Becoming an Effective Advocate for Georgia’s Children, Youth and Families

1. Stay informed. Advocacy is a year-round process and effective advocates are knowledgeable on the issues and can think critically about them.
   
   
   • Stay current on the issues. Learn what the latest trends are and how these affect children, youth, families, communities, taxpayers and economic development concerns. G-CAPP can help!
   
   
   • Read the political news and editorials in your local newspaper regularly. These provide coverage and analysis of issues often unavailable through other media sources.
     
     
   • Become knowledgeable about Georgia’s governmental, legislative and appropriations processes. The main gateway for information is georgia.gov.
     
     
   • To get a flavor of what is happening while the General Assembly is in session, watch live broadcasts of committee meetings online at http://www.broc.state.ga.us/legis/
     2005_06/house/Committees/GLN/boardcastIndex.htm
     
     
   • Join a local civic group that shares your interests. Stay in the loop with a statewide advocacy organization. Join G-CAPP’s Policy & Advocacy e-letter list.
     
     
   
   
2. Become a stakeholder who counts! If you are not in the public policy "conversation," your voice won't matter.
   
   
   • Register to vote. You can do so easily by visiting http://www.sos.state.ga.us/cgi-bin/locator.asp
     
     
   • Constituents rule! Let legislators who represent you know where you stand on issues important to you and why. Contact or visit them before the legislative session ever begins, and attend any "town hall" meetings they sponsor. To find all of your elected officials, visit http://www.vote-smart.org.
   
   
   • Help legislators that care about your issues succeed. Not everyone can afford campaign contributions, but there are many other things that you can do. Ask for volunteer opportunities. A complete directory of elected officials in Georgia is available at http://www.sos.state.ga.us/cgi-bin/OfficialDirectoryIndex.asp
   
   
   • Cultivate relationships with area newspaper reporters that cover issues important to you by sharing information and insight with them. Write a letter to the editor of your area newspaper when it is appropriate to do so. Contacts can often be found through the Georgia Press Association, http://www.gapress.org
   
   
   • Collective clout from stakeholders is effective! G-CAPP and other statewide advocacy organizations can bring the issues to your attention and provide analysis, facts and figures, but the rest is up to you. The outcome of any advocacy effort ultimately depends on the extent to which individual stakeholders follow up by contacting their legislators and the press.
   
   
3. Contact legislators.


• The primary source of state legislative information can be found at www.legis.state.ga.us. Here you will find contact information for legislators and proposed legislation.


• It is always appropriate to contact the legislators who represent districts in which you are registered to vote. It is also appropriate to contact the Chair of the Committee to which legislation of concern to you has been assigned, the Speaker of the House, Senate President Pro Tempore, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Governor.


• If you are visiting the Capitol and wish to speak to your legislator, fill out a form available in front of Senate and House chambers and get in line to have a page deliver it. Provided an important vote isn't in progress, your legislator will come out of the chamber to chat briefly with you.


• During the session, legislators are not in their Capitol Hill offices on a scheduled basis, but sending a clearly marked FAX is a good way to communicate urgent information. If you telephone, it is likely that you will have to leave a message with a secretary; be prepared to give him or her all the details. Although most legislators have e-mail, it is the least effective means of communication during crush of the legislative session – but certainly better than nothing!


• Most legislators head home to their district every weekend during the legislative session. Consider calling them at home during that time for a more relaxed conversation.
  
  
4. Remember these critical success factors!


• Legislators need and want information on the issues and their potential impact on the constituents they represent. Remember to thank them later for working to address your concerns!


• Your credibility is essential and should be a carefully safe-guarded. If legislators perceive that they aren’t getting complete or accurate information from you, anything you provide will be discounted. If you don’t know the answer to a question, say so and either find the answer or someone else who can provide it.
  
  
• Try to work out your differences with other advocacy groups regarding issues of concern to you. Be respectful of your opponents; there may be other issues you can work together on! No legislator wants to referee a dispute that could have been settled outside the State Capitol.


• Never broadside a legislator by dragging him/her into a controversy that he or she is unaware of! Be ready to provide information, to the best of your understanding, about the reasons for opposition to an issue that is of concern to you.


• Effective relationships are worth more than an "instant win". Politics is the art of compromise and legislators must consider a mind-boggling range of issues every year. A successful outcome on every issue that interests you during a single legislative session is unlikely. Good advocates prepare for the long haul by developing durable relationships with legislators and alliances with other advocates that pay dividends later.