Add this item to my Toolkit!

Making Your Goal SMART

Specific: State the desired ultimate policy outcome. Many foreign policy
advocacy campaigns do not make their advocacy "ask" clear enough or
specific enough to be achievable with the planned activities. You and
your funder should be able to identify a policy aim that you share; a
mutual understanding of the policy ask happens all too rarely. The same
holds true for capacity building: determine what you want at the end of
the investment in terms of growth in the organization's or coalition's
ability to advocate. And again, work with your grantmaker towards a
clear, shared understanding of these capacity-building goals.

Measurable: Develop benchmarks and indicators to be sure you can measure
your progress toward reaching your goal.

Attainable: Foreign policy advocacy is a long-term endeavor. Look at
your resources and timeframe to make sure you can actually reach your
goal; if not, reassess your goal given the limitations. 

Realistic: Assess the state of the field for your advocacy topic. Make
sure that your goal is not based on unrealistic assumptions about
available capacity to tackle the issue. Look hard at whether
decision-makers can be moved in your direction.

Tangible: Make sure that once your goal is reached, it will have a real
outcome. Whether it is progress for helping people living in poverty in
developing countries or a bill signed into law, your constituents need
to be able to see demonstrable evidence of this accomplishment. 

[close window]