From the 2025 Earning Influence report ↗

Become a better advocate · Prioritization tool

Decide which advocacy moves to make first.

Score each activity on the value it creates, the effort it takes, and the capacity it asks of you. The tool ranks your options so the strongest one rises to the top, so limited time goes to the work that moves the mission.

Purpose

Work through the advocacy activities you are considering and prioritize them with the priority score method described in Independent Sector's report Earning Influence: Recommendations to Increase Nonprofit Advocacy and Civic Engagement (2025), Section 5, Appendix E. Scoring each one across three dimensions turns a long wish-list into a ranked, defensible plan you can act on.

The scoring system

Every activity is scored on three factors, each from 1 to 5:

Impact

How well it advances the mission and clears a barrier to advocacy

1 least → 5 most
Effort

How much effort it takes to develop and launch

1 significant → 5 minimal
Capacity

How much organizational capacity it requires

1 substantial → 5 minimal
FactorWhat it measuresScale
ImpactHow well it advances the mission and clears a barrier to advocacy1 least → 5 most
EffortHow much effort it takes to develop and launch1 significant → 5 minimal
CapacityHow much organizational capacity it requires1 substantial → 5 minimal
Priority score: PS = Impact + Effort + Capacity. Range 3 (lowest priority) to 15 (highest). A high score means strong value for a light lift.

Priority levels

  • 13–15: Very high priority. High value, low effort and capacity needs.
  • 11–12: High priority. Good value with reasonable requirements.
  • 9–10: Medium priority. Moderate value and / or requirements.
  • 7–8: Lower priority. Limited value or sizeable requirements.
  • 3–6: Low priority. Minimal value or substantial requirements.

Step by step

  1. Add your organization and name (optional) so exports are labelled.
  2. Name the activity specifically. For example, "Coalition with local education nonprofits," not just "Coalition."
  3. Score impact: mission fit, barriers cleared, likely impact on outcomes.
  4. Score effort: development time, resources to start, planning complexity.
  5. Score capacity: staff expertise, ongoing resources, fit with current workload.
  6. Save the activity to add it to your ranked shortlist.
  7. Repeat for every option you are weighing.
  8. Read the ranked list. The longest, top bar is your strongest option, then decide.

Tips

  • Score as a team to get diverse perspectives.
  • Be honest about capacity constraints. That is where the score earns its keep.
  • Weigh both short-term and long-term advocacy goals.
  • Re-score periodically as your context and capacity change.
  • Export to share results with board members or funders.

Saving & exporting

Your evaluations are stored in this browser and persist between visits. You can edit or delete any activity, and export the full list as an Excel spreadsheet or a PDF report for board decks, or backups. Clearing your browser data removes saved evaluations, so export a copy if you want to keep one.

Source

This tool applies the priority score method described in Independent Sector, Earning Influence: Recommendations to Increase Nonprofit Advocacy and Civic Engagement (2025), Section 5, Appendix E: Scoring Methodology. As noted in that report, the priority score method is credited to Park, T. (2018), "Priority Score: A Simple Product Prioritisation Technique."

–of 15
Pick a value for each factor
PS = Impact + Effort + Capacity

Score an activity

Your shortlist

Save an activity to rank and export it

Best options first

priority score

How the score works

Each factor scores 1 to 5, where 5 is best: most value, least effort, least capacity needed. The three add up to a priority score from 3 to 15. Higher means more value for less lift. Re-score as your capacity and context change.