How do you choose which advocacy outcomes to measure?

2 What are advocacy outcomes?

Advocacy outcomes are the changes that result from your advocacy activities, which can be categorized into different levels according to the scope and duration of the change. Outputs are the immediate products or deliverables of your advocacy activities, such as events, publications, or media coverage. Outcomes refer to short-term or medium-term changes in knowledge, awareness, skills, attitudes, or behaviors of your target audiences. Lastly, impacts are long-term or lasting changes in social, economic, or environmental conditions that affect your clients and their communities.

3 How to choose advocacy outcomes to measure?

Choosing which advocacy outcomes to measure depends on several factors, such as your advocacy goals, objectives, strategies, indicators, and resources. To select the most relevant and feasible outcomes to measure, you should first define your advocacy goal and objectives. These should be broad and long-term changes that you want to achieve through your advocacy. Additionally, identify your strategies and activities; these are the approaches or methods that you use to achieve your objectives. Then, select your indicators and sources of data; these are the specific and observable measures that show whether you have achieved your objectives. Lastly, assess your resources and capacities; these are the human, financial, technical, and organizational factors that enable or limit your ability to measure and evaluate your advocacy outcomes.

4 How to use and share your advocacy outcomes?

Once you have measured and evaluated your advocacy outcomes, you can use and share them to improve your practice, inform your decisions, and influence your stakeholders. For instance, you can use your outcomes to reflect and learn by assessing your strengths and weaknesses, and comparing them with your expectations. Additionally, you can use them to inform your decisions by guiding future actions and strategies, and testing and validating hypotheses. Finally, you can use them to influence your stakeholders by communicating value and impact, building trust, and engaging the public.

5 How to measure advocacy outcomes effectively and ethically?

Measuring advocacy outcomes can be a tricky endeavor, as it is often unpredictable and influenced by multiple factors. To do so effectively and ethically, you should use a participatory and inclusive approach that involves clients and other stakeholders, is culturally sensitive, gender-responsive, and human rights-based. Additionally, you should use a mixed-methods and flexible approach that combines quantitative and qualitative methods to capture the diversity of your advocacy outcomes. Finally, you should be transparent and accountable about your goals, objectives, strategies, indicators, and sources of data. By doing so, you can demonstrate and improve your impact, inform and influence your stakeholders, and promote social justice.