1. Scholarship Granting Organization Training
Workshop 2: Outreach and Advocacy
Presenters:
Mary Eaker
Executive Director
Institute for Quality Education
&
Rosalyn Merrick
Director of Stakeholder Engagement
Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program 1

2. Topics of Discussion: Mary Eaker Outreach Objectives
Advocacy & Coalitions
Dealing with Controversy
Rosalyn Merrick
Building a “Culture” of Stakeholder Support and Engagement
Legislative Action & Wins
Tracking and Reporting Impact and Progress

3. Outreach Objectives Help more families exercise school choice;
Help all schools get better, so fewer students are attending D or F schools; and
Create a network of concerned parents, educators, civic leaders and others who are interested in improving education in their own communities.

4. Outreach My School Options: informational and interactive website
Community organizing and coalition building through our outreach team
The Leader in You: four-week advocacy trainings around the state
School Fairs
Community Events
Newsletters with current, relevant information
Paid media campaigns
Social media campaigns

5. Donor Outreach Website information
Donor Portal (one-time, recurring, view)
Giving Tuesday Campaign
Ask Mailings ( , snail-mail)
Newsletters with current, relevant information
Paid media campaigns (IBJ, giving guide, advertisement, etc.)
Because of Indiana’s low scholarship tax credit cap we traditionally partnered with our schools to do fundraising. Now that we have some room in our cap we are looking at ways to reach out to prospective donors (CPAs, Attorneys, High wealth individuals).

6. Advocacy
We have a dedicated Policy team at the Statehouse, engaging with legislators, state board of education members, governor’s office and Indiana department of education to advance policies that improve the quality of educational opportunities for all students.
(goal is for parents to choose their school for their children (charter, private, public, virtual, homeschool)
Action Center – This tool allows our school partners and families to easily communicate and advocate for or against policies that directly impacts K-12 education.
During the 2019 legislative session there were:
30 campaigns
259,376 actions
1503 s per Rep.
2176 s per Sen.
Partnering with other organizations that share the common goal of all students having access to a quality education that meets their specific learning needs
Annual day at the statehouse during national school choice week (host a breakfast with legislators, student video (show)
Policy Education (workshops, guest speakers, data and research – district specific K-12 info for legislators through out the year.

7. Coalitions What is a Coalition? Why is coalition building important?
An alliance for combined action
Usually consists of individuals with similar ideas, values and backgrounds
Why is coalition building important?
Access to Resources
Legitimacy
Shared Leadership
Access to Policy Makers
Networking
Shared Risks and Benefits
Coalition groups:
WE have local and state-wide coalitions for outreach, SGO and policy.
SGO, EDChoice INPEA, state and local chamber, Urban league, Teach Plus (all education reform groups) with the exception of ISTA, public schools associations)

8. How do we deal with controversy?
Submit op-eds and LTEs
Activate our community of advocates (Action Center and in-person testimony)
Leverage student and parent stories
We struggle with story collection and are trying to improve as we are still new to this area
Roncalli, Cathedral are examples of challenges in Indiana
Opponents are traditional public school teachers with 60K s who are active and consistent in their message no matter whether it is true or not. Example – vouchers take money away from public schools.

9. Building a “Culture” of Stakeholder Engagement
Key Stakeholders:
Parents
CPAs
Scholars (current & alumni)
Lawmakers
Schools
School Choice Colleagues & Proponents
Contributors
Education Services Partners

10. Building a “Culture” of Stakeholder Engagement

11. Building a “Culture” of Stakeholder Engagement

12. Building a “Culture” of Stakeholder Engagement

13. Building a “Culture” of Stakeholder Engagement
Op-ed in The Augusta Chronicle, featuring GOAL Scholarship recipient family at Heritage Academy in Augusta 
Op-ed in Savannah Morning News, featuring GOAL Scholarship recipient family at Bethesda Academy in Savannah 
Op-ed in Albany Herald and Lee County Ledger, featuring GOAL Scholarship student at Deerfield-Windsor School in Albany 
January 3, 2015: AJC’s Op-ed explained why Georgia legislators should raise the cap that is available to all Georgia taxpayers, not introducing a new model which only favors C-Corporations
Atlanta Business Chronicle article extolling community-building aspects of GOAL
Atlanta Business Chronicle article explaining why corporations love GOAL

14. Building a “Culture” of Stakeholder Engagement

15. Building a “Culture” of Stakeholder Engagement

16. Legislative Action & Wins
GOAL engages its donor base and participating school officials in legislative advocacy, when necessary.
This has been essential throughout the years in order to preserve, protect, and expand the GOAL program.

17. Legislative Action & Wins
Our GOAL donors are incredibly supportive of this program and are engaged in the legislative advocacy process.
Over the years, thousands of Georgia taxpayers contact their representatives and senators as it relates to program legislation.
Last year, Georgia Lt. Governor Cagle sent this after being contacted by thousands of GOAL supporters, including donors, school officials, and parents of scholarship recipients.

18. Legislative Action & Wins
GOAL has coordinated many visits among scholarship recipient parents and students and state legislators at the Capitol building in Atlanta.
These visits are always well received by legislators and make a lasting impact.

19. Legislative Action & Wins

20. Legislative Action & Wins
2016 Raise The Cap Petition – more than 17,000 signatures!
In 2018, cap nearly doubled from $58M to $100M
Establish and maintain SSO standards of transparency, accountability and fairness in scholarship award practices
Continue to inform lawmakers about the incredible success and popularity of the existing program, urging them to preserve, protect and expand it
Dispel myths (i.e. benefits rich kids, subsidizes private school, costs the state money, profiteering) with real evidence
Keep the focus on what matters: STUDENTS
Never, never, never give up.

21. Tracking & Reporting Impact
GOAL periodically surveys its taxpayer donors and recipient families.
The survey results help to inform policymakers about the importance of this program on Georgia and its citizens.

22. Tracking & Reporting Impact

23. Scholarship Granting Organization Training
Workshop 2: Outreach and Advocacy
QUESTIONS? 23