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. Common theme include certain diseases (breast cancer, AIDS), conflicts (Darfur), movements (Greenpeace, PETA), and political parties/politicians.

Since informing the populace of a public concern is often regarded as the first step to changing how the institutions handle it, raising awareness is often the first activity any advocacy group engages in.

Critics of raising awareness argued that it often leads the notion that one can "make a difference" without actually doing anything substantial (such as lead a fundraiser, volunteer one's time, etc.) See slacktivism. In addition, "raising awareness" can be seen as a white, elitism movement, with people involved in it has little or no connection and knowledge towards the problem. ]].