Federal, state or local? How to pick your lane
Written by katie test davis
TLDR Quick Snapshot of What’s In This Blog
There is no single "correct" level of government to focus your advocacy efforts on. Instead, your team should decide between federal, state or local advocacy by identifying who holds the power to help you accomplish your specific policy goal.
The 3-Step Strategy Framework
This blog outlines a specific workflow to determine where to allocate resources:
1. Define a Concrete Policy Goal. Move away from vague "awareness" goals toward specific, measurable outcomes.
Bad Goal: "Raise awareness about early childhood education funding."
Good Goal: "Secure a 'yes' vote on HB 123 from the three undecided Appropriations Committee members by the end of the session."
2. Identify the Decision Makers (Power Mapping). Once the goal is set, ask the following questions to locate the target audience:
Who has the power? Who can explicitly say "yes" or "no" to the issue?
Who has their ear? If the primary decisionmaker (e.g., the governor) is inaccessible, who influences them (e.g., cabinet members)?
What do they value? How does your issue align with their personal or political priorities?
3. Let the "Who" Determine the "Where." The answer to "Federal vs. State vs. Local" reveals itself only after you’ve identified the specific humans behind the policy goal. If the decision-maker for your specific goal sits on a local school board, your focus is local. If they sit in Congress, your focus is federal.
You know those conversations you find yourself having over and over again?
Here’s a key question that’s spinning on repeat (across various clients) here at Forthright:
“Where should we focus our efforts to influence child-and-family focused policies? Should we concentrate on the federal, state or local level?”
It’s a great question, especially in the Year of Our Lord 2026.
Let’s dive in.
What’s your policy goal?
All good communication campaigns start with the “what.” Namely, we ask: what do you want people to know, do or think differently?
At Forthright, we kick off every advocacy conversation by clearly defining our policy goals – no exceptions. By defining your goals, you’ll answer the questions of what you hope to achieve and how you’ll know you’ve succeeded.
This initial decision-making ensures your organization is channeling your time and resources into where it matters most: tactics that actually help you reach your specific policy goals.
Here’s an example of a typical goal we see from clients before we work together, and then a much better, improved specific goal.
❌ Starter goal: Our organization, A Kid Focused Nonprofit, will raise awareness about the importance of early childhood education funding.
✅ Improved goal: Secure a “yes” vote on the Early Ed funding bill (HB 123) from the three undecided members of the Appropriations Committee in our priority state by the end of the legislative session.
See the difference? The starter goal is just a hope. The improved goal gives you a target list (the undecided members), a specific action (a yes vote), and a deadline (end of session). Now that is something we can build a strategy around!
Ultimately, this first goal-setting step gives you the “why” behind your work, aligning your organization’s efforts toward a real-world vision for success and change.
Who has the power to make change happen?
Once you’ve narrowed down your goals, you’ll need to understand the target audiences you need to make change happen.
Here are the guiding questions I always use to help determine who we are trying to engage:
Who are the decision makers? Who has the actual power to say yes or no to our issue? Can we reach them directly?
Who has their ear? If we can’t directly reach the person who has the power to say yes or no (i.e., if you somehow don’t have a direct line to the governor), who does? Can you target a cabinet member or senior leader in the administration instead?
Do we have access? Do we have a way to contact them? If not, how can we get it?
What do they value? What is personally important to them? The secret to good communication is matching what you want with what they value.
Who can help you succeed? Who are the specific audiences that can move the needle? (Hint: It’s not going to the general public.)
Run through those questions with your team during a strategy session. You’ll easily determine whether to go federal, state or local once you identify the humans behind your policy goals.
What happens next?
Once you’ve identified your most important audiences, you can dig into their main priorities and values, as well as any barriers that might prevent them from taking the action you need them to take. But that’s a whole other email…
Getting clear on where change can (realistically) happen starts with your ultimate goals.
Let me know where you land!
PS - Want more? We have a (free!) program just for you…
Related links:
Successful Advocacy Strategies for Government Affairs (Pace University)
Power Analysis (UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute)
About the Author:
Katie Test Davis knows that winning campaigns start with the right strategy. As the founder of Forthright Advising, she has spent two decades working at the intersection of communications and policy for organizations that love kids. Having served in-house at three public school districts and multiple national nonprofits, Katie possesses a rare 360-degree view of how change happens at the state, local and federal levels.
Now operating out of New York City, Katie leads her team in crafting advocacy strategies that turn "starter goals" into legislative wins. Her thought leadership on building trust and community engagement has been featured in Education Week and SmartBrief.
