1. WE HONOR VETERANS
How to be an Advocate

2. What do we mean by “Advocate”?
Knowledgeable
Passionate
Engaged
Focus of Advocacy can be different audiences:
Policy makers
Public
Industry
To whoever has the power the help

3. Advocacy: Policy Makers
Why Policy Makers?
They have the power to help your patients
Veterans Administration: funded and controlled by Congress
VA Administrator: chosen by President, confirmed by Congress
Because they have power, they must be EDUCATED

4. Staff Perspective: What Makes a Good Advocate?
Informative/Confrontational
Professional/Inappropriate
Persistent/Annoying
Connected to the Community/Self-promoter
Goal of a great advocate: Make the Staffer’s life easier!

5. Steps to Effective Advocacy
Education
Educate yourself on who your policy makers are
Federal
One Representative for your specific district in the US House
Two state-wide Senators
Find Your Legislator
Educate Policy Makers on Veterans Needs
The We Honor Veterans Program exists!
How this helps Veterans and families
What needs you see that are unmet

6. Steps to Effective Advocacy
Relationship Building
Policy makers and their staff should know who you are, and trust what you say
Policy makers and their staff should know you BEFORE you ask them to do something for you
Policy makers should understand the WHV Program and be able to reach out to you if/when they have needs or questions
This does not come by sending one or two form s a year. Requires repeated personal touch.
We recommend 4 “touches” per year.
Personal or phone call
Personal meeting in district/state or DC
Invitation to an event and/or tour of your facility
Community event: Townhall meeting, Memorial Day Parade, other event Policy Maker participates in within your community

7. More on Education Follow your Legislators on Social Media!
Learn where they are, what they’re interested in, what other things they’re working on
Tweet/FB at them with important issues and information
Follow and use #hpm, #eol, #hospice, #palliative to see what’s going on in the community.

8. Staff Perspective: Social Media
Does your boss pay attention to social media posts?
How many posts on a topic do there need to be before your boss is alerted to it?
How often does your boss interact with constituents on social media?

9. Steps to Effective Advocacy
The “Ask”
After you have built a relationship and educated Policy makers about WHV, what happens when you need something specific?
Could be a Policy “Ask”, or something else?
Ex: Veteran is searching for missing Purple Heart
Many times, the “Ask” is, “Please support ____ bill in Congress.”
Sometimes, it is “Please oppose____bill in Congress.”
Must be CLEAR about your ask!

10. Great Advocacy Opportunities: Hosting an Event
We Honor Veterans Honor Ceremonies
Designed around the needs of patients and families
Could be intimate and small, or public and large
Ideally, something you are already doing
Important role for Legislator: To Honor a Veteran on behalf of the US Government

11. Staff Perspectives: What is a good “Ask”?
Known Source/Random Unaffiliated Person
Personalized/Automated
Realistic/Unrealistic
Tips for Success

12. WHV Honor Ceremony
As soon as your dates are set, make the invitation to the Legislator ASAP!
Schedules fill up months in advance, and change frequently
A Staffer may fill in if the Legislator themselves are not available
An invitation template is available on our website
If you can be flexible, invite the Legislator FIRST, and find out when they are available, and plan around their schedule
Can be difficult to balance with patient/family needs.
Who do I contact?
The State Scheduler and Veterans Affairs Staffer
if you need their addresses
YES . Snail mail takes too long. A follow up phone call is great as well.

13. WHV Honor Ceremonies
What if it is a last minute thing? Invite them anyway!
In that case, definitely call the District Office. You probably won’t get the Legislator, but Staff are great, too!
Make it standard protocol
Pick a point person
Call HAN! We can help!

14. WHV Honor Ceremonies Possible Roles for Legislator
Many times, you will only get 30min-1hr of the Legislator’s time
They do not need to have a role, but if you want to incorporate them into the ceremony:
Lead the Pledge of Allegiance
Presentation of a Flag
Presentation of a Letter of Thanks
Say a few closing words
Keep the focus on the patient and family

15. Staff Perspective: Attending Events
Why does a Legislator want to attend a WHV Ceremony?
What do they want to learn?
How does this empower them to work on behalf of Veterans?
What is a good, or bad, event?
Location
Length

16. After the Event
Always send a follow up “Thank You” to the Legislator and staff.
Include any pictures you took of the event
Share pictures and brief written explanation of the event with local media
Share pictures and commentary on your social media platforms, in your newsletter, on your website, etc.
Always make sure you have consent from patients and families to share their pictures

17. Advocacy FAQs What if I don’t like/didn’t vote for my Legislator?
It doesn’t matter. They don’t know that, and in this case, you are advocating for your patients and not talking about personal political beliefs
We had a great meeting/event, why haven’t they responded to my policy “Ask”?
It takes a long time to pass a bill, and it usually takes a few requests before a Legislator will cosponsor a bill. The average Congressman represents 700,000 people, and Senators represent the whole state, so it takes more than one or two people to contact them and convince them to support or oppose a bill.

18. Advocacy FAQs
I’m a small program, and I’m already overworked. How can I be an advocate and still sleep?
That is what HAN is for! Read our monthly s, respond to our Action Alerts, and make it a regular part of your policy to invite your Members of Congress to events at your program.
Keep HAN informed about what you need, and how we can help!

19. Overview Four “touches” per year to build relationship
Personal s and phone calls
Meetings in the district office or in DC
Attendance at community events
Invitations for Legislators to visit program or attend events
Be the trusted “Hospice Expert” for the office
Always have a clear “Ask”
Use Hospice Action Network for Help!

20. Questions?