Back by popular demand, Joe and Martín are gearing up for a second season of How to Win a Campaign! Tune in to this Season 2 Trailer to find out what your two favorite campaign gurus have in store for How Win an Advocacy Campaign. Whether you’re just getting started in advocacy or you’re a seasoned advocate, this season will give you an insider’s perspective that teaches you not only how to fight for what you believe in, but how to win.
In this Season 2 trailer, Joe and Martín are back and ready to dive deep into the world of advocacy campaigns. They discuss what advocacy means to them, how they got their starts in advocacy, and how you can get started in advocacy regardless of your experience level. All you need is a cause and willingness to fight for what you believe in. Sign up for the email list below so you can be the first to know when Season 2 is out!
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Joe Fuld
Twitter: @joefuld
Instagram: @joefuld
Martín Diego Garcia
Twitter: @gmartindiego
Instagram: @gmartindiego
Presented by The Campaign Workshop
(Intro Music)
Joe Fuld (00:08):
Hey folks, you're listening to the trailer of How to Win an Advocacy Campaign, where you'll get an insider's perspective that teaches you not only how to fight for what you believe in, but how to win.
Martín Diego Garcia (00:18):
Welcome listeners to season two of How to Win a Campaign. Joe, we made it, we finished season one and are now off and running and starting the process all over again with the, this podcast, which is going to be specifically on the wonderful world of advocacy.
Joe Fuld (00:32):
Well, that's right, Martín, you know, season one was really fun to do, and it kind of took on a life of its own with special episodes. My bet is this season, season two will also take on a life of its own. You know, the first season we talked a lot about political campaigns this season by popular demand, we have decided to shift gears a bit and talk about advocacy campaigns, which are their own special challenge.
Martín Diego Garcia (00:59):
Yeah, definitely. I mean, a lot of the pieces that we talked about in the first season around messaging and fundraising will be in here, but there'll be with a different lens on it, will be how do you do it now in the advocacy space versus in a political campaign, but what does advocacy really mean? And according to the Merriam Webster dictionary, advocacy is defined as the act or process of supporting a cause or proposal, which seems like a really simple definition for something that can be very large and often very complex. I mean, there's a number of different ways to advocate, whether it's through lobbying or legislation, whether it's through direct services or education, right? There's grassroots lobbying versus grasstops lobbying and advocacy, there's advocacy through coalition building. Right. But the thread of that really ties all of these efforts together is that act of doing something in support or sometimes in opposition to a cause or a proposal. How are you doing that act of advocating?
Joe Fuld (01:56):
Yeah, totally agree. I mean, for me, advocacy means real community engagement. It can be as simple as trying to move an issue that other people think is small, but you think is super important. Like a four way stop on your corner. Or it could be a larger issue like black lives matter or climate change. And it's that community engagement in small issues or in larger issues, but usually on the local level where your doing very simple, but tangible actions to engage around an issue like signing an online petition or calling up a legislator to say, Hey, will you have a cup of coffee with me socially distanced to talk about an issue that we care about. But to me, that's what advocacy, that's where it begins. And it's getting that kind of engagement and connection on a community based level.
Martín Diego Garcia (02:49):
Yeah. What I really appreciate about advocacy right, is that you can do it on the individual level, but you can also have a much larger impact by organizing it as Joe mentioned, right. Your community to get more to advocate and really get sort of public support behind something that your community would benefit from.
Joe Fuld (03:05):
Yeah. So Martín, so tell me, what are some of your favorite advocacy strategies?
Martín Diego Garcia (03:11):
Yeah, so this season, we're going to be talking about a number of different topics. And I think one of my favorites and I'm excited to have this conversation and do this episode on it is power mapping. Power mapping is something that has been used by organizers and advocates for years on really how to hone in and ensure that your resources right, your time, your money, your people are being allocated and spent in the most effective way. So that you're really giving yourself a landscape analysis of what is out there, who are your key targets, who are the folks that influence them and how do you build those relationships to really move your cause forward. And so it's a really fun and easy tool that folks can utilize to really help them hone in their strategy. But I love doing power mapping. If you have questions about power mapping, please reach out. But Joe, what are some of your favorite pieces that we're going to be talking about this season?
