[vntd_hero_section images=”68729″ heading_dynamic=”PIN Points: Professional Development Month and Why You Shouldn’t Fear the Primary ” subtitle=”” button1_label=”” bg_overlay=”dark_blue” height=”custom” height_custom=”400″ heading_font_size=”55px” tooltips=”%5B%7B%22tooltip_title%22%3A%22Hello%20there!%22%2C%22tooltip_url%22%3A%22%23%22%2C%22tooltip_placement%22%3A%22top%22%2C%22tooltip_depth%22%3A%220.42%22%7D%5D”]
Letter from the Chair: Personal Development is Professional Development
I love August! It’s my favorite month for many reasons: my birthday (I’m a Leo), congressional recess (time for the beach) and most importantly, professional development month at the Public Affairs Council. Taking the time to invest in our personal development is something that should be on all of our to-do lists before summer fades away. There’s something about this time of year – the back-to-school rush combined with turning another year older – that prompts me to think about my career goals. August is a great time to conduct a development inventory to determine where the areas of opportunity lie in our future.
- Authenticity: It seems like such a buzzword these days and for good reason. We are hungry for what is real and true. We have organizational cultures where we work, yet each of us has our own unique perspective. A growing body of research reveals that diverse teams produce better results. As I often say to my 8-year-old son Aedan, “If we were all the same, life would be boring.” The same holds true for the workplace. We each play an important role on our teams and it’s incumbent upon us to share our point of view. Are we sharing our personal story in communications with PAC donors and grassroots advocates to help build a rapport and strengthen relationships?
- Empathy: This is the glue that connects us. Empathy is being aware of other people’s emotions and understanding their perspective. To me, it means being fully present where we are and with those around us. This can lead to listening without judgement to understand a person’s motivations and asking better questions without offering advice. Let’s commit to listen more and speak less.
- Initiative: In short, being a self-starter. It’s the ability to anticipate what needs to be done without waiting to be told to do so by someone else. This involves risk and being comfortable with putting ourselves out there. I often think of the famous saying. “There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened.” Let’s be the ones who make things happen!
- Perseverance: It’s the ability to dust ourselves off and get back up during difficult times or after we fail. The truth is, as PAC and advocacy leaders, we hear the word “no” a lot. We should remember to reframe our messaging and tactics to find another path to “yes” rather than give up completely. By employing some of the characteristics above, we can keep our focus on long-term goals rather than the distractions of short-term obstacles. Let’s be more transparent about mistakes and commit to share them openly so that we don’t repeat them.
Mastering all or some of these key characteristics is nearly impossible. We are human and a work in progress! What we can do is learn from our mistakes and strive to be better. Let’s take the time now to think about our areas of opportunity and be specific about the steps we will take to grow. Tap into the great network of PAC and advocacy professionals in the PIN and be on the lookout for some great new resources coming from the Public Affairs Council to help us stay better connected. Happy August!
– Meaghan Joyce[/vc_toggle][vc_separator css=”.vc_custom_1544039928620{margin-bottom: -20px !important;}”]
Six-Step Guide to Preparing for Controversy Surrounding Corporate PAC Contributions
- Review your company’s core values, beliefs and commitments – especially those named in your sustainability and corporate responsibility programs – identify the ones considered sacred and non-negotiable. Being inconsistent about these values, beliefs and commitments may damage your firm’s reputation internally and externally.
/br - Be sure your PAC board includes management and non-management employees, representatives from different business units, and people with different political beliefs. Provide employees with information on how to give feedback to the board and your team. If you don’t have a PAC board, start one.
/br - Conduct interviews with executive members and survey other employees.
- At the beginning of the interviews and at the top of the survey, state why government affairs is essential to the business and explain the legal, ethical and strategic principles that guide your political involvement efforts.
- Ask for their views on what’s right/wrong with American politics, their personal willingness to engage in public policy issues, their concerns about political involvement, their awareness of the company’s political activities and their support for taking a bipartisan approach to those activities.
- Use the results of the interviews and survey to help you make judgement calls on campaign contributions, issue positions and other political actions that might be controversial. Corporate cultures vary considerably, and you’ll gain insights on the potential for employee pushback to your government affairs decisions.
- The results will be useful in countering complaints about those decisions. (For example, most employees will likely agree with having a bipartisan PAC, but that means that candidates from both major parties must receive some support.) In addition, the interviews and survey will build goodwill and give you a benchmark to measure future efforts to educate employees about your political activities.
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- Before each election cycle, communicate with employees to state your commitment to legal, ethical, strategic and transparent decision-making on political contributions. Make the same points to the executive team, but also alert them that there may be controversy about PAC decisions because of the nation’s growing partisanship.
/br - Publish your PAC giving criteria on the company’s website and in PAC materials along with thoughtful language about how you make judgement calls. Invite feedback but don’t sound defensive about why the company is involved in politics. Also include a concise explanation of why corporate PACs represent campaign finance reform that works and serves the public interest.
