Leonard Cheshire provides a 6-step approach for advocacy and influencing on how to integrate OPDs at each step. The figure below illustrates the 6-step approach.

Whereas these are the general steps for building advocacy and influencing strategy, sometimes the order of the steps is interchangeable depending on the situation. For example, in some cases, one can choose the advocacy objective and then select a partner with whom to refine and carry it out. In other situations, the advocacy objective will depend on the partner organisation.

Another approach for building and executing advocacy and influencing strategy is Jim Schultz's Nine Questions Model for Strategy Planning. This approach is guided by the following questions: 

1. What do we want? We ask this question to better understand the situation, to understand the change that needs to happen and to narrow down the advocacy goal;
   
   
2. Who can make it happen? We ask this question to understand stakeholders, their relative power and how change happens;
   
   

3. What do they need to hear? We ask this question to ensure our advocacy messages reach a specific audience;

4. Who do they need to hear it from? We ask this question to ensure that messages are delivered by the right person and to identify the right messenger for your audience;

5. How can we make sure they hear it? We ask this question to identify processes, opportunities and entry points;

6. What do we have? We ask this question of ourselves, to recognise capacities and gaps;

7. What do we need? We ask this question to recognise capacities and gaps;

8. How do we begin to take action? We ask this question to set goals and interim outcomes and develop an action plan, and;

9. How do we tell if it’s working? We ask this question to remind ourselves to monitor and evaluate advocacy.