Congressman McEwan, Politics, and Integrity

Avner, Narabrook, Fox, Brown, & Pratt: Introduction – Chapter 2

Avner, M. (2013).  The Lobbying and Advocacy Handbook for Nonprofit Organizations (2nd ed.). Turner Publishing.  https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9781618588555

GO implement Your Advocacy and Lobbying Plan

You are ready to act!

Your planning team has developed a work plan. Your organization discussed and adopted that plan. You have a clear statement of your public policy goals, your issue priorities, the arenas of influence where those issues will be decided, and basic commitments of organizational resources.

To begin your lobbying effort, you will need to take two more steps:

First, you must put the plan in place. This means instituting the infrastructure that you planned, from assigning specific positions to specific people, to setting up good internal systems, to securing the funds to lobby effectively. The first section of this chapter walks you through the establishment of your infrastructure.

With the infrastructure in place, it's time to initiate advocacy and lobbying activity. This means conducting any one of (or, more likely, a combination of) six activities: proposing a new law; supporting an existing legislative proposal; defeating proposed legislation; lobbying the executive branch; building and mobilizing grassroots support; and advocating through the media. In many cases, you'll be working on three or four of these fronts at once. The second section of this chapter explains how to conduct each one of these activities.

Implement Your Advocacy and Lobbying Plan Step 1: Putting the Plan in Place—Building Capacity

It's always a bit rough to move from the design of a plan to its actual implementation—assigning the tasks, rewriting job descriptions, hiring people as needed, getting the funds in place, and so forth. Expect it to be a bit messy. The important thing is to simply get things going.

Putting your plan in place involves five steps:

Assign the roles, responsibilities, and decision-making structures outlined in your work plan

Provide training to motivate (and activate) your organization, especially board, staff, and volunteers

Create and implement the internal information systems and outreach systems you'll need to mobilize support and track activities

Secure the finances necessary to make the plan go

Activate the public policy advisory committee

Worksheet 16: Components of Organizational Infrastructure on page 261 is a checklist of the activities you'll need to accomplish. Use it to keep track of your progress.

Assign Organizational Roles and Responsibilities

Once your organization's board has adopted the work plan and said "Go!" you must name the board members who will be key decision makers on public policy questions, including those who will serve on the rapid-response team when decisions have to be made between regularly scheduled board meetings. For guidance, refer to the decisions reflected in your work plan and in Worksheet 12: Roles and Responsibilities and Worksheet 13: Decision Making.

If your nonprofit will be hiring new staff or consultants, decide the level of board involvement in the hiring and name board members to the task. And, if your plan calls for the creation of a public policy advisory committee, name the board member or other organizational leader who will chair that committee. Name board members who will serve on the committee and recruit additional advisory committee members.

"Lobbying is just another word for freedom of speech . . . Call it government relations, public policy advocacy, or whatever—lobbying is one of the central mechanisms of democracy, and speaking up for what you believe is about as American as you can get. The framers of the Constitution explicitly assumed that citizens would get together to press their case, and both the letter and spirit of the law have grown to accommodate that process. . . . If we don't lobby, that just means 'the other guy,'—often an opponent—is the only voice that gets heard."

—John D. Sparks, Best Defense: A Guide for Orchestra Advocates

A simultaneous step is for the executive director to name a public policy coordinator and other members of the staff who will be responsible for your organization's advocacy and lobbying efforts. Some organizations may need to develop a new position and hire additional staff. Other nonprofits may choose to revise job descriptions to include new responsibilities and balance workloads. In either case, you need to design and distribute to board and staff an organizational chart that clearly shows the lines of responsibility and authority for your staff—paid, volunteer, or consultants, such as contract lobbyists. And each of these people needs a job description.

Develop a Public Policy Advocacy Committee

Susie Brown, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits

A policy committee can be one of an organization's most strategic tools for lobbying and advocacy. Policy committees are often composed of board members, staff, and other stakeholders and typically carry out roles such as planning, implementing and supporting the organization's advocacy efforts. The composition and role of your organization's policy committee will depend on the history and role of advocacy in your organization and the array of stakeholders that have something to offer.

A policy committee typically serves the function of developing, discussing, and approving the issues of focus for a nonprofit organization. Additionally, the committee and its members may be those who actually do the advocacy work or connect the organizations with key relationships. Prior to establishing a policy committee, consider the following questions, which will shape the composition and role of the group.

What role will advisors play in how your nonprofit chooses the advocacy issues it will pursue?

Which key stakeholders should be considered in developing your advocacy agenda?

Do you have dedicated staff for advocacy, or will you rely on volunteers? How much involvement will you request from advisors as part of the advocacy team?

Which relationships in government and policy making will you need, and how will you build them?

Whose voices are needed in your advocacy efforts?

To what extent does your board desire an active role in advocacy?

An important consideration is whether your policy committee is a part of the organization's formal governance structure or is advisory in nature. For many organizations the planning function, including approving the annual policy agenda, is a governance function, appropriate for a board-level conversation and formal board approval. The steps that precede a board vote could be carried out by a formal policy committee of the board (set out according to the board's other standing committees) or could be informed by an advisory committee whose role is less formal. Whether the committee is part of the board's governance is up to each organization, but it is critical to be clear with all involved which model is being used. Advisory committees might be larger and more inclusive of a broad range of participants, with the goal of maximizing participation and attracting diverse voices, skills, and relationships. A governance committee might be composed solely of interested members of the board and staff, with the intent of doing pre-work before board meetings or providing leadership for board-member engagement. In either case, the planning, implementing, and support functions may be similar, but the composition and relationship to formal board governance will differ. Careful consideration of this question by staff and board prior to launching a policy committee will provide clarity as the committee is assembled and undertakes its work.

