Professional Advocacy

“Down the rabbit hole”

Contacts to Congress have exploded

source: Congressional Management Foundation, 2008

"If your Member/Senator has not already arrived at a firm decision on an issue, how much influence might the following advocacy strategies directed to the Washington office have on his/her decision?"

Congressional Management Foundation survey of

Congressional staff

The Result: Constituents are Listened To!

source: “Communicating With Congress,” Congressional Management Foundation, 2005

What do MoC’s Think About the Following as Part of an Organized Fly-in or Lobby Day?

Source: Congressional Management Foundation

The impact of the bill or issue on the district or

state

Constituent's reasoning for supporting or opposing the

bill or issue

Personal story related to the bill or issue

77%

74%

48%

Frequency Helpfulness

92%

88%

88%

• Ask for something specific, measurable, and appropriate

• When writing/emailing/phoning, stick to one issue per contact

• Be brief

• Write in your own words• Follow up!

How Do I Advocate Effectively?

These basics apply for visits and all other forms of contact

Remember…

RELAXFinance & Business Development

YOU have the power…

• YOU are the constituent. • YOU are the issue expert. • YOU decide!

Finance & Business Development

• Enter the office and introduce yourself to the receptionist. Tell the receptionist who you have an appointment with.

• When the staff person comes out, introduce yourself, make small talk, ask if they’re from the state, etc.

• Tell them who you are! Explain what you do, what school counselors or licensed professional counselors, do, what your training was like, etc.

• Make the “ask”: Say what you want their boss to do

• Ask if you can follow up with the staff person in ~2 weeks

• Get their card, and contact them again from back home

Lobbying visits are simple!

Remember…

–Relax!–Tell your story

Lobbying visit tips• Decide ahead of time who’s going to say

what! (Who’s going to cover which issues and which points, who’s going to start off the meeting, etc.)

• Allow time for getting from A B! Call ahead to the next office to let them know you’re running late, if necessary; the receptionist can help you with this.

You won’t be expected to know all the answers! If you’re asked something

you don’t know, just say “I don’t know, I’ll check and get back to you.”

Remember…

–Relax!–Tell your story

Finance & Business Development

11

How Representatives’ D.C. offices are structured

Executive Assistant

Legislative Assistant

Legislative Assistant

Legislative Assistant

Legislative Director

Communications Director

Chief of Staff

Scheduler

REPRESENTATIVE

Legislative Correspond

ent

Legislative Correspond

ent

Remember…

• Be courteous• Be succinct• Be respectful• Be firm• Be persistentAnd remember…

Remember…

–Relax!–Tell your story

Finance & Business Development

Next steps

– Send a “Thank you” e-mail (And even a hand-written one if you can)

– In the e-mail, give a review of the meeting.– Set a time when you want to get an answer,

be definite! “I will check back with you in two weeks”

– Follow-up when you said you were going to!– Sign-up for newsletters, email alerts, twitter

feeds etc. make sure that you’re plugged into their communications apparatus.

Getting organized• Make sure you have the contact info

for all of the folks in you state that were here.

• Tell people what happened.• Let people talk to you.• Create networking opportunities• Create a “Virtual HQ”

Follow-up phone call to the district or state director

Follow-up phone call to the chief of staff

Follow-up email to district or state director

Follow-up email to the chief of staff

Follow-up phone call to the LA with issue jurisdiction

Follow-up email to the LA with issue jurisdiction

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Very Effective Somewhat Effective

How do Congressional Offices Rate Follow-up Activities?

90%

65%

90%

52%

50%

39%

The follow-up

– Contact the office again. Call the DC office and stop by a local office

– Keep your eyes open for any public events that the elected official may be having. Always let the office and the official know that you’ve been communicating with other constituents about this issue and they are all eager to hear back from them.

– Plan for a time where you can either schedule a follow-up meeting with the office or even hold an event (roundtable) where you can press for the “ask” again.

The “2nd Wave”

– If he official is not giving you an answer or is against you, you need to keep up the pressure.

• Plan events where you and your colleagues show up to his office and at those public events.

• Bring others to show the widespread support.

• Push your message out to traditional media sources like newspapers, radio shows etc.

Questions?