A few years ago, two of my former higher ed colleagues, Ryan McPherson and Joe Brennan, played leading and complementary roles in advancing UB 2020, the University at Buffalo’s long-range plan. Though working in different function areas of the university—Ryan was a government relations officer; Joe was a university communications leader—they applied a concept called integrated advocacy to their respective responsibilities for pursuing UB 2020’s goals and objectives.

They did it very well. Using the integrated advocacy approach, they and their associates helped the university reach a number of UB 2020 benchmarks ahead of schedule. Soon, the university was generating an additional $100 million in annual revenues.

Having introduced integrated advocacy to the university, Ryan received CASE’s 2011 Edwin Crawford Award for Innovation. Meanwhile, Joe’s success caught the attention of the University of Iowa, where he is now vice president for strategic communication, leading the institution’s integrated advocacy program.

So what is integrated advocacy?

It’s the strategic alignment and deployment of specific organizational resources and tools to advance goals and priorities. Those resources and tools include personnel and budgets that support key operations across the organization: stakeholder communications, marketing, brand management, development, alumni relations, governmental affairs, special events, community relations and public outreach.

Integrated advocacy is an operational strategy that works. I stumbled into it in the early-1990s, shortly after becoming head of communications, marketing and government relations for the University of Maine in Orono. Earlier in my career I had been involved in political campaigns, where all activities dovetailed and started with the end—Election Day—in mind. It seemed logical to apply a variation of that approach to promoting our university’s goals and agenda. I’ve been a true believer and practitioner ever since.

Integrated advocacy is a game plan. You don’t have to understand (or even like) football to grasp this metaphor:

You’re a coach. Your objective: to make sure that your team performs as intended (its mission) and satisfies expectations of its fans (that is, stakeholders).

It’s your job to make sure your players know the game plan (your strategic goals and priorities). You teach them what to do and when to do it. During the game, you align your players so that each one performs special, predetermined actions (tactics). Each player’s actions directly or indirectly advance the ball closer to the goal (goal!).

Some players are expected to do more on the field than others. But all understand that they have to work in tandem and according to plan to execute the coach’s strategy and fulfill fans’ expectations. After all, management and fans (the board and other stakeholders) will be watching.

Now, getting units and divisions in higher ed to work together is more like herding cats than coaching football players. Universities and colleges are purposefully decentralized, with multiple levels of leadership. But that doesn’t mean those leaders cannot or should not align their resources toward common goals.

So what’s required to make this approach effective?

Most important, it requires the full support from the college, university or system CEO. The senior leader needs to make it clear to all administrators and staff that she or he embraces the method and expects cooperation and collaboration.

The approach also requires that your institution or division have a defined set of organizational goals and objectives, ideally spelled out in a strategic plan. Those goals and objectives are essential to the integrated advocacy process. They’re used to map and align existing tools and resources in order to craft the end product: a stakeholder communications and engagement plan, one that strengthens your organization’s relationships and reputation in ways that attract resources, produce results and fulfill expectations.

Today, with stakeholders dependent on so many new and decentralized sources of information about colleges and universities, it’s the surest way to reach and engage those you serve and those you rely on.

What are your thoughts on this approach? Let me know at JD@JohnDiamondAssociates. I’d like to hear from you!