Don’t miss our upcoming webinars: Subscribe today! In this webinar: 1. Attendees will be introduced to the concept of an advocacy toolkit. 2. People will be taken through a series of advocacy tools to add to their toolkit 3. Everyone will understand how advocacy toolkits have evolved in the context of COVID-19. View the video: https://youtu.be/HYwxsQgq1oA To learn more about CCSN, visit us at survivornet.ca Follow CCSN on social media: Twitter - https://twitter.com/survivornetca Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CanadianSurvivorNet Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/survivornet_ca/ Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/survivornetwork

1. Your Advocacy Toolkit
Thursday, October 8, 2020
1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
Presented by Ryan Clarke, LL.B.
founder of Advocacy Solutions

2. Agenda
Welcome & introductions
Webinar outcomes
Review and context
Letter/email/text
Collective letters
Advocacy packages
Fact sheet/infographic
e-Advocacy/social media
Advocacy Day (virtual)
Q&A

3. Webinar Outcomes
3
Attendees will be introduced to the concept of an
advocacy toolkit
People will be taken through a series of advocacy
tools for inclusion in their toolkit
Everyone will understand how advocacy toolkits
have evolved in the context of COVID-19

4. 1. Identify yourissues
2. Test andframeyourissues
3. Develop your keymessage
4. Determine yourone ‘ask’
5. Choose yourtools and targets
4
Developing anEffective
AdvocacyPlan: 5-StepProcess

5. Step 5: Advocacy Tools
• Web site
• Newsletter
• In-person/virtualmeetings
• Telephone call
• Letter/e-mail/text
• Positionpaper/whitepaper
• Collective letters
• AdvocacyDay(virtual)
• Brochure
• Advocacypackages
• Factsheet/infographic
• Newsrelease
• Traditionalmedia
• Clinical studies
• Informationsession
• e-Advocacy/socialmedia
5

6. Three different forms of written
communication that should be used
accordingly in different circumstances
Letter
When you want to not only deliver your
three key messages and one ‘ask’, but you
also want to provide essential context to
the reader
Email
Often used to deliver a letter (attachment)
or deliver just your key messages/one ‘ask’
Text
Should be used only when engaged with a
decision-maker in the midst of an advocacy
campaign
6
Email/Letter/Text

7. Letters
• Only critical question – What is the purpose of
this letter?
• Depending on the answer to that question, it
should be no more than two pages – if you have
more than two pages of written content that you
want to communicate, use another format (i.e.
position paper)
• Your one ‘ask’ should be mentioned in both the
first and last paragraphs
• If the purpose of the letter is to get a meeting
with the reader, then every word should serve
that purpose
7

8. Collective Letters
• Usually used with groups of health care professionals (i.e.
physicians), who want to make their unified voice heard to a
key decision-maker in government (i.e. provincial Minister of
Health) around an issue of clinical significance
• Could certainly be done with patients and caregivers, too
• When designing collective letters, we follow a four-step
process to get them completed and delivered
• Patients groups can also act as the conduit for managing this
process on behalf of the physicians

9. Collective Letters
Step 1 – Finding your co-leads and drafting
– Initially, you need to find a clinician to serve as the lead
and ideally draft the collective letter (or work with a
medical writer)
– Then a co-lead should be found, ideally from a different
part of the country/province
– Co-lead should review the letter and provide further
input, after which the text should be finalized and put on
the lead clinician’s letterhead with both e-signatures
– Regardless of the recipient of the collective letter, don’t
forget to cc. other key decision-makers (i.e. DM of Health)

10. Collective Letters
Step 2 – Dissemination to colleagues
– Strength of any collective letter is grounded in the ability
of the co-leads to get as many colleagues as possible to
sign on or endorse the document
– Need a current list of potential clinician endorsers and
their e-mail addresses
– Ideal number of endorsers will depend on the size of the
compiled list of clinicians, but generally speaking, a
response rate of 20-25% is considered quite good
– Gathering of endorsements is typically done through an
online survey tool (i.e. Mailchimp)

11. Collective Letters
Step 3 – Compiling the list of endorsers
– As the responses from the endorsers are received, a Word
document should be prepared listing everyone in alphabetical
order (by surname) that will follow on the end of the letter
(right after the list of cc.’s, but before any references)
Step 4 – Sending the letter to the recipient
– Final step is to prepare the letter to be emailed to the recipient
– After merging the text of the letter with the list of endorsers,
the final document should be put into a PDF (including the
applicable cc.’s and references)
– On behalf of all of the endorsers, the lead clinician should then
e-mail the PDF letter to the recipient/cc.’s

12. Advocacy Packages
• Seven distinct documents typically included:
– Introduction to advocates
– Letter to your elected representative asking for a meeting
– Meeting script outline
– Key facts
– Meeting report back form
– Letter from your elected representative to the Minister
– Letter to the Minister

13. Advocacy Packages
Introduction to Advocates:
– Meant to serve as the ‘instruction manual’ for the rest of
the materials
– Needs to be written in language that compels the reader to
take action by doing what is asked of them
– Outline:
• Background of the issue
• Describe why you need the reader to engage
• Outline the contents of the advocacy package (i.e. what you’re asking
the reader to do and the materials included)
• List contacts for the reader if they need further information

