Indicators for advocacy are essential tools for civil society organizations to measure our outcomes and learn from our processes of political advocacy.
In this guide, we will walk you through a step-by-step approach to designing meaningful advocacy indicators.
Sebastián Hernández Mora, Senior Consultant, Colectivo META
3 Steps to Craft Indicators for Political Advocacy
Step 1: Pinpoint the Problems We Want to Solve
As a first step, we must correctly analyze the context and pinpoint the problem we aim to address, as this will determine our scope of action and target audience. Key considerations include:
- Reflecting on what advocacy means within our organization.
- Clearly defining the problem we seek to tackle (or contribute to solving) through advocacy efforts.
- Assessing the importance of the problem and the significance of its resolution.
- Determining whether the issue can be addressed through direct or indirect advocacy, such as public policy interventions or collective action strategies.
After identifying the problem and its role within the Theory of Change, the next step is to define what we intend to measure—in other words, the indicator.
Step 2: Determine the Type of Indicator Needed
Advocacy indicators, like other key indicators, serve as essential tools for measuring outcomes and evaluating the impact of interventions.
An advocacy indicator is specifically designed to assess our advocacy efforts, tracking any significant impacts related to the change we aim to achieve.
These indicators can be grouped into two main categories based on their scope:
- Outcome Indicators (Short-Term – Activities): These indicators focus on policy reform efforts, consulting, technical assistance to officials or tangible outputs such as documents, publications, or events. Examples include measuring:
- The number of policy reform proposals requested.
- The number of advocacy-related events conducted.
- The number of officials who received technical assistance or training.
- Impact Indicators (Mid- and Long-Term)
- These indicators assess broader systemic changes, influencing discourse, procedures, behaviors, or policies. They aim for long-term outcomes, such as:
- Measurable aspects include tracking the number of norms and proposals implemented, the amount of strategic networks and allies formed, the extent of media visibility about the topic of interest, among others.
- Social or policy transformations.
- Increased visibility and relevance of key advocacy topics.
- The formation of strategic alliances.
- The adoption of supportive policies aligned with a specific agenda.
Once the problem and the appropriate indicator have been identified, the next step is to complete the technical sheet, where we define the type of indicator and outline how data will be collected.
Step 3: Build the Technical Sheet and Measure Advocacy Impact
The technical sheet serves as a foundational tool for measurement, containing all the essential information needed to develop our advocacy indicators.
The following table outlines key requirements and guiding questions for structuring the technical sheet:
| Requirement | Description |
| Indicator Name | A brief description of the indicator. |
| Goal | What is the indicator’s purpose? How does the measurement align with our advocacy objectives? |
| Sub-Typology | What sub-type does the indicator fall under (efficiency, efficacy, effectiveness, etc.)? This is optional. |
| Target | What is the baseline starting point? |
| What value should we aim to reach? | |
| Measurement Unit | How will the indicator be quantified (qualitative and/or quantitative)? Examples: percentage, total amount, etc. |
| Measurement Frequency | How often will the measurement be conducted? |
| Calculation Formula | What formula will be used to calculate the indicator’s value? Example: Number of meetings with public figures / Total expected meetings over a certain period × 100 |
| Required data | What data feeds the measurement? (interviews, surveys, documents, etc.) |
| Data origin | What data sources feed the measurement (Organizations, public officials, other actors, etc.) |
| Funding/resource needs | What financial and human resources are needed to implement the measurement? |
| Analysis lead | Who is responsible for monitoring and evaluating the indicator? |
It is important to keep in mind that selecting certain indicators over others reflects the emphasis we want to place on the measurement and, therefore, determines the future actions we can take based on it.
A proper measurement using our indicators for impact should provide us with the necessary inputs to understand whether our actions are having an effect or not, and how we can position ourselves in response to new circumstances.
Our Indicators for Advocacy Are a Political Commitment
We must consider that defining a set of indicators for impact is a political commitment developed by civil society organizations, as it is directly related to our vision of the expected change and the short-term results we aim to achieve.
At COMETA, we are convinced that creating indicators for advocacy can propel your organization to achieve better outcomes in the public sphere and become the collective footprint of the change we want to accomplish. Are you ready to take this step? We can provide you with the tools you need and walk this path together!
