Researching your targets
Identifying and mapping your targets tells you who holds power and provides you with an understanding of who is a priority for engagement. Researching them helps you understand how to engage them effectively. Decision-makers do not operate in a vacuum. They are shaped by political priorities, committee roles, party positions, public pressures, personal interests, and regional considerations. Influencers bring their own networks, values, and constituencies.
Before engaging, take time to research:
- What roles does this target have?
- What issues have they spoken about publicly?
- What communities or regions do they represent?
- What pressures or opportunities may be influencing their priorities?
- Who influences them directly? Colleagues, constituents, media, advisors?
Example: Check out this example research brief!
Researching your targets allows you to tailor your engagement. It helps you identify where your ask aligns with their existing commitments, and where you may need to build additional support. It also helps you anticipate objections and prepare responses grounded in evidence. Advocacy is more persuasive when it connects your solution to what decision-makers already care about.
informed advocacy
Strong advocacy is informed advocacy. Further research may include:
- Understanding mandates and responsibilities
- Reviewing past statements or voting records
- Identifying stated priorities or constraints
- Mapping relationships between institutions and individuals
This research helps ensure advocacy asks are directed to the right people, at the right time, and in the right way. When you understand who holds power, how they are influenced, and who stands alongside you, your engagement becomes intentional and informed. But influence is not shaped by relationships alone. Timing also matters.
Why timing matters
Advocacy is more effective when it aligns with windows of opportunity to engage your target. These may include:
- Elections or leadership changes
- Budget cycles or policy reviews
- Committee studies
- Global summits or international commitments
- Crises or shifts in public attention
Understanding political and institutional timelines helps advocates identify when decision-makers may be more open to engagement or change.
As you evaluate timing, consider:
- Is there an upcoming budget or policy review that aligns with your ask?
- Has a public statement, report, or event brought attention to your issue?
- Are decision-makers particularly responsive due to public or constituency pressure?
- Is there an international or national moment that creates leverage (e.g., global summits, UN meetings, replenishment conferences)?
- Are there risks associated with acting too early—or too late?
Sometimes, timing means seizing a window of opportunity. Other times, it means preparing patiently and building momentum until conditions are more favorable.
The importance of unusual suspects
New opportunities to engage targets can also open when unexpected voices enter the conversation. “Unusual suspects” are individuals or organizations not typically associated with your issue, but who bring credibility, new audiences, or political weight. This might include private sector leaders, faith-based organizations, youth leaders, board members, local governments, or voices from sectors that decision-makers already trust.
Engaging unusual suspects can:
- Broaden the perceived base of support
- Reduce polarization around an issue
- Shift narratives by reframing the conversation
- Increase legitimacy in spaces where traditional advocates may face resistance
Decision-makers are influenced by relationships and signals. When support comes from diverse and sometimes unexpected corners, it can shift how an issue is understood and prioritized.