Advocacy is not only about winning, and a sense of community does not depend solely on victories. Sometimes advocacy efforts are important to take on even when the odds seem hopelessly stacked against any possibility of success. Five are worth noting.

Occasionally it seems as though advocacy is just a high-stakes, fast-paced, adrenaline-pumping, hard ball game played to be won.

It is all that, and it is also much more. Public laws and budgets affect all of our lives and the lives of our communities in countless ways every day. They affect who will get help and on what terms; they help determine who lives and who dies; they determine whether natural resources will be protected or exploited. Public policies even help determine whether our communities are more divided or united.

But advocacy is not only about winning, and a sense of community does not depend solely on victories. Sometimes advocacy efforts are important to take on even when the odds seem hopelessly stacked against any possibility of success. Five are worth noting.

As advocates you have to use your best judgment about when to proceed and when to use your resources, but you also have an obligation to respond to your constituents. They may want something you regard as unrealistic, but one of your jobs is to convey what your constituents want and feel they need. Sometimes you may just win - like the smoking-cessation "Davids" who took on the tobacco industry "Goliath" when many thought that victory was impossible.

Advocates often think in terms of two and three-year plans. Typically the first year is assumed to be for public education - with little expectation of early political action. But you cannot get political action on a non-issue. Public consciousness has to be raised; the media and public have to be educated. That cannot occur in a vacuum. Framing an advocacy issue and developing a campaign (e.g., getting a legislator to introduce a bill, or setting out three demands) will sharpen the topic and give focus to any education efforts.

It is far easier to organize people for a specific goal than for a generalized, hypothetical issue. Developing an advocacy campaign can energize old members and attract new ones.

People with a mental illness or full-blown AIDS do not carry as much weight in our political system as healthy millionaires or deep-pocket trade associations, but their interests should be just as vigorously defended, and just as competently represented. Advocacy can do that, while sending a powerful signal that somebody cares.

Fighting apartheid in South Africa often seemed hopeless but it was the right thing to do. If there are people in your community who are mistreated or go without care because of deeply-held prejudices (because of race or gender or income or whatever) it would be wrong not to do battle on their behalf, no matter how unlikely the chances of success.

In our democracy, public policies are a direct reflection of those who choose to get involved. Just as corporate farmers tend to shape agriculture policies and defense contractors influence military procurement policies, so are the policies affecting fragile environments or vulnerable people can and should be shaped by those who choose to get involved.

Never forget: laws and budgets will be adopted with us or without us; the choice is ours. Happily, whole communities benefit when we get involved, and they suffer when we do not. Getting involved is no guarantee of victory, but when we do win - well, there is just nothing sweeter.

Jane Addams - who helped immigrant families with everything from literacy classes and musical evenings to child care and hot baths, who served on the school board, fought for women's suffrage, and won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1931 - understood better than most why each of us must act. She said:

Nothing could be worse than the fear that one has given up too soon and left one effort unexpended which might have saved the world.

NOTE: If the answer to any of these reality check questions proves worrisome, you either need to re-think your advocacy plans, or build in steps to deal with the gaps.

For example, you could arrange briefings and develop talking points for Board members or staff; you might raise funds specifically to enhance advocacy capacity; you could recruit individuals with specific talents; or you might scale back (or gradually phase in) your plans.

*This article references information drawn from Part 5 of the OMB Watch publication So You Want to Make a Difference.