Advocacy Accelerator

Empower Missouri is pleased to announce our Advocacy Accelerator program, a training opportunity designed for direct service organizations to create or deepen internal advocacy capacity. Many direct service organizations are meeting critical needs of community members but lack the capacity to advocate to address the policies that are creating those needs. At Empower, we envision a nonprofit sector where every nonprofit organization is advocating for key policy changes alongside their direct service offerings. However, we know that this may seem daunting, and many nonprofit staff and board members might not know where to start. 

We’re here to help. 

Our Advocacy Accelerator program includes a cohesive package of training, coaching, administrative support, and relationship building. We offer three tiers of programming so that nonprofits can opt in to the level that best suits their current budget and capacity. Over time, Empower can work with you to deepen your team’s investment in and capacity for the work, with the ultimate goal of your organization running a self-sustaining advocacy program. Explore the services offered below and set up a call with our team to learn more!

What does the program entail? 

Tier 1

• Series of trainings for staff + board members + external stakeholders:
  • Advocacy 101
  • Messaging
  • Ethics 
• Participation in monthly cohort meeting for organizational partners
• Support to plan & host a site visit for legislators
• Coaching for a staff person charged with advocacy (1 hour/month)
• Prepared recommendations for executive staff/board on setting up systems and structures to support advocacy work
• Personalized introductions to up to five legislators
• 2 annual conference attendance tickets

Tier 2

• Series of trainings for staff + board members + external stakeholders:
  • Advocacy 101
  • Messaging
  • Ethics 
• Participation in monthly cohort meeting for organizational partners
• Support to plan & host a site visit for legislators
• Coaching for a staff person charged with advocacy (1 hours/month)
• Initial consult with executive staff/board on setting up systems and structures to support advocacy work
• Personalized introductions to up to ten legislators and joint meetings with up to five legislators
• 4 annual conference attendance tickets
• One bespoke training annually
• Facilitation of legislative agenda setting
  

Tier 3

• Series of trainings for staff + board members + external stakeholders: 
  • Advocacy 101
  • Messaging
  • Ethics 
• Participation in monthly cohort meeting for organizational partners
• Support to plan & host a site visit for legislators
• Coaching for a staff person charged with advocacy (4 hours/month)
• Monitored and ongoing consulting with executive staff/board on setting up systems and structures to support advocacy work with bi-annual check ins
• Personalized introductions to up to twenty legislators and joint meetings with up to ten legislators
• 6 annual conference attendance tickets
• Two bespoke trainings annually
• Facilitation of legislative agenda setting
• Legislative tracking and updates on organizational priorities
  • Will include priorities on weekly legislative update podcast during session
    

What are the tiers and what do we charge?

Sponsored participation may be available for small organizations. Please inquire. 

Interested in the program?  Click the button below to schedule a meeting with our Advocacy Director, Sarah Owsley, to discuss further details and next steps. (You will be reserving an hour-long meeting timeslot, but we likely will not need the full hour.) We look forward to hearing from you and your organization! 

You can also sign up for our e-newsletter aquí to learn about other ways you can get involved and what events are coming up next.