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There are a wide variety of resources that can be used to advocate for OST investment, whether in the form of time or money. Advocating can include promoting OST as a way to inspire healthy and safe behaviors, prevent learning loss, improve self-esteem and relationships with peers, enhance in-school learning and help kids reach grade-level standards, and to achieve many other positive outcomes. Explore the resources below to strengthen your capacity to advocate for Out-of-School Time!

 

tools & resources on effective advocacy strategies

Afterschool Alliance Policy and Action Center
The Afterschool Alliance's website has a great deal of high-quality, easy-to-apply suggestions and resources on advocating for afterschool. From templates for community petitions to suggestions for sending letters to Congress to guidelines for hosting a Lights On Afterschool event, the Afterschool Alliance provides a variety of useful advocacy tools. Head to their website or check out some specific parts through the links below:

National Summer Learning Day
The National Summer Learning Association holds a Summer Learning Day annually that focuses on advocating for the importance of keeping summertime informational and engaging for children and youth. Head to their website to see how United Ways have been involved in the past and how this day can be a key advocacy tool.

Advocacy Capacity Tool
From Bolder Advocacy, this Advocacy Capacity Tool (ACT) helps organizations to identify specific opportunities and gaps in their current strategies, to benchmark their skills in relation to advocacy, and to take advantage of Bolder Advocacy's resources to maximize the impact of advocacy efforts. The ACT can also be used to conduct evaluations.

 

Afterschool Alliance State-By-State Fact Sheet

Click on your state below to see information on how children in your state spend their after-school hours; gain state policy and funding knowledge; learn the afterschool champions and voices; and gain information that will help you more effectively advocate for Out-of-School Time.

 

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Do you use a quality Out-of-School Time resource? Share it with other United Ways!

Email quality Out-of-School Time research reports, publications, best practices, case studies, blog articles, etc. to submissions@unitedway.org. We will contact you if we are featuring the resource you suggest in the OST Toolkit.