Joe Fuld (04:03):
Well, thinking about the, your overarching strategy for an advocacy campaign, as well as the messaging behind it, those are two of the core things that I've worked on for a really long time and I love. These days one of the tactics that I've really been digging into, which I think is super interesting is user generated content and how that can apply to an advocacy campaign, especially during the times that we're in. And how do you get that person to person engagement while people are at home where you can't do community meetings. Martín, do you have any favorite? Like first of all, the one question I had for you is you do a ton of training around politics and around advocacy, is either your favorite?
Martín Diego Garcia (04:46):
It's kind of a rude question. Joe. It's like picking one of your children as your favorite. Right? I love training as folks know who listened to the first season of the podcast training is where I get my life from. It's, it's my passion. It's what I love to do. But it is different, right? You, you apply the tools and the tactics and the strategies a little differently when you're in the advocacy space than when you're in the political space and they can learn from one another, which is what I always appreciate. I learned something every time I'm in a training space whether it's advocacy or political, but I can't say that I can pick one over the other.
Joe Fuld (05:17):
Yeah. I mean, well, I mean, you and I, I mean, for folks that are new to the podcast and maybe you haven't listened to season one yet, but Martín, I work at a, at a political and advocacy consulting firm called The Campaign Workshop and we do training work, we do strategy work, we do digital advertising and direct mail work for groups and organizations. And, you know, our clients range from big groups in the advocacy space, like NRDC to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network to small groups like DC vote and how these groups engage on issues can be totally different. And it's interesting, always me like each campaign is different. What you're trying to do for a candidate is very different than what you are trying to do for an advocacy organization. And on the advocacy side, I'm always thinking about what are primary goals, but also what are secondary goals and how does that come to play in an advocacy campaign? Your primary goal might be that you're trying to move an issue full, right? Your secondary goal might be that you want to get advocates in specific areas, but also not only have those be people who will call their legislator, but also folks who will be potential donors or potential spokespeople for the organization. So I love the layered possibilities of advocacy and I love the long-term nature of advocacy, cause most of these campaigns are going on, not just for like three or six months, they're going on for three or six years. And to me that's like really cool to build this longer term capacity for organizations.
Martín Diego Garcia (07:00):
Yeah, absolutely. Right. Some of these organizations have been around for decades, right. Doing the same type of work in terms because the, the advocacy that they need to be doing, whether it's gun violence prevention or ending the AIDS epidemic. Right. And these organizations have been around for decades pushing policy to ensure that the communities in whom they are advocating on behalf of still have somebody in these legislative halls fighting for them and standing up for them. And so I also appreciate that the advocacy work is a long term strategy, a longterm game in order to continue to push for better policy that benefits those audiences and communities in which they are fighting on behalf of.
Joe Fuld (07:42):
That's right. We're going to be sharing over a decade of experience with you all as well to show you how to run successful advocacy campaigns and become familiar with the tactics and strategies that advocacy organizations should use for success. And we're going to have some amazing guests who've trained with us over the years to come in and do that. I'm super excited about it.
Martín Diego Garcia (08:04):
Definitely. We work with a number of clients who advocate on a range of issues from climate change to nurses' associations, organizations fighting on behalf of LGBT gender equality. We have a good bit of experience both between Joe and I end on our team have all kinds of different ways to advocate for the issues and causes you all believe in, but for now, let's take a quick break. And when we come back, we'll dive into some of our own personal experiences and stories working on advocacy campaigns.
(Music)
Joe Fuld (08:46):
And we're back. So Martín, tell me about how you first started working in the advocacy space.
Martín Diego Garcia (08:53):
Yeah so if you tuned in to the first season, you, you heard a little bit about my background in terms of my dad being in the labor movement. He was a painter and, and sort of climbed the ranks to the president of his local and oversaw one of the largest unions at the time when he retired here in California. And my mom worked for the unemployment department for over 30 years advocating on behalf of folks who, who lost their jobs. And so the idea of advocacy has sort of always been part of the dinner table, right? A part of family conversations, sort of part of my upbringing, but in terms of how I, how I got involved in my career in advocacy, right, I started in the political space at the LGBTQ Victory Fund and Institute working on behalf of LGBT candidates. And post that was able to really get involved, were working at The Campaign Workshop with a number of groups and organizations advocating whether it was on behalf of green space or anti tobacco legislation really diving in to understand the difference between the political space and the advocacy space and really cutting my teeth. And a lot of the clients that I got to work with with you, Joe, at The Campaign Workshop and my first stint. And, and since then being able to learn enough that I now get to train a lot of folks in the advocacy space, as they're thinking through the work that they're doing, the strategies they want to implement, et cetera.
