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Section outline
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Welcome to the NAFSA 2023 Advocacy Day learning center! This is your hub for accessing general advocacy training videos in advance of your virtual congressional meetings on March 8 and the orientation/training on March 2. Especially encouraged for first-timers! You will also be given access to a separate online portal to access your congressional meeting schedule and the Zoom links needed to join the meetings. Details to come.
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Advocacy Day Orientation/Training, March 2, 2023 2-5 pm ET.
To join the March 2 training, you will first need to register in Zoom. After doing so, you will receive an automated email entitled “NAFSA Advocacy Day” that will contain the ‘click to join’ link. Please join 5-10 minutes early to avoid delays. Also note that your March 8 schedule of virtual congressional meetings will be emailed to you by AdvocacyDay@advocacyassociates.com on March 2 at 10 am ET.
In Person to Virtual Translation
You'll find that some of the videos refer to "in-person meetings " from back in the days when we used to meet face-to-face. The short video shows you how to translate between the two approaches.Your guide for understanding the ins-and-outs of Washington, DC
Stephanie Vance is a 25-year "veteran " of Washington, DC. She's worked as a Congressional Chief of Staff, lobbyist and grassroots consultant. Here she shares insights on the importance of citizen advocacy.Does Virtual Advocacy Work?
With travel restrictions and social distancing requirements, virtual advocacy has become all the rage. You may be wondering if phone calls and video conferences are as effective as in-person meetings. Well have no fear! Many advocates have found them to be even more effective than a traditional face-to-face sit down. Review this video to learn why. -
These materials are designed to bring you up to speed on the issues and help you prepare for an effective meeting. Here you'll find:
Congressional Meeting Road Map: This document is offered as a loose outline for you and your fellow advocates to help guide your delineation of speaking roles and the content of your discussion with congressional offices. You can follow it as closely or as loosely as you feel comfortable. As long as you start with your NAFSA affiliation and arrive at our “asks,” how you traverse between the opening and closing is up to you! The goal is for your delivery to be natural and authentic so modify as you see fit.
Slides: How to Plan for Your Congressional Meetings. When we gather on March 2, you’ll have about 40 minutes in a breakout room with peers from your state or your congressional district to prepare for the meetings you have together. These slides will guide your preparation in the breakout session. Note that you may not have enough time to connect with all your peers for all of your meetings; we definitely encourage you to exchange contact information on Thursday to make separate arrangements.
Issue Briefs: These documents have been prepared for your congressional offices. They describe in great detail the policy changes and funding related requests we are seeking. You don’t need to memorize this information! Note that your lawmakers will receive these materials in advance of your meeting, and we encourage you to share them in the Zoom chat during your meeting. You’ll also share them in a thank you message (more to come on that).
- Issue Brief: Attract and Retain International Students
- Issue Brief: Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Program Act
- Issue Brief: FY24 IE Funding
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The principles of effective advocacy apply whether advocating in person, or online--you just apply them a little differently, In this video you'll learn how to be most effective on your phone or video calls Whether you're meeting in-person, on a video conference, or on a phone call, you'll need to apply these 4 keys to create an effective advocacy message.
- Know what you want
- Know who you're talking to
- Know how to talk to them
- Know how to follow-up
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The Ask
The number one reason advocates don't get what they want is because they don't ask! More information on your association's ask will be provided closer to the event. And if you don't have a policy ask, don't worry! You can always make a "relationship building" ask.
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ABOUT LEGISLATORS
To be most effective, you'll want to know a little something about the people you're talking to. In this section, you'll learn about understanding your legislator, and their all important staff. ABOUT STAFF
Note that all your research into the legislator's policy and political interests apply to the staff as well. They're there to represent their boss, so what's of interest to the boss will be of interest to them as well. -
Here's a short video with step-by-step instructions for learning about your legislators
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Your job is to tie the strange things that happen in Washington, DC back to the district, and you do that through effective stories. Use the strategies in the video and the materials in this section to create yours! Now tie all of that into a strong message with the message formula.
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Your trip (or phone call) to DC doesn't stop here! Long term relationships are essential to winning your policy issue. In this section you'll learn how to put together site visits. Whether they'll be in-person or via video is up to the discretion of the legislative office.
The only difference from your perspective is what video platform you'll use to conduct the visit, as well as how many outside people you'll involve. Due to social distancing guidelines, having one-person conduct a video walk through generally works best. You can engage others with a joint video meeting at the end.
Choose a platform and technology that allows you to transition from the walk through to a joint meeting in order to avoid asking legislators and staff to call in twice. You might also consider recording your walk-through for the legislator or staff to view while with you on a joint call.
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Decided you want to do a site visit? No problem! Use this worksheet to get started.