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MEL in Campaigns & Policy Advocacy
Gabrielle Watson & Claire Hutchings February 20th 2014
Page 2
Climate Change Campaign
We Can Campaign - Bangladesh
Grow Campaign
Control Arms Campaign
Robin Hood Tax Campaign
Page 3
HOW IS POLICY ADVOCACY DIFFERENT?
1. Aim is to shift power – how to measure?
2. Unpredictable dynamics – need rapid response
3. Many actors and drivers – Oxfam just one player
1. Focus on reach, access & influence
2. Real-time learning tools
3. Context & contribution analysis (not attribution)
Page 4
WHY IS MEL IMPORTANT?
Figure out what works (and doesn’t) to get stronger and sharper
Build stronger teams & alliances
Have more impact
Communicate successes & lessons learned
Page 5
6 STEP APPROACH TO CMEL
Set the Strategy
1. Theory of Change & power analysis
2. SMART measures of success
3. Data collection plan – who, when, how
Build learning loops
4. Review Progress
5. External evaluations
6. Using and communicating learnings
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1. THEORY OF CHANGE
Developing a campaign theory of change
1.Define campaign desired impact
2.Outline the outcomes that the campaign will need to achieve to bring about the impact
3. Conduct a Power Analysis on the key issues addressed by the campaign e.g. who are the allies, blockers, ‘swingers’ etc. and how can they be influenced?
4. Based on this, determine effective strategies to achieve outcomes and any ‘intermediate outcomes’ along the way.
5. Pull together a ‘theory of change’ or logic model diagram illustrating the campaign’s impact, outcomes, and strategies.
ALL MODELS ARE WRONG BUT SOME ARE USEFUL - George Box
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1. THEORY OF CHANGE
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1. Theory of Change
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Policy change x by British government.
No10 think see there is strong public support.
Large numbers of MPs publicly support policy.
Positive coverage among target
outlets. Public expressions of
support by citizens.
Public lobbying in 100
constituencies.
Social media
strategy.
Media outreach.
Public engagement
strategy.
Government relations.
High quality research and analysis fed
into policymakers.
1. THEORY OF CHANGE
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2. MEASURES OF SUCCESS
Reach • How many people do we reach through media, social
media, events, allies & influential “multipliers”? How many “actions” are people taking?
Access • Are Oxfam & allies “at the table,” shaping policy
debates?
Influence• Are we shaping draft policies and helping get them
passed and implemented?
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3. DATA COLLECTION
Measures of Success“What will we achieve?”
Indicators “How will we know it?”
Reach Public mobilization & support
# page views, tweets, Facebook comments, etc. # actions taken # participate in events Actions by champions & spokespeople # new constituents and donors
Alliance building # of allies Power of allies Actions by & with allies
Access Shaping terms of debate (issue reframing)
# Media hits Citations of Oxfam/allies spokespeople &
reports by media, policymakers & influentials
Policy maker support Public statements & actions Private statements & actions
Influence Policy & practice change
Policy proposed, enacted, funded, defended or implemented
Bad policy blocked
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3. DATA COLLECTION
Where possible, should be a mix of qualitative and quantitative
Collect the minimum amount of information needed
Document information on the campaign’s activities and campaign outcomes
Can you automate your data collection? For example:
• Adding important data to regular meeting minutes. • Free electronic data-collection tools (email accounts, RSS feed collectors, etc.)
where you can easily forward monitoring information.
Are you already collecting this data? For example, does your advocacy lead keep records of correspondence with policy contacts?
Which different perspectives are important to include?
Make sure to collect only as much data as you can review and reflect upon in the team!
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3. DATA COLLECTION
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3. DATA COLLECTIONPolicy maker champions - defining traits and measurement, December 20, 2010
Traits: The traits are intended to be illustrative, not comprehensive. If a policymaker has taken an action that is not listed, please list it with the trait that is most similar
Scoring:
Score = 1: Demonstrates InterestScore = 2: Promotes Awareness and UnderstandingScore = 3: Advocates Improved Policy and Practices - Promoted supportScore = 4: Very supportiveScore = 5: Extremely supportive
Categories Traits Scores Information sources M&E purposeCARE monito
ringLIFT UP
evaluation
Learning Tours
evaluation1. Demonstrates Interest
Personal Caucus or board membership; donations given; volunteer activities 1
caucus websites, Congress Plus, donation-tracking websites, personal knowledge (captured in Congress Plus)
Historical Legislative or Policy Record
Has voted for legislation or supported policies similar to CARE's policy position in the past 3
Thomas, CongressPlus, personal knowledge (captured in CongressPlus), media monitoring – C-SPAN, press from Agencies’ websites
Information seeking
Has received a briefing from CARE and/or ally organizations on a policy issue 2
personal knowledge (captured in CongressPlus)
Has requested information from CARE on a policy issue 3
Events Has attended events related to a policy issue CARE-sponsored event 3
personal knowledge (captured in CongressPlus)
Travel
Has visited development projects 2 legistorm.com, supplemented by personal knowledge (captured in CongressPlus)
Has visited development projects related to a policy issue 3
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3. DATA COLLECTION
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4. ANALYSIS & REVIEW
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4. ANALYSIS & REVIEW
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5. EXTERNAL EVALUATIONS
• Mid-course and final evaluations provide useful objective view of effectiveness, outcomes and Oxfam’s added value
• Support internal learning & external accountability
• Required by OI Evaluation Policy for all major campaigns, and any over $250,000
• Executive summary and management response posted to Oxfam website
• Requires budget & staff time
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5. EXTERNAL EVALUATIONS
Evaluations are opportunities for learning
• how useful an evaluation will be for the campaign team is a key factor to its quality.
• Decisions you make before and during an evaluation can affect its (real and perceived) utility
• use after the fact is also important
• Make sure findings and recommendations (if not the whole report!) are made available in an accessible, user-friendly format
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6. USING & COMMUNICATING LEARNING
• Use MEL “findings” to inform team planning
• Share with allies and other teams – replicate successes & learn from “losses”
• Share with donors and supporters to celebrate wins, build confidence & boost engagement
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OI CMEL APPROACH
WHAT’S FEELS FAMILIAR AND WHAT’S NEW?
WHAT’S MOST EXCITING & USEFUL?
WHAT’S NEEDED, TO USE THIS IN YOUR WORK?