ABSTRACT
The growth and maintenance of an organizational advocacy program and the ability to meet advocacy objectives require organizational structures and supports. Facilitators of organizational advocacy include coalition membership, leadership support (including board support), and resources (Donaldson, 2007). Not surprisingly, organizations with greater capacity in terms of staff, dollars, and volunteers are more likely to engage in advocacy behaviors than organizations with fewer resources (Berry & Arons, 2003; Suarez, 2009). Gibelman and Kraft (1996) identify the type of agency, agency size, mission, functions, and staff expertise that are associated with the nature of an agency’s advocacy practice. They also lay out a conceptual model of agencylevel advocacy practice that elevates advocacy activities to the same status as agency’s programmatic activities, and suggest that without resources (e.g., money, staff expertise, and technology), a robust agency advocacy agenda cannot be executed.