Committee Composition

Considering these questions will help define the group of people who will be most strategically aligned to carry out the advocacy goals of the organization. Starting with the organization's key staff (executive director, designated policy staff) and interested board members, there are no limits to the possibilities of who could be included: constituents of the organization, representatives of like-minded organizations, state or local policy makers (or retired policy makers), funders aligned with your policy goals, or others of the organization's key stakeholders. Composition of the group should be focused on building a team that meets the organization's needs while ensuring inclusion of those without whom your efforts will be limited.

Committee Structure and Role

Assembling the right group will ensure that they are able to play the role that your organization needs and how it will operate. A key decision (see sidebar, page 91) will be whether the committee is a part of the formal governance structure of the organization or more advisory in nature. If it is included in your organization's governance, building its structure and work around your board's typical cycles and processes will ensure that it is consistent with organizational norms. Another critical decision is whether the committee is standing or ad hoc. A standing committee assumes there is on-going work to do and perhaps a perpetual agenda. This is useful for organizations that have consistent cycles and predictable needs. It is also useful for an organization whose committee is counted on for significant input and carrying out the work. An organization with a well-developed policy staff, clear positions on most issues, and a history of work in this area might establish an ad hoc committee. In this case, the committee has a clear charge that is assumed to be as-needed, rather than ongoing. In these cases, the committee chair, working with staff, determine when the organization's advocacy efforts will benefit from the input or support of the committee.

Committee Function:

Your organization may need a policy committee to carry out all three functions—planning, implementing or supporting—or just one. Or, very likely, needs will change as your advocacy efforts evolve. Clear understanding of need will help your organization develop the right structure and group. Core functions—planning, implementing and supporting—can be developed as follows.

Planning—The planning function of a policy committee is a critical role used to ensure that the organization's policy efforts are aligned with mission and focused on the issues and strategies most likely to make a difference. Planning needs can be in the early stages of an organization's advocacy efforts, such as laying the foundation for determining the way issues are chosen, identifying resources that will be needed and which outcomes are desired, or can be an on-going need, such as considering and approving the organization's annual policy agenda. Whether one-time or ongoing, making use of a policy committee can be a strategic way to engage key organizational stakeholders in planning for advocacy success. Examples:

A food shelf that doesn't currently do advocacy is interested in following the process outlined in Chapter 1. They assemble a group of board, staff, and partner organizations to discuss their goals and the path toward successful outcomes. They plan a process for choosing issues, conduct an analysis of the needs and opportunities in these issue areas, determine staffing needs, and consider the resources required. They meet for six months, concluding their work when they have developed the plans and supporting documents to launch the organization's advocacy effort.

A mental health council that was founded to provide state-level advocacy and education for families has perpetual planning needs as new policy ideas are developed amid a changing political and economic environment. In order to keep their strategies and positions up to date and aligned with the interests of their constituency, they create a policy committee to engage in ongoing planning. Meeting quarterly, this group includes staff, board, and members of the organization's two core constituencies: people with mental illness and members of their family. This group shares information about current issues, developments in other states, possibilities at the legislature, and challenges to advancing their agenda. They often invite elected officials, lobbyists, members of the administration, health providers, and allied advocates to speak to their committee, which recommends policy priorities and positions to the organization's staff and board. The committee is ongoing, with staff and board serving as consistent members and representatives of the organization's constituents rotating through two-year, staggered terms.

Implementing—Some organizations utilize policy committees to implement their advocacy strategies. Particularly when the organization lacks dedicated advocacy staff, a carefully assembled policy committee can bring the energy, skills, and commitment to advance the advocacy plan. An implementing committee is assembled of active, knowledgeable, and dedicated volunteers who, in partnership with staff and board, carry out the lobbying, grassroots organizing, education, or other activities that are designed to advance their advocacy goals. Participants commit to periodic committee meetings and frequent work, carried out either independently or directly with other committee members. This committee counts its success as the direct efforts and outcomes related to the organization's policy goals. Example:

A river-cleanup organization operates on a largely volunteer model. With an executive director and two part-time staff, they rely on volunteers for both their program activities that enhance the current quality of life and the advocacy efforts that provide long-term river protection. Their policy committee is composed of their executive director, two board members, a contract lobbyist providing pro bono assistance, a former state senator who was on the environmental committee, and the mayors of two towns along the waterfront. They lobby state government for river protection and resources for environmental cleanup, each focusing on their particular relationships with policy makers and knowledge of the policy-making process. Throughout the legislative session, they are in constant e-mail contact and meet in person each Friday for strategy meetings and policy updates. This committee provides an all-volunteer policy team that is effective and highly credible, successfully implementing the organization's advocacy priorities.

Supporting—In a variety of circumstances, an organization will benefit from the support of a policy committee, available to be deployed in a variety of ways depending on needs. Sometimes, an organization needs expert testimony, and a policy-committee member has the right knowledge and credentials. Occasionally, advocacy staff find themselves in a highly complex or unexpected situation, and a rapid response from strategic policy thinkers supports staff as they find a path forward. Other times, organizations need connections to key decision makers, and policy-committee members can help open those doors. A policy committee designed to support the organization's leadership and staff as they advance advocacy effort can put the best people in place for strategic assistance, drawing from a group that is intentionally assembled, frequently kept up to date, and put to use in ways that maximize their unique contributions. Example:

An affordable-housing organization that both provides housing and engages in advocacy has a strong policy staff, a history of advocacy success, and many allies in the legislature. But they know that they operate in a highly complex policy and funding environment, and there are multiple and sometimes competing views on housing priorities. Recognizing that policy making inevitably includes many twists and turns of financing and regulatory proposals, the staff has assembled a strategy team to support them when the policy process gets complex. Late in the legislative session, they encounter complicated choices and trade-offs as the final version of the housing-appropriations bill is being developed. Having a team ready to go and including a housing researcher, a community-development lender, two board members, the head of the local homeless shelter, and a Realtor philanthropist, the staff can assemble this group on phone meetings for consult as needed, to help them navigate the nuances and implications of various proposals. Staff members know that the Realtor likes to do media interviews, and the community-development lender has a close relationship with the speaker of the house. Deploying the policy committee in these ways is intended to support the work of staff, and ultimately add value to the advocacy efforts of the organization.