14. Advocacy Packages
Letter to your elected representative asking for a meeting:
– Letters can take three basic forms:
• Blank sheet of paper – the reader is asked to draft their own letter
based on some background information provided – everyone drafts
and sends their own unique letter
• Form letter – the reader simply inserts their elected representative’s
contact information, their own contact information and ‘signs’ their
name – everyone sends exactly the same letter
• Hybrid letter – the reader is asked to insert a brief paragraph about
their own circumstances as it relates to the issue, but the rest of the
letter is consistent – everyone drafts some unique content, but sends
letters that are largely the same

15. Advocacy Packages
Letter to you elected representative asking for a
meeting:
– Outline of a hybrid letter:
• First paragraph – who you are (always note that you are a constituent)
and why you are writing to your elected representative (your one ‘ask’)
• Second paragraph – a brief paragraph outlining your personal story and
your link to the issue
• Third paragraph – a combination of your three key messages and some
key facts about the issue
• Fourth paragraph – restatement of your one ‘ask’ (in bold)
• Fifth paragraph – I will be in touch shortly to arrange a time to meet –
thank-you

16. Advocacy Packages
Meeting script outline:
– For people to use during their (now virtual) meetings with
elected representatives
– Can be anywhere from a general outline to a very detailed,
almost line-by-line script
– Again, a hybrid approach may be most suitable
– May also be beneficial to ask your supporters what they
need in order to ensure that as many of them as possible
(virtually) visit their elected representatives

17. Advocacy Packages
Meeting script outline:
– Introduce yourself and the people you are with
– Explain why you are there (generally) and your one ‘ask’
– Deliver your three key messages
– Tell your personal story in the context of the issue
– Review some of your key facts
– Deliver your one ‘ask’ again
– Engage in dialogue to ensure that your elected representative
fulfills your one ‘ask’
– Conclude by saying thank you and commit to following up shortly

18. Advocacy Packages
Key facts:
– Typically no more than a page
– To be used by people as background information about the
issue AND in their (virtual) meeting with their elected
representative
– But people need not deliver every key fact during their
interaction
– Depending on how the document is drafted, it could even serve
as a leave-behind with the elected representative
– Any province specific information is always good (as opposed to
just national facts/figures)

19. Advocacy Packages
Meeting report back form:
– Names of the people who attended
– Name of the elected representative and date
– How long was the (virtual) meeting and who attended with
the elected representative (if applicable)?
– Did the elected representative seem receptive?
– Did he/she agree to your one ‘ask’?
– When and how will you be following up?
– Other comments or impressions

20. Advocacy Packages
Letter from your elected representative to the Minister:
– On many occasions, the one ‘ask’ of your elected
representative will be to write a letter to the relevant
Minister outlining your concerns about the issue
– This is often the most effective ‘ask’ of an elected
representative because it puts your concerns in writing, it
requires a written response and it can be done by both
government and opposition members
– The content should be crafted along the same lines as the
letter to your elected representative asking to meet, minus
your personal story (usually)

21. Advocacy Packages
Letter to the Minister:
– Important for the relevant Minister to hear directly from
people affected by the issue
– Again, you can do the blank sheet of paper, form letter or
hybrid letter
– If you choose the hybrid letter approach, it takes the same
format as the letter to your elected representative asking to
meet
– For your one ‘ask’, ask directly for the change that you need

22. Advocacy Packages
Using these packages:
– Only effective if you can get them into the hands of as many
people as possible
– Post on web sites, email to supporters, post mail to people,
hand out paper copies at events
– Make sure that you draft the material so that it appeals to
the maximum number of people (i.e. not just patients)
– Track progress – ask people to copy you on the letters they
send and forward their completed report back forms

23. Fact Sheet/Infographic
• Fact sheet can also be a
stand alone document
(outside of the Key Facts
used in an advocacy
package) that you
disseminate
• Infographics have become
a very popular way of
visually depicting your
key messages, key facts
and one ‘ask’

24. e-Advocacy/Social Media
• Becoming almost a cornerstone component of any grassroots
advocacy campaign
• Seamless integration is one the key benefits and this tool will
ideally contain:
– A single click feature (to a single politician or your local
representative)
– A meet your elected representative feature (online advocacy
package, by province)
– Click to Tweet feature (choice of pre-populated Tweet to
single/several politicians, by province
– Share on Facebook
– Post on LinkedIn

26. Advocacy Day (virtual)
• This is a work in progress
• Advocacy Day is a misnomer – the ones we are currently
developing are being held over several days to
accommodate decision-makers’ schedules, which has a
distinct advantage over the in-person format
• Allows more of your supporters to participate – no more
travel limitations, physical challenges, time away from
family/work or cost restrictions
• So far the receptivity from politicians/bureaucrats has
equally as positive in terms of convenience and ease of use

27. Advocacy Day (virtual)
• Key steps/elements:
– Meeting platform (i.e. Zoom)
– Recruitment – need supporters who are willing to attend
these virtual meetings
– Target list – need to figure out who in government/politicians
you want to book calls with
– Invite letter/email – to be sent to your target list
– Online scheduling tool embedded in invite
– Prep of attendees/development of meeting flow document
(including bios of all individuals you’re meeting with)

28. Canadian Cancer Survivor Network
Contact Info
1750 Courtwood Crescent, Suite 210
Ottawa, ON K2C 2B5
Telephone / Téléphone : 613-898-1871
E-mail: jmanthorne@survivornet.ca or info@survivornet.ca
Website: www.survivornet.ca
Twitter: @survivornetca
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CanadianSurvivorNet
Instagram: @survivornet_ca
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/survivornetwork/