Best Practices for State Advocacy Websites

People Icon Library workers and supporters visit state advocacy websites for many reasons. Most often, they want information about a particular issue, hope to learn about the association's priorities or positions, or seek assistance. These best practices reflect the most common entry points for visitors and encourage easy access to information and tools for action.

		Practice		Examples
		1. Identify policy issues Describe the policy environment Define the association's key policy issues Address other policy issues that are tracked/monitored		AK LA's Legislative and Policy Priorities IL LA's State and Federal Policy Page TX LA's Advocacy Page
		2. Define advocacy Clearly define advocacy and how it differs from lobbying Outline the association’s role		IL LA's Creating or Changing Illinois State Library Law ME LA's Legislative Advocacy Group MI LA's MLA Advocacy
		3. Provide clear messaging Offer a focused list of unified talking points Support message delivery via multiple channels Include feedback loop		CA LA's Advocacy Talking Points DC LA's DCLA Tweets SC LA's Our Tweets
		4. Identify elected officials Use Engage tool to help members identify their elected officials Show legislative calendars Offer information about your representative’s present and past stances		CT LA's Speak Up GA LA's Find Your Elected Officials
		5. Display important dates/calendars Link to legislative calendars and note key dates List advocacy meetings, professional development and events Highlight state and federal advocacy days		IL LA's IL General Assembly Calendar NY LA's Advocacy Events SD LA's Advocacy Events
		6. Provide action tools Link to action requests Offer opportunities for involvement Link to trainings, guides and resources		IN LF's Advocacy Planning Guide ME LA's Legislative Advocacy Group TX LA's TLA Advocacy
		7. Provide updates Show measures of success Communicate consistently Add alert feeds		AK LA's Advocacy Updates DE LA's Advocacy Alerts and News WA LA's Legislative Wrap-Up
		8. Reflect advocacy across the library ecosystem Ensure different library types and roles are represented Connect priorities to broader community concerns		KA LA's Sections & Communities of Practice MN LA's MLA's Subunits
		9. Incorporate usability best practices Display information so that it is readily available/not overly embedded Create an intuitive design for navigation		IN LF's ILF Advocacy
		10. Link to partner organizations, including ALA		IA LA's Strategic Partners OR LA's Partner Sites

These best practices were developed by ALA's Committee on Library Advocacy based on review of state association websites as well as scans of advocacy organizations nationwide.