Regardless of whether your organization's advocacy efforts are new or mature or if you need substantial ongoing support or just periodic discussions with your policy committee, establishing a committee structure will add value to your efforts. Nonprofit organizations enjoy a vast array of community support, often knowledgeable about and interested in the policy issues that intersect with the organization's mission and services. Determining what your advocacy effort needs and who has something to offer will help set your organization on course for making the most of the planning, implementing, and support functions your policy committee can offer.

Provide Public Policy Training for Your Organization

Public policy eventually involves the entire organization, its clients, allies, and other stakeholders. While some are only passive recipients of the benefits of policy work, many can become active participants. Get the ball rolling by starting a series of training events.

The first training you conduct should be a briefing to board, staff, and key volunteers so that everyone understands the work plan, roles, and timelines. Build enthusiasm for the work. Let them share in the excitement of this new effort to meet your nonprofit's mission. Explain new staff and board assignments. Invite everyone's support for the work. Answer questions. Be sure no one is mystified about this component of your work and how it will affect the operations and effectiveness of the organization. In most organizations, all board and staff will be aware of the planning process that has been carried out, since you have consulted them along the way. But as you implement the work plan, be sure that it has been shared and that everyone is "in the loop."

Provide training opportunities for those who will be lobbying or making decisions about your lobbying efforts. A variety of sources can train your supporters, including state associations of nonprofits and national organizations such as Charity Lobbying in the Public Interest. (See Appendix B: Resources for Nonprofit Lobbying.) Civic organizations such as the League of Women Voters offer training for citizen activists.

Organizations in specific nonprofit subsectors (arts, housing, welfare reform, environment, human services, human rights, child care, health) may provide training that covers lobbying skills and specific issue strategies. If no formal training is available in your area, try these steps:

Invite an experienced lobbyist to consult with your organization

Invite your supportive elected officials to share their insights about what works and what doesn't

Invite legislative staff—those who work for individual legislators or committees and those who serve as information officers for legislative bodies—to share their expertise about how you can be effective in your lobbying efforts

The training you provide will advance your work if it includes the basic information that inspires confidence and core knowledge of the issues and skills required.

Build Internal Systems for Information and Communications

To meet your advocacy goals, you will need to establish systems for gathering information, managing the information, ensuring that your internal team is doing fully coordinated work, and reaching your target audiences effectively and consistently. Worksheet 16 Components of Organizational Infrastructure provides useful guidance. Systems to sustain your work include:

Systems for outreach and building your organizing and advocacy efforts

Love your lists. Maintain a database that includes all of your contacts for your advocacy work and that includes enough detail to allow you to identify supporters and audiences with micro-targeting, i.e., identifying them based on specific characteristics for the purpose of contacting them at times and with messages that are meaningful to them. At a minimum, you should be able to identify the legislative districts of all supporters and the types of activities that they have said interest them. As you design the fields in your system, think about the things that you want to do: expand the reach of messages, tap the supporters in districts of key decision makers, match supporters to the tasks that are a good fit. At a minimum, you want to be able to reach people at accurate addresses for e-mail, postal service, and social-media outlets.

For good organizing strategies, you want good information about the mapping of districts at the state level as well as local governmental districts, wards, and precincts. These are readily available from state and local governments. If you know where you have concentrations of supporters, you know where you have concentrations of power. Your goals in organizing are to engage people in the life of their communities through civic engagement and advocacy, and, if you know where they are located, you can connect with them based on their ideas, communities of interest, and importance as constituents of decision makers.

Build and maintain lists of target audiences in addition to your supporters: the media (from TV reporters to bloggers), decision makers and their staff, allied organizations, and community leaders all matter to the success of your issue campaigns and long-term movement-building work. Because relationships are so important in advocacy work, lists that are current and detailed allow you to provide updates, maintain an ongoing conversation, and reach your audiences in timely ways with multiple media.

Put into place the communications tools that you will use in your advocacy work. These may range from regular newsletters and eNews to websites, blogs, videos, direct mail, and more. Internet-based communication is critical, and people depend on e-mail for timely information. You will need systems that allow you to use these tools with outreach to specific audiences.

Meet the need for internal communication modes that keep your staff connected. For example, your advocacy team will meet regularly and share the same information that you post publicly. But you will also need to communicate often and nimbly. Plan for this. For example, e-mail and texts have helped members of an advocacy team make real-time connections when working at a state capitol and ensure that people have information and know where they are needed when issues are in debate

You are likely to use other modes of communication for external audiences. How will you reach all of your supporters on a given issue? Your donors?

Learn about the tools that have the most appeal to decision makers and the media. Often this requires asking individuals about their preferences. When you meet with elected officials, for instance, it is a useful part of relationship building to ask what forms of communication work best for them. Do they accept phone calls and when? Which e-mail addresses do they really use and want you to use? Are there staff members to whom you should copy all communications in order to ensure that everything from scheduling requests to urgent persuasive messages get attention?

Decide on the way in which you will brand your public policy communications. What are the images and words that will trigger instant and positive responses from your audiences when you are breaking through the flood of information that each person faces every day?

