Advocacy Month – 2. Know the Landscape

Mapping Decision Makers, Collaborators, and Timing for Maximum Influence 

When it comes to securing funding or influencing policy, most organisations know what they want, but fewer take the time to fully understand who they need to talk to, how to engage them, and when those conversations will actually matter.

Too often, advocacy is rushed or reactive. A funding round opens, and we scramble to connect with partners and draft support letters. But by the time you’re applying, the decision making terrain has already been shaped.

Smart advocacy is proactive

1. Identify the decision makers and influencers

It’s not always the person with the title who holds the real power. In every funding or policy process, there are formal decision makers and informal influencers.

To be effective, you need to know:

• Who approves or recommends funding or policy change? (e.g., Ministers, senior departmental staff, CFOs, portfolio leads)
• Who influences them behind the scenes? (advisors, local MPs, policy officers, community leaders)
• What are their current priorities, pressures, or pet projects?

Whether you’re dealing with a funding agency, local government authority, or a federal department, understanding the personalities, relationships, and institutional dynamics can be the difference between traction and silence.

Tip: Understanding the decision making process, drivers and influencers will help you align your responses to their needs.

2. Why going it alone rarely works

Funders want to see scale, legitimacy, and broader buy-in. Projects backed by multiple organisations, across sectors, signal that the initiative is important, not just interesting.

Ask yourself:

• Who else benefits from this initiative?
• Who could co-fund or endorse it?
• What other councils, NFPs, or agencies are working toward similar outcomes?

Whether it’s letters of support, in-principle commitments, or shared planning documents, credible collaboration tells a story of readiness and strategic alignment.

Example: Regional councils co-developing infrastructure priorities or water corporations partnering with ag stakeholders for recycled water use.

3. Timing and opportunity windows

You can have the perfect case and great relationships, but if the timing is off, your effort may stall.

Funding and policy shifts follow cycles:

• Budget season and pre-election windows bring opportunities.
• Post-election resets can open new doors or delay everything.
• Departmental reviews or policy refreshes are great times to bring fresh ideas to the table.

Advocacy involves getting there at the right time. And often, that means influencing the agenda well before a funding round opens.

Tip: Build a 12-month Advocacy Calendar. Track budget dates, consultation periods, grant timelines, and political milestones.

4. Are you playing the long game?

Short-term advocacy looks like:

• Submitting a proposal and hoping for the best.
• Emailing a local MP the week a grant closes.

Long-term advocacy looks like:

• Building visibility and trust over time.
• Engaging stakeholders months (if not years) before decisions are made.
• Staying top of mind, even when you’re not asking for anything.

Ask yourself:

• Do you know who your most influential stakeholders are?
• Have you engaged them before submitting anything?
• Are you consistently building relationships, or just reacting?