Why a clear objective matters

Advocacy without a clear objective is activity without direction. You might attend meetings, write letters, and post on social media, but without a defined goal you cannot measure progress, rally allies, or know when you have succeeded.

A vague objective like “improve grassroots sport funding” gives you nothing to work with. A specific one like “secure a 5% solidarity redistribution from our national federation by December 2027” gives you a target, a deadline, and a number you can track.

The RESM research gives you something most sport organisations lack: real data to anchor your objective. You are not asking for change based on feelings. You are asking based on evidence from 14 case studies across 8 countries.

The SMART framework

You may already know SMART objectives. Here is how each element applies to RESM advocacy.

The Case Statement: your advocacy pitch in four sentences

A case statement is your entire advocacy argument compressed into a format you can deliver in under a minute. It has four parts:

1. The problem – with concrete data, ideally a number that surprises (a RESM figure if it fits your context, or a figure from your own organisation, your municipality, or your local research).
2. Your solution – with a concrete reference (a RESM case study, a similar organisation in your country, a programme that already works elsewhere).
3. The impact – what changes if you succeed, expressed in measurable terms (people, money, policy, recognition).
4. The urgency – why now, with a deadline anchored in your real context (a budget cycle, an election, a policy window, an announcement).

The three examples below are fictional scenarios, built to illustrate how a case statement fits together for different types of organisations. They are extrapolated from the patterns observed in the case studies presented in Tool 3, but they are not real campaigns.

How to use these examples: each one follows a four-step shape (problem, solution, impact, urgency). Adopt this shape for your own case statement, but write your own wording. The brackets [X] and [month] mark where you should fill in your own numbers, dates, or specific requests.

Handbook reference: Write your SMART objective in Section C1 of your handbook, and your case statement just below it.