Determine the ways in which you want to receive input from those who communicate with you on all aspects of your policy work. Be sure that you promote the mediums and the addresses at which your organization and your advocacy-team members may be reached. For the media and elected officials, it is important to give them contact information that allows them to reach you at times outside of regular office hours if policy work is in progress. When you are serving as a resource to a legislative champion or a reporter, you want that person to be able to contact you—even at midnight when your issue is being discussed or written about for the morning enewspaper.

Assign responsibility for the design and maintenance of communications systems and lists of target audiences. These are essential tools for effective advocacy. Communication systems are worth an upfront investment and staffing to keep them current.

Systems for tracking information

It is important to have timely and accurate information about your issues and activity in the policy-making process. To ensure that you are receiving the research, analysis, schedules, and activity reports that you need, set up files for systematically collecting and disseminating information from your most valuable sources.

Subscribe to informational resources so that you have an ongoing stream of information that adds to your knowledge base as you develop and promote your issue.

• Most governmental bodies—executive offices, legislative entities, administrative offices—have websites at which you can sign up for everything from schedules of hearings and events to press releases from the governor or mayor

• Research centers will provide alerts to data and analysis so that you are always ahead of breaking information that has implications for your work on issues. Subscribe to the vehicles that they offer for regular updates

• Organizations working on your issue, whether they share your position or not, help to keep you informed about how your issues is developing, what data and stories they are using to be persuasive, what their latest information is, and more. Get on their lists so that you don't miss anything about the context and activity in your issue area

Systems for tracking your legislative activity

Keep a file for maintaining records of lobbying activity for reporting to the IRS and regulatory agencies

Set up a system for recording and sharing information about elected officials and contacts with them. This should include a method for filing notes from meetings so that people in your organization can benefit from what is learned and can use those notes as background for future contacts. Begin by keeping a set of files for each of your organization's lobbying issues, and expand them as you contact legislators, attend legislative sessions, and add more issues to your plan. For example, GREAT!, the fictional nonprofit introduced in Chapter 1, organized a set of files on building state support for workforce development. Within this set are files for each bill drafted as well as proposed amendments, each marked to show the date the legislature debated the bill or amendment and the action taken. Other files hold dated notes from all committee hearings and floor debates. Still others hold handouts and media clips. There is a separate file for each legislator with whom GREAT! has contacts, and these include notes on the meetings, dates meetings occurred, and ideas for next contacts or followup. GREAT!'s lobbyist refers to these files before the next contact with a legislator

Secure the Resources for Policy Advocacy

When you wrote your work plan, you created a budget appropriate to the scale and scope of your advocacy effort. (See Worksheet 14: Identify Resources.) Most organizations can do a minor amount of advocacy without significant additional financial resources. For a major initiative and ongoing public policy capacity, most organizations will need additional resources. If you have determined that additional resources are needed, begin working to secure funds as early as possible. Options to consider include

Reallocation of existing unrestricted funds and staff time

Requests for grants from philanthropic sources for the information and education components of your advocacy efforts

A public policy fundraising campaign to members and supporters. For example, send a letter requesting donations to cover the costs of literature and mailings for a lobbying campaign on a particular issue. Members, clients, supporters, and community leaders are often willing to help meet the costs of a lobbying campaign on an issue that matters to them.3

3 Like any charitable contribution, these donations from individuals to a 501(c)(3) organization qualify for charitable-giving tax deductions or credits. Foundation funding for lobbying activity is more restricted. For detailed explanations of how (and how much) foundations can support public policy work, see the Alliance for Justice publications at www.bolderadvocacy.org.

Coordinate any fundraising that you do to support your public policy work with your nonprofit's other development plans. Many foundations are increasingly supportive of public policy work, and foundations that support your programs may be willing to provide additional support for the advocacy component of your mission-related work. All types of foundations may support education and outreach efforts. Community foundations may also support lobbying. Chapter 4 provides some basic information about foundations and the laws on lobbying, but nonprofits should recognize that general operating support and project-specific funding may be available. Increasingly, national, regional, and local foundations recognize that nonprofits play an important role in adding data, stories, experience, and expertise to an informed policy dialogue. Some have identified policy as a key strategy for meeting their own philanthropic organization's goals for making a difference in our communities. Work with any foundations that support your ongoing programs and services to explore their willingness to fund advocacy, and research foundations that have created policy support programs. State associations of nonprofits, state and regional associations of grantmakers, The Foundation Center, and such publications as the Chronicle on Philanthropy provide up-to-date information about where the best prospects for policy support are in your field of interest. You may be able to expand your organization's funding sources by seeking support for enhancing the public dialogue on the issues that affect your organization's constituencies.

Activate Your Public Policy Advocacy Committee

Finally, convene the initial meeting of the public policy advisory committee to review the "charge to the committee" and the public policy work plan. The first meeting should also provide committee members with a clear understanding of your organization's mission and how that mission is to be served by your public policy work.

Set a schedule of committee meetings for the year. Each meeting should include the following regular agenda items:

A briefing on the substantive issues that are your lobbying priorities. This will ensure that all members of the committee have a solid grounding in the issues. For example, GREAT! might include a briefing on the role of child-care supports in work-transition programs. The next meeting might feature a briefing on the role of employers in workforce development

Updates and discussions on current activities. Don't just describe what you're up to; ask for the advisory committee's advice! Let your advisors know what information or recommendations you want from them, give them ample time to provide their ideas, and listen carefully. Create feedback loops so that advisors will know how their ideas have shaped your lobbying activity

Thoughtful discussion and creative ideas. Make committee meetings a place where people come for the ideas, the debate, and the opportunity to network. Make the meetings fun—serve food, invite guest speakers, and celebrate successes. Invite legislators who can explain their agenda and forecast highlights of upcoming legislative sessions, agency staff who can provide background on issues, experienced lobbyists who will tell their stories of successful strategies and grisly mistakes, proponents and opponents to debate an issue, and media representatives with expertise in your issues

Identify additional ways in which members of the committee want to be involved in your lobbying efforts. They may be willing to use their media contacts to help you get coverage of your issues. They may serve as spokespersons for the organization. They should be expected to answer "calls to action" and call, write, or meet with elected officials as needed. Learn about their interests, talents, and connections—and tap them.

