Communications & Advocacy

Successful advocacy requires strategic communication. This involves painting a compelling portrait using hard data and powerful stories that show the problem, solution, and key actions that need to be taken to create desired change.

Advancing the goals of organizations and collaborations also requires concisely articulated objectives, deep understanding of the audiences that receive the message, and comprehension of the political landscape that shapes both those sides of the message. This is true when the objective is to attract more customers, supporters and partners as well as when cultivating champions for a cause or specific policy goal.

At Dovetailing™, we support you in clearly articulating the goals of your communication and advocacy efforts by helping you to name desired outcomes and identify their intersection with the values and interests of those whose support and understanding you hope to cultivate.

Our support often includes research and analysis of what is known about current message resonance among target audiences. We work with you to describe the values that underpin the thinking of your target audiences and construct effective message ladders for moving them along the continuum from "lacking awareness" through the steps to "taking action on your priorities". Drafting and testing of key messages based on these message ladders supports development of materials that help you to make your case.

Dovetailing™ also regularly works with public private partnerships, coalitions, foundations and other clients that seek more than a single policy change, striving to improve education and health outcomes broadly. In many cases this work involves analysis of the current policy environment and advocacy capacity to develop initiatives that advance policy more broadly.