Dollar General Presentation Series

Education and Advocacy Resources

District and Local Contact Role Descriptions
—Lists role descriptions for district and local contacts in Tennessee advocacy. This is an
example of one state’s advocacy infrastructure that can fold in with both state and
federal-level grassroots advocacy systems.

Sample Advocacy Alerts
—Provides three examples of alerts in federal-level advocacy where the alert is adapted
from the national to the state and local levels as it moves through the Single Point of
Contact (SPOC) system.

Adult Education and Literacy Fact Sheet
—Developed by the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education (NCSDAE),
this example of a district-specific fact sheet describes one district’s need for adult
education, the impact, and why adult education is important to business, immigrants,
children, and public health. This district-level fact sheet should be supplemented with
demographic and performance data at state and local levels.

The Blue Book
—Provided by the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education (NCSDAE), the
Blue Book is written for legislators to provide a snapshot of adult education in states. It
presents fundamental facts about adult education followed by a one-page
demographic fact sheet on each state.

Sample State Fact Sheet
—Sample state fact sheet (original printed on bright blue paper) from New Hampshire.

Texas State Legislators on Key Committees
—Some legislators have more power to influence decisions that impact adult education.
This resource lists legislators that sit on key committees in the Texas House and
Senate and provides URLs for each committee. However, every legislator is
important. Whether or not your legislator sits on a key committee, you should keep
your legislator informed of your program’s successes and needs.

Creating Congressional Advocates
—Answers frequently asked questions about contacting legislators. Offers sample
“hooks” for connecting adult education to legislators’ interests.

Messaging
—Learn about your legislators’ interests by visiting their Web sites or by purchasing a
copy of CQ’s Politics in America 2008 (Web or print-based). Essential for every
advocate and advocacy organization, this 1,212-page publication contains critical
information on each member of the U.S. Congress.

Calculating Return on Investment (RoI)
—Adapted from the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education, this Return on Investment; the worksheet lists three examples of how to demonstrate RoI.

Economic Impact Example
—From Tennessee, this fact sheet provides one example of demonstrating Return on Investment from a tax perspective.

Building Allies
—Describes examples of business-adult education alliances from three states.
Demonstrates ways businesses can partner with programs to advocate for adult
literacy.