Getting your organizational infrastructure in place for your public policy work is a crucial step in implementing your public policy work plan. Once the essential components are in place, especially the authority for decision making and the assignment of responsibilities for coordinating public policy activities and lobbying, you are ready to act.

Implement Your Advocacy and Lobbying Plan Step 2: Initiate Advocacy and Lobbying Activity

Advocating for Change

As you launch your policy work, keep in mind the basic structure for building an advocacy campaign. As the policy triangle reflects, you begin by having your policy goal and the key messages that support your position. Then there are three strategies to put in place: lobbying (and the education that leads up to lobbying), organizing a base of supporters, individuals, and organizations that will be a strong community voice for your cause, and media advocacy.

"Lobbying is presenting facts, opinions, concerns, expectations, theories and ideas. . . . It is persuasion of your point of view. Politics is essentially the attempt by humans to agree on a course of action. Real power rests less in coercing people to do what you want and more in persuading them to do what you want. Real power is getting other people to share your goals—and lobbying is one avenue for doing just that."

— John D. Sparks, Best Defense: A Guide for Orchestra Advocates

Four key questions drive your issue work:

What is the problem or opportunity?

What, exactly, do you want to have happen?

Who decides? (City, county, state? Executive, legislative, or judicial branch?)

What are the effective strategies for persuading decision makers to adopt your position?

How to Organize and Mobilize Community Support

Over the long term, your organization will need a base of supporters who will be citizen activists, committed to your issues and the public policy changes that are your goals. Organizing involves bringing people together for a shared purpose and building power at the community level to make a difference in the policies and priorities for the public good. Collective action has long been used by nonprofits working for social change. Indeed, organizing fulfills an important role for nonprofits: serving as a vehicle through which people have a voice in the decisions that have an impact on their lives. Some organizing is referred to as grassroots organizing: organizing that engages and gives a strong voice to the community residents, the people. Grasstops organizing is often a term applied to building support from community leaders who have influence because of their status in the community. Both are important.

"One of the resources nonprofits can turn to as they develop advocacy plans is their own board of directors. What often makes the difference in building support is access and attention. Often, board members have personal contacts with elected officials and in the corporate community and can tap these relationships to build support for nonprofits' issues. We've found that board members are willing and excited to be advocates for their nonprofit organization or the whole sector, but they need to be asked."

—Kristin R. Lindsey, Vice President, External Relations, Donors Forum of Chicago

Consider organizing as the foundation of your advocacy work. Your organization establishes its leadership by serving as the convener of people with shared purpose. Your movement has power in numbers if a group of people stand together with clear intent, well developed information, compelling messages, and skills for communicating with the people who are, in fact, accountable to the public. As we discuss in later chapters, organizing is also key to nonprofit, nonpartisan election activity. If the base of supporters who share in your advocacy work are also voters, your collective power increases significantly. Remember that elected officials review the voter rolls and know who votes (not HOW they vote). If your area has high turnout, you get the attention and consideration that you want for your issues.

Organizing also refers to your nonprofit's ability to join with other organizations in some form of collaboration to build deep and broad support for your cause. For small nonprofits or those only beginning to do advocacy, working in collaboration (from ad hoc task forces to more-formal alliances and coalitions) provides the option of being part of something bigger and needing to add their unique value without being responsible for a full issue campaign. In most states, coalitions that address homelessness, mental health services, environmental causes, or human rights or that form to support or oppose a specific bill or initiative exemplify the power of bringing together organizations and individuals with shared concerns to be a force for change.

Good organizing involves:

identifying people who do or might have a stake in your policy work

recruiting them to work with you in support of shared goals

informing them about the issues and policy process

preparing them to take action

mobilizing their support

engaging with them in evaluating the effort

involving them in shaping the work ahead from the ground up

Organizing supports your current work. Perhaps more important, sustained organizing builds leaders for your cause and creates ever increasing power and effectiveness for your work.

1. Build a base for support

Numbers count in politics. Constituents count in politics. Leadership voices—organizations, individuals, media—count in politics. Public will, the voices of constituents (especially if they vote!), and strong community partners are essential components of effective advocacy. As you move your public policy plan into implementation phase, organizing is an important initial step. Your organizing should build and expand on the support that you already have as early as possible. Build your grassroots base and continue to build and engage that base year after year.

Conduct a stakeholder analysis

Stakeholders are all the people who have an interest in your organization's success at achieving its mission. In public policy work, stakeholders include the people who care about your effectiveness in passing or stopping legislative proposals. In a stakeholder analysis, you identify the specific segments of the general public who care about your organization's work and public policy agenda. For each of your public policy goals, you may have different stakeholders.

Begin your analysis by stating your organization's mission and one public policy goal that you will advance to meet your mission. Then brainstorm all the people or groups who might be affected by or care about that goal. These stakeholders will include the following.

People and groups that will benefit from the proposed law. These may include your customers or clients, other people who struggle with the problem you are attempting to solve, groups and individuals who support the intended beneficiaries of the proposed law, and people in other states or countries who will base their efforts to change laws on the precedents that you set. You need to get these stakeholders involved in your effort so they can tell their own stories, persuade decision makers that the problem you have named is real, and emphasize that the proposed solution will help.

People and groups that will benefit from your organization's success. These stakeholders include board, staff, donors, and funders who support your work; allied organizations that rely on your services; and similar organizations that want to follow your model. This group of stakeholders is likely to rally behind you because they are loyal. You will need them to use their power as constituents, experts, and informed citizens to help make your case to decision makers.

