[vntd_hero_section images=”68729″ heading_dynamic=”PIN Points September Edition – Back to School for Your PAC & Advocacy Efforts” 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”]
A Word from the Network Chair: Political Programs Go Back to School
By Meaghan Joyce
With the 2020 Elections quickly approaching and another school year underway, I can’t help but reflect on the past six months and how it will shape the weeks and months ahead. My fourth grader started back to school last week with an all-online format. It has been quite an adjustment for us all, yet I am amazed at the creativity, flexibility and resiliency displayed by teachers, students and parents to make the best out of a difficult situation. Similarly, PAC and advocacy professionals have reimagined their political programs and election year engagement strategies in light of the pandemic and social unrest in our nation. Now is the time to evaluate our programs to identify what new approaches are working, what needs tweaking and what we can toss aside so that our political programs remain relevant and continue to support our organizations’ objectives.
Looking ahead, Election Day is just around the corner and National Voter Registration Day is upon us. We all have the unique ability to educate, mobilize and strengthen relationships with our employees, donors and members in this critical time. If you don’t already have a GOTV plan in place, please take the opportunity to connect with your peers in the Political Involvement Network to find out what others are doing and how you can develop a plan to engage your donors and grassroots advocates in the 2020 Elections. The Public Affairs Council has a lot of great resources as you pivot strategy. Share what’s working for you and how you’ve adapted your programs by taking a minute to post in our PIN community on Council Connect. I’m looking forward to hearing your success stories.[/vc_toggle]
Cutting Through the Email Clutter: Moving from Grassroots to Grasstops Advocacy
As COVID-19 continues to transform public affairs, one key impact is the declining effectiveness of mass email advocacy campaigns.
Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) research finds that while 79% of organizations use email as a primary grassroots strategy, only 3% of congressional staff say that email has a lot of influence when members of Congress have not already arrived at a firm decision on an issue. Since many organizations have pivoted to digital-first advocacy in recent months, congressional offices are receiving significantly more mass emails, which makes it even harder to break through.
If mass email campaigns are not influential during COVID-19, what is? Groups who connect their leaders to legislators to share constituent stories.
CMF also finds that 55% of congressional staff responding say that it takes less than 10 contacts from individuals representing constituents for members of Congress to consider taking action (when they have not already arrived at a firm decision on an issue). This means that organizations who are connecting their key contacts to elected officials are getting their voices heard during the pandemic.
To cut through the clutter, Project Management Institute (PMI), the world’s leading association for the project management profession, is directly linking community leaders with their lawmakers. PMI, with 140+ local chapters across the United States, is connecting key volunteer chapter presidents with their elected officials to meet virtually, sharing stories of COVID-19’s impact in their communities and discussing solutions for our new work ecosystem. Not only is this elevating PMI’s policy priorities to congressional leadership during a pivotal moment, it is deepening chapters’ engagement with PMI’s mission of supporting change makers around the world.
“PMI members and certification holders are on the front lines of helping our country recover from the public health and economic impacts of COVID-19,” said Brantlee Underhill, managing director of North America at PMI. “By sharing their stories and insights with policymakers, our chapter leaders are finding new ways to advocate for project managers and their communities alike, while also helping empower leaders in Washington, D.C. to make ideas a reality.”
PMI is far from the only organization reaching out to Congress through its volunteer leaders. Members from the National Association of Spine Specialists (NASS) have also been working to build and cultivate relationships with lawmakers and their staffs. Since COVID-19 has prevented in-person meetings, well-trained NASS advocates have hosted online meetings with legislators across the country as part of its August virtual advocacy week. This year, NASS had its largest August recess campaign in recent memory, as its members demonstrated to Congress the importance of telehealth as a safe and effective option to deliver health care during the pandemic.
“Shifting to a reliance on members for help during the COIVD-19 crisis has only been possible at NASS and other organizations like it because of the investments they have made in advocate training,” said David Lusk, the Founder of Key Advocacy, which conducts training sessions and helps organizations build grasstops advocacy programs. “Training leads advocates up the advocacy involvement staircase to produce the most confident, capable and convincing supporters for any issue or cause.”
Grasstops advocacy has also proven successful beyond the world of politics. When Brown University recently announced plans to demote its varsity men’s track and field and cross country teams, alumni from around the world sprang into action to persuade Brown’s leaders to reconsider. An intensive campaign was launched, capitalizing on well-connected alumni relationships and grasstops advocacy best practices. The campaign highlighted how the program provided educational opportunities to students from diverse racial and social-economic backgrounds. Within two weeks, university administrators reinstated the programs.
These examples demonstrate the importance of connecting community leaders to policymakers as part of a comprehensive advocacy program. “Advocacy is anything but a straight line from contacting legislators to achieving legislative success,” said Bryan Fratkin, the founder and CEO of SparkInfluence, a digital advocacy and engagement platform. “Organizations that move the needle in Washington, D.C. and state capitals do so with a combination of grassroots and grasstops interactions with lawmakers.”
Technology can help. “The most effective organizations leverage technology to capture and deliver not only letters, phone calls, tweets and stories, but also potential relationships with elected officials within the same system, so that they can be called upon at a moment’s notice,” said Fratkin. “After all, segmenting legislators and finding the right messenger with the right message for your target offices can be the difference between achieving your desired policy outcome and coming up short.”[/vc_toggle]
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