Fern Tiger Associates | Advocacy Documentation

Advocacy Documentation


	ADVOCACY DOCUMENTATION In our complex society, nonprofit organizations, neighborhood and community groups, service clubs, and committed individuals play a significant, though often unnoticed, role in revitalizing our cities and towns. And while corporations have the capacity to tout their efforts, it is often the strength, vitality, hard work, and perseverance of people engaged and rooted in their communities — and those who advocate on their behalf — who spur the private sector and government bureaucracies to bring about change. These activities should be documented and integrated into the social and political memory of each community and organization — not as ends in themselves, but as means to further the purpose of organizations and the issues they promote. Such creative documentation — a combination of visual, written, and oral information — raises community awareness by recording the vital role of these organizations. This approach, which we call advocacy documentation, differs from traditional advertising and public relations because it captures important events, real stories, and actions, providing insight into people’s lives and into the issues and decisions that prompted their participation. Advocacy documentation creates historical documents to help future generations understand today’s struggles and accomplishments.