People and groups that influence opinion and make decisions. These stakeholders include the people whose support you need in order to convince elected officials to adopt your position: community leaders, political leaders, and members of the media; the elected officials who will vote on your proposal; and the executive branch leaders who will support, oppose, or veto your proposal. These influences and decision makers are the ultimate targets of your efforts, because they shape the policy dialogue and make policy decisions.

For each group of stakeholders, determine

1. Which issue they care about

2. Why they care

3. What they can do

4. What you want them to do

5. How to present your key messages so that you persuade them to join your cause

6. How you will reach them, educate them, and keep them up to date on your issues and arguments

7. How you will mobilize them to act strategically at critical times

After you have determined your stakeholders and the kinds of activities necessary to educate and motivate them, you need to set priorities; rarely will you have enough resources or time to reach all your stakeholders. Placing your stakeholders on an x-y grid such as the one below can help you decide which ones you had best concentrate your energies on. Rank them by influence (on the vertical axis) and ease of accessibility (on the horizontal axis). Concentrate your actions toward the upper left of the grid—but don't forget that many voices with "low influence" can become very influential when combined.

Your base of supporters should be broad, and it should include people who have diverse points of impact on decision makers. For example, the people you serve can persuade legislators to support your cause because they will enjoy improvements in their lives or communities. Their strength is their personal stories and their power as constituents of elected officials. Legislators who care about your cause and your organization can be mobilized to use their influence with their colleagues, and they are among your best potential lobbyists. Board members are often key leaders in the community and can command the attention and respect of decision makers. Members of the press always capture the attention of people in policy and politics; it helps to have them covering your issues the way you want them covered.

Your objective is to know who your stakeholders are, determine how they can help you win support for your legislative position, and educate and mobilize them strategically. The sidebar Conduct a stakeholder analysis on the opposite page will help.

What is a 1:1 conversation?

Serious organizing depends on getting to know an individual and identifying the degree to which that person is interested in your cause, able to contribute something of value to the effort, and willing to take action. As with all advocacy, relationships and conversations are ongoing priorities. A 1:1 is a structured conversation in which your nonprofit meets with a person (sometimes a group) for some give-and-take about the issue, the level of connection, and determine if there is benefit and will to work together. See Tools for Radical Democracy, cited in the resources on page 175, for examples of structured conversations.

Do a stakeholder analysis. Create a chart that allows you to see who cares about what issue, why they care, what they can do, and how to persuade them to join the cause and act. It is important to have 1:1 discussions with individuals whom you are trying to recruit. Explore in a structured conversation what they think about the issues that you address. You will want to know if they agree with you intellectually. That is a good start. You will want to know if they see their self interest connected to your issues and positions. Even better. You will want to know if they share the core values that drive your policy work. This is best. Your strongest and most enduring supporters will be those with whom you connect on all three levels.

Prioritize your stakeholders. If helpful, use the influence-access grid described in the sidebar.

Set up a system for identifying and reaching specific individuals. This will require you to have and continuously build good lists of people you want to keep informed and call to action. Lists are part of your well maintained database. They should include as much information as possible: names, addresses, phone numbers (office, cell, phone), e-mail addresses, job title and organization, relationship to your organization (volunteer, program participant, donor, neighbor), congressional district, legislative district, local government districts, types of activities in which the person expressed interest (testimony, phone calls, data entry, graphic design, events, etc.). It is helpful to be able to organize them into specific groups, i.e., constituents in a specific district, supporters with specific expertise, and so forth.

Build supporters' interest and understanding of your policy issues over time. Include materials and ongoing updates about your policy positions and efforts in communications with all of your audiences.

Teach supporters how to communicate effectively with elected officials. Provide information on how to write letters, leave persuasive phone messages, use e-mail and social media effectively, and build ongoing contact with their own elected officials. Consider holding lobbying-training sessions for supporters who want to build their skills and confidence in lobbying.

Once supporters know your policy positions and have decided to lobby, tell them where the decisions will be made, when, and which key elected officials need to be lobbied. Provide e-mail and mailing addresses, phone numbers, social media sites with postings by the elected official, and some biographical information about the official.

2. Use the best strategies for grassroots support

Grassroots supporters will want to know how they can use their time and energy to really make a difference. Legislators agree that they are persuaded most by

Meetings. Legislators value personal meetings and discussions with constituents and with advocates who have valuable information on an issue. Schedule meetings rather than "dropping in" and keep them positive, respectful, interesting, and full of useful information. Provide your grassroots supporters with a single-page handout and collateral resource packets that they can give to the official and that the official can use in framing a debate or proposing legislation.

Nonprofit organizations that hold a "Day at the Capitol" or "City Hall Days" often include meetings with elected representatives as part of the program. On such occasions, when many representatives of your nonprofit are meeting with elected officials, wear buttons and hand out brochures that give your issue visibility. Ask public officials to show support by wearing your button.

Letters. While meetings are the best way to contact legislators, personal letters, especially from constituents, are also highly effective. You can provide key points to help supporters focus their letters, but those letters should have a personal touch. They can be handwritten or prepared electronically, as long as they are readable. Constituents should identify themselves as residents in the legislator's district. Their letters should state the key points about the issue, and they should tell why the issue makes a difference to them in some specific way. The important element is personal concern

E-mail. While some people may still consider e-mail impersonal, it is increasingly the way that many elected officials communicate with others. Indeed, some legislators use e-mail and social media to have ongoing conversations with individuals and the public about issues. Introductory e-mails should have the same structure and formality as a written letter. Further communications may be less formal depending on the relationship with the decision maker and how that person responds to the initial letter. Some hints: include important clues in the subject line of an e-mail. Elected officials are inundated with e-mail, so a subject line that identifies you as a constituent, as a group making a scheduling request, or as an important piece of information related to issues that they work on can help you to get their attention and a response. Also note that, at the congressional level, e-mail messages are favored over regular mail because of delays in processing regular mail. Also keep in mind that most governmental entities caution against the use of e-mail attachments based on security concerns.