Joe Fuld (10:17):
Yeah. And I mean, you got to dig in even more after you left The Campaign Workshop to go do work at Wellstone Action, now re:power working with labor groups and other issues. So your training work grew to like a crazy degree and we're very lucky to have you back.
Martín Diego Garcia (10:36):
Yeah, no, definitely. It's been, it's been fun. It's been fun. I, like I said, I get to learn and meet people, doing amazing, amazing work in these spaces, which has always really fun. But, but Joe, I mean, what, how did you get started in the advocacy space?
Joe Fuld (10:48):
Well, so I had ran political campaigns for a long time and decided to sort of get off the road and became a chief of staff in the New York state legislature for a legislator named Richard Brodsky who's a mentor, who was an amazing guy and got to work for, for one of the craziest years of my life. And we stayed friends for a super long time after that. But working in the New York State Legislature, I was to start, I was then being advocated to, right? I was like, I was the gatekeeper and I worked with Richard to figure out like who he was talking to and who he wasn't and what the plan was as far as legislation for the year and was part of that discussion. And it was really neat to see it. And, and I, that really started my fascination with issues beyond thinking of just political campaigns. And it was also a time where I started to see the change over time, where it used to be that when back in the day, when I started, like the only way that people would engage in advocacy was through a lobbyist, right. There were occasional large scale campaigns on big issues, but it wasn't the same as today where if you really want to move something, you have to have that greater grassroots support beyond just having a lobbyist come and talk to you. And, and that has really become the norm now of having this engagement and organizing at the local level for issues you care about and making sure that legislators are hearing and feeling that sort of push from the local level about an issue. But I started, started seeing that, and that was back, you know, early, early on in my career. And then I went and worked on more campaigns, and then I worked at the Democratic National Committee. And then when I left that and got into political consulting, I started having clients come to me and saying, Hey, we want to use political campaign tactics around issues. And that to me was like fascinating. And I saw that coming and I was very lucky enough to work on issues that were both at the nexus of politics, but then at the nexus of advocacy, whether it was, you know, passing smoke free laws in specific States, whether it was, you know, doing work on antidiscrimination work, those types of things were legislative and then political and back to legislative. And it was a really neat thing to see. And now these days I'm really lucky to be able to help train, but also really on the advocacy side, help people build longterm capacity around advocacy and engagement.
Martín Diego Garcia (13:36):
Yeah, it's very much so about, right. But that inside, outside game and how you make sure nowadays that you do have those folks on the inside talking to those legislators right. On what, whether it's lobbying or your membership going in and having those one on one meetings, but also that, that groundswell of support on the outside so that they are, they're also feeling that the public opinion is swinging in that direction as well. And as Joe mentioned, there, there are a number of different ways to do that from email petitions to signatures, right. To lobby days. And how, how are you sort of marrying those two together? Completely great. Yeah.
Joe Fuld (14:08):
And Martín, so what do you find most rewarding about advocacy?
Martín Diego Garcia (14:13):
There's a couple of pieces. I think it has some to do with that, right. Like obviously, so a lot of my advocacy work in the beginning of my career was in the LGBTQ space whether it was around non-discrimination or marriage and, and really fighting to advocate on behalf of LGBTQ folks in, in the United States and really seeing how the groups and organizations within the LGBT space and the lines, the, the lanes that they had defined for themselves in terms of let's make sure we're getting elect people, elected into public offices to change and write policy while also making sure that we are doing the citizens and closing down the streets, right. And doing that direct action work well, as well as we're doing the lobbying work and we're doing the community engagement work. And it was really amazing to see the coming together of the community in a way that other folks are. And other movements are trying to mimic and trying to learn from because of how quote unquote quickly, right marriage equality came, where we were, we were using a bunch of different channels. And I think the rewarding part is when you, you put all this time and energy in this love and blood and sweat and tears into this work and then to win and be successful, right. And to actually do that thing that you know is going to change people's lives for the better and really change history for the better. And there are big moments and little moments like that, whether it's the, whether it's the stop sign on your corner or the street or the, or the speed bumps on your on your street, right? Those things also change lives. Right. And whether it's the little way or the really big ways, it's really, really amazing when, when the work and the time and the energy you've put in does actually have an impact on people's lives. But but Joe, same question to you right, how do you, how do you find joy or reward out of doing advocacy work?
