to enhance efforts and leverage
of money is nearly always a recipe for failure. If you don’t plan right, you will waste money on untested know that everything will not go 100 percent as planned. resources. If one group has a great report that supports
Budget realistically, fundraise vigorously, and don’t assumptions. R&D is rarely a waste of money. It is smart Keep them in the loop. Usually they would rather know another organization’s goal, combine resources to
start a campaign you can’t afford to see through to to plan for ways to best use your resources. the “real deal” and hear about changing circumstances disseminate it. It is more cost-efficient to use existing
a successful finish. than keep the project on a track that leads to defeat. research and spend pooled resources promoting it, than it
Candy Cox of DDB says, “A planning budget needs to
is to fund new, duplicative research, just so the
be inversely proportional to the budget for the campaign. Success often means more money. Plan for it. Success
information is proprietary. The Justice Project found out
Small budgets often tempt project managers to reduce brings opportunities that weren’t possible at the start of
that Professor James Liebman of Columbia University’s
or even eliminate planning, unintentionally placing the the campaign.
School of Law had a report coming out about the error
success of the effort at risk. A small budget requires
“Unrealistic goals that try to change entrenched laser-like targeting and strategy and cannot afford
Benchmark. If you are spending money to create impact, rate in death penalty trials. This research would help
show what that impact is. The Justice Project’s efforts to pass federal legislation to
attitudes are really difficult if you are not going to anything else.”
reduce mistakes in capital trials that lead to innocent
Tap corporate partners, when possible; they bring a lot to
throw a boatload of money at it. You have to have The campaign takes off beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.
the table. Billy Shore of Share our Strength found this
people wrongly sentenced to die. They agreed to fund
The response from the target audience is overwhelming. the dissemination of this report and spent significant
a lot of resources.” out when he joined forces with American Express for the
Problem is, there’s no budget for wild success, just resources promoting a report that didn’t have their name
“Charge Against Hunger.” Over three years, Amex spent
— Barbara Peck, Pew Charitable Trusts regular success. If possible, make deals with a funder to
close to $40 million branding this annual Share Our
on it. Liebman got the exposure and The Justice Project
have a “reserve” of money to kick in if things go better raised their profile as a valuable resource to the media,
Strength event. Amex got glory; SOS got $40 million
than expected — more people want to get involved, moving their cause forward.
worth of exposure.
the opportunities are greater than anticipated. When
opportunity knocks is not the time to be writing
fundraising proposals.
 “Why don’t they consider their issue
Rely on people who have the core is worthy of expertise?”
competency to do communications
really well. — Lynn Taliento, McKinsey & Company

9
BRING IN THE EXPERTS
Some people reflexively think they have to do everything Effective communications is a key component of a “Americans in France are convinced that if they simply
themselves rather than relying on people who have the successful social change campaign. It has value just like say it LOUDER and s-l-o-w-e-r they will get directions
core competency to do communications really well. fundraising, grassroots organizing, and lobbying. If you to EuroDisney. It doesn’t work,” says Peter Loge of the
“When you are working on really important issues, use all want to communicate effectively with target audiences, Justice Project. “Policy experts make the same mistake —
The nonprofit world brainwashes people to believe they
hire strong communications counsel either in-house or details about Medicare Part B don’t make sense at any
the firepower you can get your hands on.” don’t have access to these kinds of resources. Billy Shore
out-of-house. volume. Smart tourists hire experts — guides — to
gave this example: “An unnamed university brought
translate for them. Smart non-profits do the same. They
— Ken Cook, Environmental Working Group together 12-14 brain scientists to spend a morning This doesn’t necessarily mean hiring a firm with a big
bring in communications experts to bridge the gap
presenting research on cognition, nutrition and early retainer. Find a board member, a friend, somebody that
between policy details and public motivation.”
childhood development. These were the smartest people looks at issues from a marketing and communications
you’ve ever heard. Then they spent the afternoon talking perspective and get their advice. Ken Cook of the
about how to communicate their research results, but Environmental Working Group notes, “I find people
they don’t know anything about that. They know how who eat, live and breathe communications to be valuable
to do brain research. Their conversation about and useful. It provokes me to consider methods not
communications was at the level of ‘let’s have a bake always readily apparent on first blush.”
sale.’ It’s a real problem.”
 Acknowledgments
Special thanks to the following people for contributing
to the content of this report:

Barbara Beck, Pew Charitable Trusts

Larry Bohlen, Friends of the Earth
Robert Bray, SPIN Project
Marlena Brawer, Fenton Communications
Simon Bryceson, Burson-Marsteller
Sandra Chambers, Fenton Communications
Mike Coda, Nature Conservancy
Ken Cook, Environmental Working Group
Candy Cox, DDB
Chris DeCardy, Environmental Media Services
David Fenton, Fenton Communications
For more information on campaigns listed
Andy Goodman, Communications Consultant
in this report, visit the following websites: Jon Haber, Fleishman-Hillard
Denis Hayes, Bullitt Foundation
Give Swordfish a Break: Monica Jain, Consultant
www.seaweb.org/campaigns/swordfish Celinda Lake, Lake Snell Perry and Associates, Inc.
Peter Loge, The Justice Project
International Campaign to Ban Landmines: Alan Metrick, Natural Resources Defense Council
www.icbl.org

CONCLUSION
Bobby Muller, Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation
Caitlin Murphy, Fenton Communications
The Truth:
Bill Novelli, AARP
www.thetruth.com
Will Novy Hildesley, David and Lucile Packard Foundation
The key to creating and implementing successful advocacy
Clear goals George Purlov, Ad Council
communications efforts is to honor the process. Make Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids:
Chris Rose, formerly with Greenpeace
sure you account for all nine components when Target audiences www.tobaccofreekids.org
contemplating communications activities to support Patricia Sadiq, Fenton Communications

your goals. Use the checklist to the right. Concise messages that resonate Charge Against Hunger: Carl Safina, National Audubon Society
www.strength.org/see/chargeagainst.htm Michael Shellenberger, Communication Works
If we go through this rigorous process, campaigns will be Good planning Billy Shore, Share Our Strength
stronger and we will meet the common goal of running
incredibly successful social change campaigns.
Tell people what to do Friends of the Earth International: Art Silverman, Fenton Communications
www.foei.org Vikki Spruill, SeaWeb
Our issues not only deserve this kind of attention and Make a case for why action is needed now Lynn Taliento, McKinsey & Company
thoroughness, they demand it. Mothers Against Drunk Driving: Judy Trabulsi, GSD&M
Match strategies and tactics with audience www.madd.org Maggie Williams, Consultant
Budget for success
Don’t Mess with Texas: Produced with generous support from the
Rely on experts when needed www.dontmesswithtexas.org/home.htm David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

Fenton Communications
www.fenton.com
Written and designed by Fenton Communications.
Photos courtesy of AP/Wide World Photos and gettyone.com.
Printed with vegetable based inks on acid /chlorine free paper.

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