Social media. Most elected officials now have social-media profiles that they use for communications. It is perfectly acceptable to engage with elected officials via these channels. However, maintain your professional voice. Your communications may not be private. Use discretion about what you post

Phone calls. Constituents get priority attention from their legislators, especially those who have made an effort to get to know the public official prior to the home stretch of the decision-making process. Callers should identify themselves by name and address and leave a clear message that will fit on a message slip

Press attention. Letters to the editor have enormous impact. No matter how busy they are, public officials always want to know what is in the hometown newspaper (or online) that relates to their district and their work. Supporters should send letters to their local weekly or daily newspaper.

Strange bedfellows

In doing a stakeholder analysis, be creative. Building unexpected partnerships can be an effective strategy. For instance, the American Medical Association and other health organizations joined anti-violence organizations in support of gun-control legislation. The issue became part of the public health advocacy agenda. Creative partnerships bring increased people power to your legislative effort. And new partners may have access and influence in arenas new to your nonprofit organization.

How do you activate supporters? Let us count the ways

1. Provide briefings, stories, and informational materials. Win people's support.

2. Offer training on the legislative process and communicating with legislators.

3. Identify what you want them to do and suggest specific steps to take. Make it easy.

4. Develop effective communication tools. Alert people to take action when they have a solid background on the issue and are committed to supporting your position. Give them talking points to guide their communications and reinforce your key messages.

5. Ask supporters to write to their legislators. Identify their representatives or the key legislators you want to reach. Provide addresses, fax numbers, and key points to include in a personalized letter.

6. Bring people together to see the process at work and get comfortable meeting with their elected representatives. Hold rallies and "Days at the Capitol" that engage people in the public dialogue. Make it fun!

7. Share victories and be generous with thanks.

The sidebar How Do You Activate Supporters? on this page has more ideas for mobilizing grassroots support.

Appendix D: Samples includes Tips for Contacting Your Representative, adapted from materials developed by the Minnesota Citizens for the Arts.

Initiate Lobbying Activity

Your organization will need to combine six tools to accomplish its public policy goals. You will need to know

How to propose new legislation

How to support legislation that has already been proposed

How to defeat proposed legislation

How to lobby the executive branch

How to build and mobilize grassroots support

How to advocate through the media

You'll be using these basic tools for as long as you have public policy goals. Learn to use them, and you will serve your mission well.

How to Propose New Legislation

The following section presents basic steps in developing an idea and working proactively with elected officials and supporters to have it adopted as law. As you refer to your work plan, choose the steps presented here that will enable you to meet your policy priorities as articulated in Worksheet 5: Issues, Objectives, and Positions.

There are four steps in proposing new legislation. They are

Research and write your proposal for a bill

Gain the support of your bill's chief author in the legislature

Lobby for passage

Celebrate success, learn from failure

1. Research and write your proposal for a bill

Each legislative initiative has a research phase. Your planning team identified priority issues for your organization in Worksheet 5. When the issue you've chosen falls under the often harsh light of political scrutiny, you need to know your facts. Conduct whatever information-gathering steps are needed to ensure you can make your case.

Know current law

The first step is to be sure that you know current law. This information is available in a variety of ways: government websites often allow you to access state statutes and local government ordinances. You might ask your own elected officials to have staff help you review the existing law in the area of interest. Sometimes experienced advocates will be a good resource if they have worked in this area of policy. Know the law and what you need to add or change to achieve your objective.

Identify the problem and explain how your proposal will address it

To make your case, be prepared to explain why the existing law doesn't achieve the desired ends and how your proposal will make the needed changes. As you prepare the evidence, rely on your own organization's information as a starting point and build from there.

Prepare a statement that describes the problem and that introduces your proposed solution. Follow this with the justification for your position. Build your case with facts and anecdotes. If your proposed law promotes a program, service, or tax policy that you have experience with and that has demonstrable results, be sure to include that information as part of your case for your proposal.

Relationships matter. Nonprofits committed to working on public policy make the time to build trusting working relationships with allied organizations, decision makers, and the media. Good relationships ensure that your nonprofit will have timely access to those who can help to move your issue agenda forward. Those same relationships allow you to fulfill your role as a leadership organization, counted on as a resource for shaping sound policy.

Learn about the people who will be important to your lobbying efforts

Once you have solidified your case, you need to know the people and organizations that will be players in the dialogue about your proposal. This includes getting to know decision makers, allies, and opponents. Refer to Worksheet 8: The People of the Process. Confer with the public policy advisory committee and build on its ideas about which people you need to influence to move your legislation forward. Get to know the people who will make or influence decisions on your issues. (See the sidebar Quick tips for building relationships with public officials on page 112.)

Invite public officials and their staff to visit your organization's site. The time they spend with the people you serve will help these officials understand community needs as well as your organization and its accomplishments. For public officials, such visits often build deeper understanding and a personal connection to the way in which your work benefits their community.

Read everything available about the decision makers. Observe them in action at legislative meetings, in the community, on local television access stations or radio, wherever they are in your community.

Learn everything that you can about other organizations, academicians, journalists, business leaders, politicians, and celebrities who might be your allies or opponents. Reach out to supporters and people who benefit from your work to strengthen their willingness to act on the issues. Build positive relationships and make friends!

Before you begin, review what you know about the arena of influence where you will be lobbying for a new initiative. See Worksheet 7: The Legislative Arena.