Joe Fuld (15:56):
Well, I mean, I love seeing individuals find their voice around an issue to, you know, do outreach in specific communities to find people that have a story to tell and give them a platform to tell it around an issue is incredibly powerful. And these days there's more technology and more ability to tap into those local messages and get that out to the world. And to me, that is super rewarding to see, and really awesome. The other piece that I love seeing is sort of this ladder of engagement that, you know, people will start by doing something really small, they're signing an online petition. Then they'll like, get on a call with an organizer, then they'll call up their legislator to do something. Then they'll write a check and become a part of the organization or groups and organizations that are really building thoughtfully, that ladder of engagement and getting folks to get involved over the long term. That's also the amazing thing to see about advocacy. It used to be that these organizations would have these different funnels that were completely separate from fundraising to advocacy, right. To grass tops. Right. And now what we're seeing as people combining sort of those funnels to really have it be one continuous engagement across an organization. And that's really neat to see.
Martín Diego Garcia (17:23):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.
Joe Fuld (17:25):
So Martín tell me, you know, for our listeners who are tuning in, you know, and want to get started in advocacy, what are the recommendations you have on how to get started?
Martín Diego Garcia (17:37):
Definitely. I think the first part is thinking about your goal as Joe mentioned earlier, right? What is the thing you were trying to accomplish? And making sure that's very clear, right. And it should align with your overall and strategy, right. What is the, what is the reason for your organization to be in existence? Right. and, and what in the advocacy space can you do through policy and legislation through public education, right. Through community engagement to help further that mission and that goal. So I think first and foremost, you want to know why you're doing it right? You don't want to just sort of jump into the space and sort of throw all these tactics at the wall and see what sticks because it will be a lot of wasted time and energy and money on your part. So having a very clear goal is really important. And then starting to train your members or your, or your audience who you have been advocating on behalf of, of how to engage with you. And Joe just mentioned that ladder of engagement, it's a really simple, but really effective tool to make sure that you are putting people on a path to find their voice and become better advocates for your cause for your group, for your organization. And ultimately hopefully increase the impact that you all are making in that space. So, yeah, first and foremost, I would say define the goal, define a very clear goal, and then second start engaging your community, start engaging your members around that specific goal and how they can be involved. But Joe, as you've mentioned, you've got the ability to work on a number of advocacy campaigns, any one that was particularly challenging for you and sort of how you tackled those challenges?
Joe Fuld (19:12):
Yeah. Well, first of all, the one thing they'll say is like in the work that we do on advocacy, you know, we're part of a team. I don't think that I am ever the one that is like solely solving the challenges. I think what you're doing is helping and advising clients. And one of the more interesting ones that I've seen over time is what I've seen the folks at DC Vote do, which is a small organization, which are working on, you know, statehood and home rule issues in DC. But this is a organization has been working on this issue for a long time. And how do you keep that moving over time, leadership changes through changes in what people see, is it an important issue? Is it not? And how do you build over time and build an organization? Bo Shuff over there has done a great job among other people who have like, help move that issue forward. And so that's been super neat to see, like, how do you keep something going that, you know, if you live in Washington DC, it's relevant, but if you're outside of Washington DC, how do you make it relevant? So that's a, that's a challenging one for sure. You know, the great thing about the work that we do Martín is we work with a whole lot of people that have worked on a massive challenges. And what's cool about the training work that we do either virtually or on this podcast is we get to talk to them. So in the next segment, right, we're going to talk about like, who's going to be on the show and I'm super excited to talk about the guests and the great topics we're going to go over. So we're going to take a quick break and we're going to right back.
