Advancing Social Change Through Advocacy

Four case studies that show how investments in advocacy can help advance positive and meaningful change.

This report describes how the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society (SAHIVCS) has helped South Africa combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic by serving as a trusted source of information for government officials and medical practitioners about how to deliver high-quality, cost-effective treatment. Although South Africa has more…

This case study tells the story behind the campaign that resulted in Ireland becoming the first country in the world to approve marriage equality by popular vote. It describes the factors contributing to the May 2015 achievement, including how two competing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and…

By Jen Bokoff and Cynthia Gibson GrantCraft Editor’s Note: This article is the first in a resource series about funder advocacy collaboratives. The series draws on real-world funder experiences to share strategies about anticipating and overcoming prevalent obstacles to success. See Acknowledgements and Methodology and…

This collection of short case studies and briefs provides insights into how Atlantic grantees used the law to secure social change in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Drawn from a longer report summarized here, the case studies and briefs cover work of Atlantic’s…

Legal advocacy – also known as advocacy through the courts – uses the judicial system to advance social change goals. This short video, featuring Annmarie Benedict, Atlantic's Senior Program Executive & Director of Grants Monitoring, and Stephen McConnell of the Civic Participation Action Fund, examines how advocacy…

Anyone interested in learning about the power of grass roots activism will find valuable lessons in this report about the experiences of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), the South African activist group that forced the government to make antiretroviral treatment available for all HIV-positive citizens and…

Five Ways Foundations Can Better Support Policy Campaigns and Build Lasting Advocacy Capacity This research brief explores the challenges facing grantmakers who fund policy campaigns without simultaneously considering how their funding choices affect long-term advocacy capacity. Failure to consider that risk leaves policy wins vulnerable and defenseless to oppositional interests, or leaves…

Legal advocacy – also known as advocacy through the courts – uses the judicial system to advance social change goals. This is often done through bringing forward a legal case in court that focuses on improving a situation for a particular group of disadvantaged people.…

The Atlantic Philanthropies and its network of partners are using advocacy and communications to end capital punishment in the United States once and for all. By Annmarie Benedict & Eric Brown The use of the death penalty in the United States is arguably one of…

This case study describes how the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT), a small organization with limited resources, successfully implemented an advocacy strategy that led the Irish government to take steps to improve conditions and reduce overcrowding in the country’s prisons. Before IPRT began its advocacy…

[caption id="attachment_75843" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Photo: Treatment Action Campaign[/caption] Advocacy is a central mechanism for driving social change. As Mark Heywood, Executive Director of Section 27 says: “Advocacy is not a handful of individuals shouting from the rooftops. It is about effective community education, community mobilisation…

This report discusses lessons Atlantic grantees have learned about using the law to secure social change in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) and Northern Ireland (NI). Atlantic’s support for this work began in 2004. Back then, few organizations in ROI or NI had much experience with public…

Atlantic’s investments totaling about $60 million between 2004 and 2016 have been a contributing factor in the growing momentum to abolish the death penalty in the United States, according to an evaluation of the foundation’s work to end capital punishment. As noted in the report,…

Anyone concerned about how the futures of millions of children are jeopardized because of discipline practices that unfairly exclude students from U.S. public schools will be heartened by this story about how transformative change can happen. It’s a story of how students and parents, civil…

From 2004-2013, The Atlantic Philanthropies provided grant funding to support equality and visibility for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the Republic of Ireland. Atlantic focused its funding on four organisations with the objective of improving LGBT people’s access to rights and services.…

In a series of media spokesperson training workshops, Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America's Voice, shared his distinctive style of media engagement with NGOs working for immigration reform in the Republic of Ireland. Sharry has extensive experience lobbying in the U.S. for immigration policy reform, and…

Martin O’Brien, Senior Vice President for Programmes at The Atlantic Philanthropies, delivered FLAC’s Seventh Annual Dave Ellis Memorial Lecture in Dublin. Ellis was a community activist who dedicated his career to working with community groups on issues including welfare rights, legal aid, legal education and…

Traditional forms of advocacy in Northern Ireland have led to some key gains for older people but are no longer enough to secure change, according to this summary of an evaluation of advocacy work by ageing organisations funded by Atlantic. Effective approaches in the past,…

This overview provides the methodology and 12 major qualitative findings of the Health Care for America Now (HCAN) campaign evaluation. The campaign had the goal of winning affordable and comprehensive health care for all Americans. Prior to passage of the health care bill in 2010,…

This publication is an attempt to distil the learnings from three important books that were published during 2009 and which provide valuable insights into doing advocacy in an emerging constitutional democracy in South Africa. Written by Marian Nell & Janet Shapiro for The Atlantic Philanthropies…

This report, produced by the Social Science Research Council, covers the history and lessons from an eight-year effort that resulted in a national law mandating helmet use by motorcycle riders. Results showed decreases in serious head injuries and road traffic deaths. The research provides a…

The Headwaters Group prepared this report for The Atlantic Philanthropies to inform philanthropic efforts to build advocacy capacity among state and local groups. The report provides an overview of current advocacy training exploring who does it, how it is done and what appears to be…

This case study documents the best-practice advocacy model of the Black Sash, one of the oldest human rights organisations in South Africa that a brave group of white women started in 1955 to fight the injustices of apartheid. Today, Black Sash plays a key role…

Public interest litigation in South Africa faces several challenges but advocates can undertake four key strategies to enhance its success, according to this report by The Atlantic Philanthropies. Atlantic this week publishes its report on strategic evaluation of public interest litigation in South Africa. This…

This publication focuses on using communications to advance human rights for South Africa’s rural poor. We believe it will be useful for advocates, nonprofit organisations and funders in many countries interested in effectively elevating important human rights issues on the policy agendas of democratic societies.…

This publication explores the experiences of a growing number of funders around the world that are committed to supporting advocacy as a strategy to advance social change. We are starting with this topic because funding advocacy too often is the philanthropic road not taken, yet…