Mission and Advocacy Structure: A Perspective from Human Service Organizations

Exploring Nonprofit Advocacy Research Methods and Design: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…We also reiterate scholars' calls for a closer examination of the efficacy of varying advocacy strategies or efforts (Gormley & Cymrot, 2006;Greenspan, 2014;Li et al, 2017;Sarmiento Mellinger, 2017), with several suggesting a focus on social media as an effective tool for investigating nonprofits' strategic actions for advocacy and the public reactions to those efforts (Goldkind, 2015;Guo & Saxton, 2018;Whitesell, 2019). Importantly, Mosley (2013, p. 238) encourages researchers to talk with the endusers of advocacy, "such as legislators and state agency administrators, to understand how they perceive [advocacy efforts], what types of advocacy and issue framing are most effective, and how evidence is used.…”

“…Relating to the processes of coalitions, scholars called for more research on communication strategies (Ciszek, 2017; Gen & Wright, 2018; Gupta et al, 2018), strategic decision-making (Chen, 2018; Gormley & Cymrot, 2006), and relationship management to engage clients and stakeholders (Ruggiano et al, 2015). Scholars also called for a better understanding of relationships—both formal and informal processes, and interactions (Ruggiano et al, 2015; Sarmiento Mellinger, 2017). Furthermore, analyzing and comparing whole networks of coalitions within policy subsystems might offer clues as to the important dimensions, characteristics, and attributes of high-performing collaborative advocacy.…”

Professionalization and its consequences: how active advocacy may undermine democracy

“…This is perhaps why line staff are increasingly encouraged to see advocacy as part of their day-to-day work. Line staff thus perform the fourth advocacy role, and in doing so they are considered a valuable source of regional and local community embeddedness (Clear et al, 2017;Donaldson, 2007;Mosley, 2013a;Sarmiento Mellinger, 2017). Advocacy is to a great extent a purposive framing activity that is intended to persuade targets of a particular interpretation of reality, and this is perhaps why the fifth and final role that we have identified is that of the expert communicator (Öberg & Svensson, 2012;Schmid et al, 2008).…”

“…Although there is a significant element of advocacy now requiring lots of 'boots on the ground', the primary legitimacy base for this role is the idea of local embeddedness as a prerequisite to build close and lasting relations with decision makers (Clear et al, 2017;Donaldson, 2007;Mosley, 2013aMosley, , 2013bClear, Paull, & Holloway, 2017;Sarmiento Mellinger, 2017). From this perspective, and under the condition that 'the gun is properly loaded from the beginning, so that everyone knows the purpose, and can navigate accordingly, […] a decentralized advocacy mandate with everyday advocacy decision being made locally, close to decision makers, is preferable.'…”