26 My communication plan for my friends Jenna and Tom. Consider the person’s relationship to the cause. Why should they care? q A friend or family member has MS q They provide services that people with MS may use q They are involved in creating policies, procedures, or laws that affect people with MS q They know someone with a disability or chronic illness and may relate to MS What need is my advocacy effort seeking to meet? q Increased awareness and understanding of MS so people will feel more connected to the cause q Protecting the rights of people with MS or their access to treatment q Raising funds for programs that support people with MS q Improving community services for people with MS q Greater participation in research How can I explain the challenges people with MS face that led to my advocacy effort? As my friends, you have seen how MS can take a toll on a family’s finances. Without the help I received from you and from MS Focus during my last relapse, I don’t know where we’d be today. That has motivated me to organize a fundraiser to help other people who find themselves in that position. Do I need to modify this explanation to refer to the person’s relationship to the cause? If so, how? No. What do I specifically want to ask the person to do? Volunteer to be on my committee to organize and promote the fundraiser. What follow-up can I provide to keep the person involved? If they agree to be on the committee, I will communicate with them by email weekly to discuss our progress. I’ll also make sure they have specific tasks they can do to help, and that we celebrate together when we reach our fundraising goal. If they don’t want to be on the committee, I’ll still keep them in the loop and hopefully they will help get the word out about the event. x x