“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” -Aristotle
Why is a blog dedicated to association and nonprofit advocacy is quoting Aristote? Consider this post a reminder that an association’s grassroots advocacy efforts are only as strong as the individual efforts of its membership. Transforming political advocacy into an empowering experience for your membership is the key to successful government relations.
How exactly does the above quote by the famed Greek philosopher relate to advocacy in today’s political climate?
- The functionality of the whole is great because of how each part works
- The sum of the parts make up a whole
- This whole is greater than the individual parts
- The functionality of the parts together is what make up the functionality of the whole
If we replace “parts” with “membership” and “whole” with “association” in terms of advocacy, we are reminded that the collective power of an association is based on the individual power of each of its members. Or more precisely, the advocacy efforts of an association is dependent upon the individual advocacy of each of its members. So, in terms of Aristotle’s musings, powerful association advocacy is dependent on its members, and looks like this:
“The association’s voice is powerful as a result of each individual member’s voice, but the voices alone, without the association, are not as powerful.”
What does all this mean? The net output of your association’s advocacy efforts requires participation of your membership in order to be successful. How exactly do you go about crafting an advocacy plan? Check out these posts here and here and learn how advocacy software can make this process simple.
