Code 6.04 Advocates, Inc.

Code 6.04 Advocates is a nonpartisan (nonprofit) subsidiary arm of McNary Group LLC which is focused on creating passionate advocates to improve the effectiveness of advocacy plans and tactics in a polarized modern American society. We will use advocacy that works, helps those to rise up, that meets the outliers, and directly impacts change for the country’s most vulnerable populations building from the old to a new advocacy style – Disruptive Advocacy. We are creating the inroad for thinkers, listeners, and innovators to create real change that is applicable and effective in a modern-day society. Our organization is driven by the National Association of Social Work’s Code of Ethics Number 6 section 4.

Code 6.04 Advocates, Inc.

Macro social work is a broad field that centers on the investigation of larger scale socialproblems, and the development and implementation of social interventions that aim to effect positive change at the community, state, and national levels.  Macro means large-scale or big. In social work, it involves the ability to see and intervene in the big picture, specifically with larger systems in the socioeconomic environment. Macro social work practice can include collaboration with consumers to strengthen and maximize opportunities for people at the organizational, community, societal, and global levels. Indeed, many social workers would argue that it is the macro level—the attention given by social workers to the big social issues of importance to consumers—that distinguishes social work from other helping professions (Glisson, 1994).  However, most Americans are not aware of this very important aspect of Social Work nor the National Association of Social Workers ethical code that attempts to guide this activity.  

A large number of our fellow social workers and citizens have become too frustrated by policy outcomes or disillusioned by partisan bickering to participate in the change process.2 Only 50%–57% of the adult voting age population has been turning out to vote in national presidential elections. An even lower percentage, about one-third, voted in midterm elections.3 Among developed countries, the United States ranks 27 out of 35 in voter turnout.4

 

In 2015, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that about 25% of Americans were volunteering in their communities.5 In a study just before the 2012 elections, the Pew Research Center showed that only about 48% of Americans participated at least once in a civic group or activity, such as working with other citizens to solve a community problem or attending a political meeting on local, town, or school affairs, during the preceding year. However, these were much higher for those with higher income levels.6 Collectively, these statistics paint a picture in which only one-quarter to one-half of Americans—and a potentially unrepresentative set of citizens—participate in decision making in their communities. Code 6.04 Advocates aims to change those dynamics.

 

Code 604 Advocates, Inc. uses an approach to advocacy education that develops the skills, knowledge, and motivation necessary for lifelong civic practice. We also know that advocates are hard at work in very politically challenging states, so many times without informed assistance from national groups. The policies that social justice advocates are pushing require different messages, skills, techniques in red vs blue states. This network will assist advocates in similar environments with strategies, tactics, and activities that work.  

 

It is imperative that people at any age beyond macro social workers learn about the political process by taking-action on specific issues in their communities. Just like science classes are supplemented with labs, to be effective, advocacy training must be designed for the agency staff/learner/students’ actual communities. Though addressing political issues, the pedagogy and discipline of activating an advocacy network are decidedly nonpartisan and can serve to address the diverse students/citizens/agencies and needs of communities across the country. At Code 6.04 Advocates, Inc., students/citizens typically follow a process of community or agency-based assessment that has been adapted from Bolder Advocacy.This initiative of the Alliance for Justice includes issue identification, research, strategizing, taking-action, and reflection. When applied in an agency-based setting, Code 6.04 Advocates will provide guidance and support throughout the process. Any Code 6.04 Advocates program/product must include the following four elements: a citizen/student-led project; a real-world, community-based issue; civic action toward lasting change; and reflection on impact and approach.

 

As an example of potential citizen involvement with the Code 6.04 Advocates method let's look at the term successful aging which was made popular in 1987, when the scientists John Wallis Rowe and Robert Kahn published an influential book entitled Successful Aging. Rowe and Kahn stated that successful aging involved three main factors: (1) being free of disability or disease, (2) having high cognitive and physical abilities, and (3) interacting with others in meaningful ways. Since our efforts are using mostly technology to deliver virtual training and an advocacy network focused app on the smartphone.  The ability to connect with advocates.

 

Further, the fourth dimension of aging is social. Social aging refers to changes in a person’s roles and relationships, both within their networks of relatives and friends and in formal organizations such as the workplace and houses of worship. Although social aging can differ from one individual to another, it is also profoundly influenced by the perception of aging that is part of a society’s culture. If a society views aging positively, the social aging experienced by individuals in that society will be more positive and enjoyable than in a society that views aging negatively. ( N. R., & Kiyak, H. A. (2011). Social gerontology: A multidisciplinary perspective 9th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson).

