1. MEL in Campaigns &
Policy Advocacy
Gabrielle Watson & Claire Hutchings
February 20th 2014
2. Climate Change Campaign
Robin Hood Tax
Campaign
Grow Campaign
We Can Campaign - Bangladesh
Control Arms Campaign
Page 2
3. HOW IS POLICY ADVOCACY DIFFERENT?
1. Aim is to shift power –
how to measure?
1. Focus on reach,
access & influence
2. Unpredictable
dynamics – need
rapid response
2. Real-time learning tools
3. Many actors and
drivers – Oxfam just
one player
3. Context & contribution
analysis (not attribution)
Page 3
4. WHY IS MEL IMPORTANT?
Figure out what works (and doesn’t) to get stronger
and sharper
Build stronger teams & alliances
Have more impact
Communicate successes & lessons learned
Page 4
5. 6 STEP APPROACH TO CMEL
Set the Strategy
Build learning loops
1.
Theory of Change &
power analysis
4. Review Progress
2.
SMART measures of
success
5. External evaluations
3.
Data collection plan –
who, when, how
6. Using and
communicating
learnings
Page 5
6. 1. THEORY OF CHANGE
Developing a campaign theory of
change
1.Define campaign desired impact
2.Outline the outcomes that the
campaign will need to achieve to bring
about the impact
3. Conduct a Power Analysis on the key issues addressed by the
campaign e.g. who are the allies, blockers, ‘swingers’ etc. and
how can they be influenced?
4. Based on this, determine effective strategies to achieve
outcomes and any ‘intermediate outcomes’ along the way.
5. Pull together a ‘theory of change’ or logic model diagram
illustrating the campaign’s impact, outcomes, and strategies.
ALL MODELS ARE WRONG BUT SOME ARE USEFUL
- George Box
Page 6
9. 1. THEORY OF CHANGE
Policy change x by British government.
No10 think see there is
strong public support.
Positive coverage
among target
outlets.
Media
outreach.
Large numbers of MPs
publicly support policy.
Public
expressions of
support by
citizens.
Social
media
strategy.
Public lobbying
in 100
constituencies.
Public
engagement
strategy.
High quality
research and
analysis fed
into
policymakers.
Government
relations.
Page 9
10. 2. MEASURES OF SUCCESS
Reach
• How many people do we reach through media, social
media, events, allies & influential “multipliers”? How
many “actions” are people taking?
Access
• Are Oxfam & allies “at the table,” shaping policy
debates?
Influence
• Are we shaping draft policies and helping get them
passed and implemented?
Page 10
11. 3. DATA COLLECTION
Measures of Success
Indicators
“What will we achieve?”
“How will we know it?”
Reach
Public mobilization &
support
•
•
•
•
•
# page views, tweets, Facebook comments, etc.
# actions taken
# participate in events
Actions by champions & spokespeople
# new constituents and donors
Alliance building
•
•
•
# of allies
Power of allies
Actions by & with allies
Shaping terms of
debate (issue
reframing)
•
•
# Media hits
Citations of Oxfam/allies spokespeople &
reports by media, policymakers & influentials
Policy maker support
•
•
Public statements & actions
Private statements & actions
Policy & practice
change
•
Policy proposed, enacted, funded, defended or
implemented
Bad policy blocked
Access
Influence
•
Page 11
12. 3. DATA COLLECTION
Where possible, should be a mix of qualitative and quantitative
Collect the minimum amount of information needed
Document information on the campaign’s activities and campaign
outcomes
Can you automate your data collection? For example:
•
•
Adding important data to regular meeting minutes.
Free electronic data-collection tools (email accounts, RSS feed collectors, etc.)
where you can easily forward monitoring information.
Are you already collecting this data? For example, does your advocacy
lead keep records of correspondence with policy contacts?
Which different perspectives are important to include?
Make sure to collect only as much data as you can review and
reflect upon in the team!
Page 12
14. 3. DATA COLLECTION
Policy maker champions - defining traits and measurement, December 20, 2010
Traits: The traits are intended to be illustrative, not comprehensive. If a policymaker has taken an action that is
not listed, please list it with the trait that is most similar
Scoring:
Score = 1: Demonstrates Interest
Score = 2: Promotes Awareness and Understanding
Score = 3: Advocates Improved Policy and Practices - Promoted support
Score = 4: Very supportive
Score = 5: Extremely supportive
Categories
Traits
Scores
Information sources
1. Demonstrates Interest
Personal
Historical Legislative or
Policy Record
Information seeking
Events
Travel
Caucus or board membership;
donations given; volunteer activities
Has voted for legislation or
supported policies similar to CARE's
policy position in the past
Has received a briefing from CARE
and/or ally organizations on a policy
issue
Has requested information from
CARE on a policy issue
Has attended events related to a
policy issue CARE-sponsored event
Has visited development projects
Has visited development projects
related to a policy issue
1
caucus websites, Congress Plus,
donation-tracking websites, personal
knowledge (captured in Congress
Plus)
3
M&E purpose
CARE
Learning
monito LIFT UP
Tours
ring evaluation evaluation
Thomas, CongressPlus, personal
knowledge (captured in
CongressPlus), media monitoring –
C-SPAN, press from Agencies’
websites
2
3
3
2
3
personal knowledge (captured in
CongressPlus)
personal knowledge (captured in
CongressPlus)
legistorm.com, supplemented by
personal knowledge (captured in
CongressPlus)
Page 14
18. 5. EXTERNAL EVALUATIONS
• Mid-course and final evaluations provide useful objective
view of effectiveness, outcomes and Oxfam’s added
value
• Support internal learning & external accountability
• Required by OI Evaluation Policy for all major
campaigns, and any over $250,000
• Executive summary and management response posted
to Oxfam website
• Requires budget & staff time
Page 18
19. 5. EXTERNAL EVALUATIONS
Evaluations are opportunities for learning
• how useful an evaluation will be for the campaign team
is a key factor to its quality.
• Decisions you make before and during an evaluation
can affect its (real and perceived) utility
• use after the fact is also important
• Make sure findings and recommendations (if not the
whole report!) are made available in an accessible,
user-friendly format
Page 19
20. 6. USING & COMMUNICATING
LEARNING
• Use MEL “findings” to
inform team planning
• Share with allies and
other teams – replicate
successes & learn from
“losses”
• Share with donors and
supporters to celebrate
wins, build confidence &
boost engagement
Page 20
22. W
HAT’S FEELS FAMILIAR AND W
HAT’S
NEW
?
W
HAT’S MOST EXCITING & USEFUL?
W
HAT’S NEEDED, TO USE THIS IN YOUR
W
ORK?
Editor's Notes
Developed by CMEL colleagues in 2009 based on best practices within campaigns
Reviewed and updated at F2F in 2012
Currently being refined.
Next step is disseminate & gather useful tools
Data collection plan:
the indicator(s) or outcome area(s) they will track,
the data that needs to be collected,
how it will be collected and how frequently (e.g. quarterly, weekly),
who will be responsible for collecting it and
how it will be used
This is one example of an in-depth analysis of target decision-makers.
There are lots of ways to do this, which can be incorporated into team power analysis exercises
Including visualizing level of support and influencing power of targets on a matrix
Source: Template created by SAMRO MEL Lead, Louise Clark, for Doe Run campaign effort, 2012
