You are not logged in

Campaigning and Advocacy

Led by Campaigning Effectiveness, NCVO

The campaigning and advocacy workstream is funded by Capacitybuilders to ensure support is available to help third sector organisations understand how the world is changing around them, and use the knowlege to make better strategic decisions.

Workstream partnership

Lead agency: Campaigning Effectiveness, National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).
Partners: bassac (the British Association of Settlements and Social Action Centres), British Overseas NGOs for Development (BOND), British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR),  National Association for Voluntary & Community Action (NAVCA), People & Planet, Roehampton University and Sitewriters.

Key aims for 2008-2011
  • to build the capacity of support providers to contribute to social and political change by enabling and delivering high-impact campaigns and advocacy programmes
  • to create a dynamic learning culture amongst support providers that will foster enthusiasm, creativity and innovation in campaigning and advocacy
  • to provide a solid grounding in high quality knowledge, skills and access to evidence-based research on needs and good practice.
Benefits for support providers
  • the collation of existing, on-going and new research on capacity-building needs in campaigning and advocacy
  • shared understanding, good practice and innovative approaches
  • a high quality programme of over 100 capacity building events, for more than 3,000 participants across national, regional, local and community levels
  • innovative use of technology, including interactive learning materials and an interactive website for the exchange of ideas and good practice.
Key opportunities
  • working together to build a clear definition of campaigning
  • overcoming a lack of basic understanding of how political institutions work and therefore how to influence and engage with them
  • building skills and funding for campaigning – and fostering creativity and innovation in campaigning and advocacy design
  • developing good governance, strong management and organisational coherence, on which effective campaigning depends
  • achieving common understanding around campaign and advocacy planning, strategy development, monitoring and evaluation methodology and purpose
  • resolving questions around organisational legitimacy, representation, accountability and credibility.

Guide to our activities Campaigning and advocacy workstream (pdf) 

Activities for 2010

Certificate for Professional Practice in Campaigning

10 module training course covering main aspects of campaigning, run by NCVO, with a range of guest contributors. Reduced rate bursary places available for small support provider organisations.

For more information: http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/certificateincampaigning

‘Power and social change’ publication

A web based publication on power and social change, will be published by NCVO in April 2010

‘Campaigning in Confidence Guides’

Short gudies to effective campaigning and advocacy to the needs of

a) Trustees

b) Funders

Publication to be available as two booklets and two PDFs in April 2010.

NCVO research

Focuses include:

Confidence in campaigning and the election

BIHR workshops

Explaining a human rights-based approach to campaigning, delivered in 4 regions

BOND training and peer learning

Develop and deliver courses and peer exchanges on mobilising activitists, campaigning in Europe and supporting the beneficiary voice to be heard and inspiring activists. More information http://www.bond.org.uk/pages/campaigning-effectiveness.html

People and Planet campaign e-learning

Developing a series of e-learning modules for student campaigners across the country, highlighting different aspects of effective campaigning.

Deliver a national campaigns gathering for student organisations and student leaders.

More information http://peopleandplanet.org/

NAVCA ‘Stronger Voices’ training

A series of regional training events to CVS’ on influencing LAAs, LSPs and the local commissioning process. For more information: http://www.navca.org.uk/roistrongervoices.htm

Bassac

Work with Community Anchors in a peer learning basis to increase confidence and skills in engaging with public policy agenda. More information: http://www.bassac.org.uk/node/175 

Louder.org.uk 

 http://www.louder.org.uk/ is a free and accessible platform that will enable you to run your own campaigns and link up with others. For the first time, campaigners of all levels - from international NGOs to individual grassroots activists - will be able to access a range of online advocacy tools enabling, for example, petitioning, video-casting, social networking, evaluation and supporter management.

logo test