(Music)
Martín Diego Garcia (21:02):
And we're back. So our last season, we talked about how to win political campaigns and discuss the topics like digital strategy, hiring a campaign manager, what it's like to be a candidate going door to door and canvassing. And of course get out the vote. But Joe, for this season on advocacy, what are some of the episodes and topics that our listeners can expect from season two?
Joe Fuld (21:23):
Well, I mean, we're super excited. A lot of this has come out of the training work that we do. We do a semi annual or biannual training on advocacy that we've done for the last couple of years. And you can find out more at TCW Advocacy to check out our training work, but this season comes out of that work and we've got great speakers and a great selection of topics. So storytelling, I'm super excited for that session. This is someone that, you know, very well, but I've not interviewed ever before, but I think the work that United We Dream's pretty amazing. That is going to be really exciting. And I actually can't wait for you to interview Rich Neiman since I worked with him for a while. I'm curious to see how that interview's gonna turn out. So there's a couple there that I think will be fun, but I mean, some of this some of these folks I've just, we've known for decades and some are new, so I'm excited for it all.
Martín Diego Garcia (22:21):
Yeah. And so a couple of the other topics that folks can be ready for are we got Hannah Willard from, Freedom for All Americans talking about coalition building and the importance of that. We have one of our good friends Rosa Espinola, who's going to come in to talk and geek out with us about targeting and data. We have a good friend of mine, Joe Sangirardi, who is over at HRC, who's going to talk about fundraising specifically for advocacy. We have Eric Sanchez coming in to talk about communications. And one of my favorites is a dear friend of ours who we've been able to work with Katie Belanger, who's worked on a number of campaigns and is really going to talk to us about what happens when advocacy goes wrong and you get a little off track and having to get yourself back on to track. But in addition to those we'll, we'll likely also have, as we did in the first season some bonus episodes, specifically, one on advocacy and supporting and standing in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, but I'm sure a number of others will pop up that we'll just have the burning desire to ensure that we create an episode about.
Joe Fuld (23:19):
Yeah, well, I love the bonus episodes. It's one of my favorite things to do. And if you're listening and you have an idea for a bonus episode, drop us a line, but Martín of the ones that you listed, do you have a favorite that you're really excited about the interview?
Martín Diego Garcia (23:35):
Well, Joe, that's a really hard question. I've had the ability and honored to work with a number of these folks who are going to be on. Hannah has gonna come on and talk about coalition building. She's had a lot of experience navigating those sometimes treacherous waters and getting folks to coalesce around a particular cause or issue. Rose is probably one of the smartest data analytics folks that I know. And they'll be on with us geeking out about data and sharing insights. Joe Sangirardi has, has a long time history of fundraising. And so Katie also a good dear friend and we we're gonna I'm sure have a good time chatting with her about what goes wrong. So as you can tell, I'm excited for a lot of them.
Joe Fuld (24:17):
It's going to be awesome. Can't wait. These are great folks. We get to, we get to talk to new people and old people, right?
Martín Diego Garcia (24:24):
Long time friends.
Joe Fuld (24:25):
I mean people who we've known for a long time. They're not that old. Yeah. I know. Alright, whatever, trust me, I'm the oldest person on this podcast, but it's going to be fun and we're excited totally looking forward.
Martín Diego Garcia (24:39):
Yep. Definitely. We get to learn a lot from these folks, so super excited. But until then, we also want to hear from you the listener. So definitely reach out to us on social media. You can find us on Twitter @CMPWRKSHP or on Instagram @thecampaignworkshop. Yeah.
Joe Fuld (24:55):
We cannot wait to get season two, started to stay up to date on when season two is coming out, sign up for our email updates. So you'll be the first to know when season two is up.
Martín Diego Garcia (25:07):
Definitely we're excited to get this started, but until the first episode, this is Martín Diego Garcia
Joe Fuld (25:12):
And Joe Fuld breaking down how to win an advocacy campaign.
Joe Fuld (25:17):
How to Win an Advocacy campaign is Joe Fuld, Martín Diego Garcia, Hope Rohrbach, Daniel Lam, Heidi Job, and Elena Veatch. Music by Mike Pinto. Sound editing by The Global Startup Movement. Special thanks to the team at The Campaign Workshop. Remember to review like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
(Outro Music)