oi cmel approach calp feb 2014

MEL in Campaigns & Policy Advocacy

Gabrielle Watson & Claire Hutchings February 20th 2014

Climate Change Campaign

We Can Campaign - Bangladesh

Grow Campaign

Control Arms Campaign

Robin Hood Tax Campaign

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)

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

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

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

1. THEORY OF CHANGE

1. Theory of Change

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

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?

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

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!

3. DATA COLLECTION

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

3. DATA COLLECTION

4. ANALYSIS & REVIEW

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

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

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

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?

oi cmel approach calp feb 2014

Documents

policy recordinformation

policy debates

policy contacts

campaign theory of change

policy advocacy different

important data

policy issue1caucus

campaign outcomes