Raising awareness

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Raising awareness is a common phrase advocacy groups use to justify a particular event, brochure or even the entire organization. Raising awareness refers to alerting the general public that a certain issue exists and should be approached the way the group desires. For example, a pro-gay marriage group would tell the world homosexual marriage should be allowed while an anti-gay marriage group would argue to the world that homosexual marriage should be banned. Both groups are "raising awareness" of the issue of gay marriage but are offering two very different takes on it.

Since informing the populace of a public concern is often regarded as the first step to changing how institutions handle it, raising awareness is often the first activity any advocacy group engages in. However, because raising awareness is usually the easiest activity to accomplish, there is a danger that the group continues to raise awareness long after the vast majority of people are already aware of the issue.