 

1.   Sally Berman, Service Learning: A Guide to Planning, Implementing, and Assessing Student Projects (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2006).

2.   “Campus Compact: Who We Are,” last modified 2016, http://www.compact.org/about/history-mission-vision/.

3.   Michael Prince, “Does Active Learning Work? A Review of the Research,” Journal of Engineering Education 93 (2004).

4.   “Northeastern University College of Engineering: Service-Learning,” last modified 2012, http://www.coe.neu.edu/ experiential-learning/service-learning.

5.   Bruce Berdanier, “Year-Long Service Learning Projects in Capstone Design at South Dakota State University,” Conference Proceedings, Capstone Design Conference (2010).

6.   Campus Compact, Creating a Great Campus Civic Action Plan (2016b) http://compact.org/Campus-Compact-Ac- tion-Plan.pdf.

 Code 6.04 Advocates, Inc.

Mission: Code 6.04 Advocates is a nonpartisan (nonprofit) subsidiary arm of McNary Group LLC which is focused on creating passionate advocates to improve the effectiveness of advocacy plans and tactics in a polarized modern American society. We will use advocacy that works, helps those to rise up, that meets the outliers, and directly impacts change for the country’s most vulnerable populations building from the old to a new advocacy style – Disruptive Advocacy.  We are creating the inroad for thinkers, listeners, and innovators to create real change that is applicable and effective in a modern-day society.

 

Vision: Move knowledge, which moves people... Code 6.04 Advocates, Inc. is committed to addressing the needs of the most vulnerable populations by equipping advocates with the right knowledge, right skills and abilities at the right place, at the right time, in real time.

 

 

Products and Services: Code 6.04’sAdvocates products and services will build a powerfully engaged macro social worker and citizen driven connected, nationwide network of advocates. Products include: 

 

Advocacy evaluation, also called public policy advocacy design, monitoring, and evaluation, evaluates the progress or outcomes of advocacy, such as changes in public policy. As advocacy evaluators we will seek to understand the extent to which advocacy efforts tie into the mission and goals of Code 6.04 Advocates.

 

We will evaluate by conducting assessments and evaluations via online surveys and focus groups that include quantitative and qualitative questions, along with in-person interviews.  Those interviews can include podcast transcripts, pre and post paper/electronic evaluations of pilot education initiatives which are done in a number of ways: live education or training, webinars, videos, audio podcasts, and scenarios/simulations.  

 

The “Disruptive Advocates” app will put an app in the hands of trained advocates or citizens who want to engage as trained Code 6.04 Advocates in legislative advocacy, statutory advocacy, administrative advocacy, media advocacy, ballot-based advocacy, case-based advocacy, and self-advocacy, etc. - that are available to them via the app and apply across disciplines.  Creating advocates of all kinds, across disciplines become one effective network nationwide.  

 

Apps for nonprofits serve as crucial links in multichannel advocacy strategies, centralizing the other digital elements of your tools in one organized place. They collect data on the user experience in the background.   Apps encourage deeper engagement and open up new ways to get supporters involved.  You still need to have solid web-based and email strategies that anchor your advocacy campaign, but nothing beats the direct engagement and data collection of behavior of a mobile app.

 

For additional context consider the following;

 

Nonprofit advocacy apps centralize your digital resources and all of the key actions that advocates might need to take. They dramatically streamline the digital interactions between Code 604 Advocates, Inc. effort and the app’s users — communicating updates, engaging them with actions, and raising more financial support. All the while the app is tracking what is used and how it is used by the end user which is accessed by Code 6.04 Advocates.

Most importantly, our advocacy app will empower advocates to amplify their own voices online in support of a cause. The positive effects for the whole organization can be substantial.  For example, Blackbaud’s findings in their 2018 Luminate Online Benchmark Report stated that nonprofit missions centered around the environment and wildlife saw a 2.4% increase in advocacy participation over the previous year and a 37.1% growth rate in sustainer transactions/recurring donations. This swell of financial support was “likely driven by growth in housefile [number of email contacts and app users] through advocacy.”

Advocacy apps are powerful tools for driving increased engagement and audience growth across the board, both of which translate to increased impact and fundraising revenue.