Be The Change Locally: How to Advocate for Animal Welfare

Joy Ward, Jaime Smith and Skye Kilaen“Animal Welfare Is The Most Extreme Philosophy I Can Imagine.

It Is About Non-Violence. It Is About Compassion. It Is About Not Harming and Not Causing Suffering And Not Killing When

We Don’t Have To. That’s It.

It Is Really, Truly That Simple.-Stephanie Ernst

What We’re Going To Cover• What are the basic elements

of a campaign?• Legislators and decision-

makers: who are they and how do you influence them?

• How can you use social media to make change?

Basic Campaign Elements

• Getting/joining supporters & like-minded folks• Financing• Marketing materials• Clear message and figuring out the

opposition’s message• Communicating with legislators

What Do Legislators Do When You Communicate With Them?

• Assign a staff member to respond.

• Figure out if their constituents care about the issue.

• Contact “experts” for help responding.– This could be people you

disagree with or are complaining about.

What’s Ineffective Communication?

• Insults• Threats• Rants• Hyperbole• Form letters• Long letters• Incorrect facts• Lack of specific demands• No identifying information

What’s Effective Communication?

• Find the right Legislator.• Clear requests: “Vote NO on Ohio

HB130.”• LOCAL stories.• Reliable, verifiable facts and figures.• CONCISE emails, faxes, and letters.• SHORT visits with staff, plus

handouts.• Compliments, if possible.• Thank you’s, if they’re on your

side!

Find Support & Leadership• Work with non-animal interest groups that share

values where possible.• Gather supporters in a structured manner.• Use different people for different tasks, i.e.

marketing, administrative tasks, etc.

Find Your Financing• Start raising funds now• Take your dog to a park with a

vest that has change pockets for donations (and hand out flyers to people)

• Find other organizations to partner with; try to find a business donor

• Find someone with experience in fund-raising/grant-writing

GET PERMITS (if getting political)• If you want to get petitions signed…

if you want to poll people… if you want to stand somewhere… You need permission from the city, county or place of business

Otherwise you could be kicked out or fined!

Figure Out the Opposition’s Argument

• Find the research that they are using and experts they’re citing.

• Save the ads, document the commercials, clip the newspaper articles, etc. done by your opposition.

• Politely tear said arguments to pieces with your well-prepared counter-attack that is logical, educational and NOT BASED ON EMOTION.

National Advocacy Groups

• Don’t judge or bad-mouth them.• Don’t underestimate their power.• Use their research – it’s up-to-date & relevant.

Social Media Advocacy

• Subscribe to legislators’ newsletters and blogs, follow them on Twitter, Facebook, etc.

• If issue is local, does anyone local read your blog? If not, find local blogging groups.

• Don’t WASTE time with communications legislators will discount.

Recap I• Legislators / Decision-

makers – who are they and how can you influence them?

• Basic campaign elements

• How can you use social media to make change?

RECAP IIChallenges: What We Want You to be Thinking About: • Think of one group outside your community who you could

partner with…• How can you reach out to community members who haven't

been reached yet?• Think of one new way to use social media.• Think of an animal welfare cause you could really get behind

that’s currently an issue in your community.• Find out who your legislators are – city, county & state.

You can make a TON of difference locally! Locals are crucial to campaigns!

Don’t Give Up!