/br - When the PAC board meets to discuss PAC giving decisions, include your assessment of a candidate’s potential to be a lightning rod for controversy. If you agree to support a controversial politician despite the risks, be prepared to make your case internally and externally and decide how you will respond if the public reacts negatively.
2019 PAC Benchmarking Reports Released
PIN Network Survey: Corporate Values and Political Involvement
The Council is now conducting our PIN Network corporate values and political involvement survey. The survey only takes a few minutes to complete and helps us better serve our PAC community. We appreciate your feedback and thank you in advance.
PIN Network: Harvest Happy Hour
Join the Public Affairs Council on October 2 for a networking happy hour hosted by the Political Involvement Network on our Washington, D.C. office rooftop. Connect with your colleagues and other members of the council while enjoying complimentary beverages and appetizers.
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Nathan Gonzales' Latest Election Impact: Don't Fear the Primary
It’s natural for some Democrats to panic over the crowded field of contenders. But even though the party is likely to go through many more rounds of infighting, Democrats are likely to be historically united in November 2020 and their nominee could even benefit from a protracted primary process. Primaries can be expensive and divisive, but also beneficial.
A Cup of Coffee for the PAC
We recently received the following question from a Council member and polled you, the members of the PIN Network, for an answer:
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“A member of our leadership encourages younger members to ‘give a cup of coffee’ to the PAC (a one-time donation of $5). I would like to develop a campaign for our upcoming meeting that takes it a step further and encourages recurring donations or ‘give a weekly cup of coffee’ or ‘dollar a day’ to the PAC. Has anyone had success with this type of campaign and can they offer suggestions?”
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Here’s what your fellow network members have to say.
Response 1 (Association PAC):
Our PAC has had a “dollar a day” program for years, and last year we added a “dollar a week” option. Our $365 club (dollar a day) is very popular. So far this year, we have 65 people who give at that level. They also receive a pin, our co-branded Inside Elections, an invite to a special event during our fly-in and recognition at our events and in our publications. Our $52 contributors don’t get pins, but they are recognized at our events and in our publications. I’m happy to discuss this further with the PIN member. Note: Please contact [email protected] if you’d like to be connected to this respondent.
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Response 2 (Consultant):
We’d be happy to provide some feedback or ideas on this topic. We developed the coffee challenge for a professional association several years ago and it was extremely successful. We’d be happy to connect with them and go through what we did. It was part of an overall campaign and included video as well as a series of emails. Note: Please contact [email protected] if you’d like to be connected to this respondent.
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Response 3 (Association PAC):
In a previous PAC role, we actually changed the name of our lowest giving club to “Coffee Club” based on this idea. It was for folks who gave less than $9/month. We found success driving into higher clubs based on this messaging as folks felt like “one coffee a month” was shaming. It ended up being helpful, just not in the way we’d expected.
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Response 4 (Corporate PAC):
Our corporate PAC has had success with both a “dime a day” and a “dollar a day” recurring payroll deduction plan (primarily geared toward our retail managers and our corporate managers, respectively). It probably didn’t hurt that a 99-cent cup of coffee also happens to be a major part of our retail offer and our corporate strategy; it made the analogy easy (“for less than a cup of our Farmhouse Blend coffee each week…” etc.)
Especially since our PAC is relatively young and still in the growth stages (in terms of receipts and company culture) it helped to get new people engaged by presenting a very modest out-of-pocket expense that could be spread out over the course of the calendar year. I would highly recommend it, and I actually think one of our trade associations ended up adopting a similar “dollar-a-day” tier (with quarterly credit card payments) aimed at new or younger members, based on our success with it internally.
Prior to that, our suggested contributions (and our solicitations generally) had primarily been geared toward upper management, and our PAC participation reflected that. To the extent I am able, I would be happy to offer follow-up if needed. Note: Please contact [email protected] if you’d like to be connected to this respondent.
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Response 5 (Corporate PAC):
We did something similar. I think the secret is to make sure you have a way to automatically withdraw from the donor’s account or charge their credit card. Once you get the commitment, participants will forget about the minimal money and it will continue until they stop it.
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Response 6 (Corporate PAC):
I’d be happy to talk about our Give 5 program. Note: Please contact [email protected] if you’d like to be connected to this respondent.
Upcoming Executive Education Workshops
- Webinar: Building and Leveraging PAC Charitable Match | Sept. 10 | Free for members
PAC charitable match is one of the most effective benefits for attracting eligibles to join the PAC. Hear case studies to boost your fundraising and participation. - Compliance Workshop: Online and Social Media Compliance for PAC and Grassroots | Sept. 17
Remain compliant while engaging in political involvement, PAC communications and advocacy online. Our political law and digital experts will help you understand what to do – and not to do – online. - Workshop: Successful PAC Peer-to-Peer Programs | Sept. 19
Make sure your PAC program is developing, training and leveraging its strongest supporters into peer champions. - Workshop: PAC Management Boot Camp | Oct. 16
Successful PAC management is like running a small business. Whether you’re looking for a refresher or you’re new to the game, learn the key components.