The educational role of PAC professionals continues to expand, and their efforts in this area are never more important than in election years. Having a strong communications plan in place is critical. Experts speaking at the National PAC Conference this March in Fort Lauderdale shared their strategies.

“We’re always educating our people,” says Ted Burnes, senior director of political affairs and RADPAC at the American College of Radiology. “That means internal communications is of paramount importance and requires strategies and tactics that must continually evolve.”

RADPAC is leveraging social media as a core part of its election comms strategy. “I believe we are one of the few PACs with an X (formerly Twitter) account, and we use social media extensively, especially as Election Day draws near,” says Burnes.

RADPAC members are physicians and, as such, well-educated and highly sophisticated. “You always need to respect your members and never to appear patronizing,” Burnes says. “Even so, we use social media across a range of platforms to remind them to make sure they are registered to vote, when those deadlines are, and bringing to their attention other key dates — deadlines for early voting, for example, and what days the primaries are held. We use X to list the recipients of our contributions. We use LinkedIn, too, which is less personal than X but also offers a level of professionalism that can be helpful.”

Presidential Elections Are ‘Special Times’

RADPAC’s communications, which are segmented by its members and their congressional districts, become “a lot more aggressive in years when there is a presidential election, in part because this is a time when people are more focused on politics,” Burnes says. “It’s important to remember, as PAC professionals, that there is really no such thing as a non-election year because there are elections going on all the time. But presidential primary seasons and presidential elections themselves, of course, are special times.”

Eric Blackwell, director of government and political affairs at NRG Energy, says his team’s communications are also segmented by states and congressional districts. “While we are based in Texas, we have a footprint in every state,” says Blackwell, who will speak at a session about PAC communications strategies during an election year with Burnes at the National PAC Conference in early March. “We, too, remind our members about key dates throughout the primary season. This has to be segmented because the rules governing voting vary from state to state.”

Burnes, Blackwell and their teams also offer post-election analysis. “We use social media to inform our members of key takeaways after the primaries and after the general election,” Blackwell says. “We also have post-election events where we bring in our consultants and sometimes outside experts to interpret the outcomes. Our communications don’t end the minute the polls close.”

RADPAC holds a raffle, “where participants can offer their predictions about a number of races — the presidential race, of course, but even things like who will have control of the House or Senate and by what margin,” Burnes says. “We also report how the candidates we supported did in their races, which is part of our emphasis on transparency and — bonus! — to publicize our successes. Last time, as I recall, 94% of our candidates won their races, which I like to think tells our members that we know what we’re doing.”