Shape key messages as you write your proposal

Your organization needs to shape its key messages in the very early stages of preparing your legislative work. Key messages are clear and consistent statements about the issues, ideas, and actions that you are promoting. They are a critical part of the way you build understanding and motivate people to respond. Your organization will need to identify the key messages that you want to convey, the audiences that you are targeting, and the vehicles that will help you to get your key messages to your target audiences. In lobbying, key messages usually include the following:

Case statement: This is a clear articulation of the problem that you have identified, the solution and position that you are advocating, and the rationale that supports your position.

Results: You need to state the expected outcomes of your proposed solution to a problem and identify the ways in which those outcomes will be measured and experienced. Be as clear as possible in describing how people's lives and communities will be different if the measure you support passes or the measure you oppose is allowed to progress. For example, advocates of clean- and safe-water policies need to address the specific consequences of allowing fertilizers and manure to run into streams, rivers, lakes, and aquifers as part of a campaign to stop feedlots from expanding.

Slogans: Your lobbying campaign will want to include repetition of key phrases that capture the essence of the issue. For example, advocates for violence prevention have repeated one brief slogan as part of every written statement or public notice, whether it's about stopping domestic abuse or ending gang warfare: "You're the one who can make a difference. You can make the peace."

Persuasive statements: There are the oft-repeated statements that capture your ideas and touch the particular audience that you have targeted. These statements appeal to a specific audience's interest in the issue. Advocates for the right to bear arms have approached mothers with the statement "You not only have a right to protect your children; you have a responsibility." They might reach another targeted audience, hunters, by noting that "the right to bear arms is part of the American way of life. Don't let anyone limit your right to hunt." To yet another target audience, lawmakers, they might use persuasive statements relying on legal issues and election strategies: "The Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms. Voters in your district—lots of hunters—want to be able to hunt and protect their property."

The annotated samples in Appendix D provide a good example of effective key messages.

Write your proposal

Keep your written proposal brief. Make it compelling. Your aim is to compress all the work that you have done into a brief but persuasive case. You want to inspire a legislator to have a bill drafted, to make it his or her priority, and to work for its passage. In a short, one- to three-page proposal

Identify the need or problem. Be clear about who is affected by the problem and what it means in their lives and to the community

State the solution that you offer

Identify expected outcomes if the legislation passes. Identify the consequences of failing to make the policy change that you recommend

Be clear about points of controversy that your proposal may provoke

Describe other places where this solution has been tried and has succeeded (if this information is available)

Demonstrate support for your proposal. Who else will "sign on"?

Address costs of the proposal

Give your proposal a short and catchy name that captures the essence of your idea. This will become its informal name as it moves through a legislative process. Efforts to legislate a refund for recycling glass containers have been known as "bottle bills." Use the title to suggest how the public interest is well served by the idea. States have passed tax deductions for charitable giving for nonitemizers, calling these "charitable-giving tax-relief acts."

A sample legislative proposal can be found in the annotated samples (Exhibit 2) in Appendix D on page 194. The sidebar Shape Key Messages As You Write Your Proposal on page 110 contains more information on effective proposals.

2. Gain the support of your bill's chief authors in the legislature

Here is some good news: you don't have to draft the technical language for the bill! In almost every state, a legislator—at the state, county, or city level—who wants to author a bill asks legislative staff to draft the actual bill language. In the state legislature, there are usually two chief authors—one in the house and one in the senate. Your chief authors will want to use your proposal as the starting point for having a bill drafted by legislative staff. Drafting a bill is often done at the state level by the "revisor's office," which is a nonpartisan office serving all members. Revisor's office staff members put ideas into bill form and identify where the proposed law will fit in the state's statutes.

Nonprofit lobbyists should work closely with the bill's chief authors to ensure that the bill, as drafted, captures the proposal as intended. Ask to see the bill when it comes back from the revisor's office and discuss any changes that you recommend with the chief authors. Changes can be made before the bill circulates to additional authors and is introduced.

Find legislative authors for your proposal

In addition to chief authors, other legislators may sign on as coauthors (usually referred to simply as authors). Each legislature and local governmental body has its own rules for how many legislators can be named on a bill as authors and where a bill will first be discussed when it is introduced. (Note: Some states use the term sponsors, while others use authors.) Be strategic about selecting your chief authors. You want a chief author in each body of your legislature who has "the four Ps": passion, position, power, and persuasiveness. These people will have the primary responsibility within the legislature for moving the bill toward passage.

Passion. Your bill's chief authors must care deeply about the problem that you are addressing and must be convinced of the value of your proposal. It's best if the chief authors adopt it as their own top priority. Best case: your chief authors will have worked on legislation to address similar needs in the past and will know the problems, people, and communities affected; the advocacy groups likely to be involved in the issue; and the legislative path that the bill will need to follow to pass.

Quick tips for building relationships with public officials

You will have a much easier time getting support for your positions if you have worked, ahead of time, to build relationships with legislators and administrators involved in your issues. Here are a few pointers to remember:

• Be of value to public officials. Know what issues they care about and become a reliable source of accurate information.

• Be a good host. During times when the legislature is not in session, invite legislators to visit your organization and see what you do.

• Be a good listener. Meet early with key legislators, be respectful, and listen.

• Ask for help early. Public officials are much more likely to be invested in your bill if they've been involved in it from the start.

• Understand the environment. It's politics. Show that you have strong constituent support for your position.

• Reward support. Whether you fail or succeed, thank those officials who supported you. When you do succeed, thank them in public and invite reporters.

• Stay in touch. Show public officials the positive outcome of their acts.

• Never burn bridges. Today's enemy may be tomorrow's ally.

Position. Chief authors can be most influential in getting a bill heard—and taken seriously—if they are members of the key committee that will decide on the bill's merits. In most legislatures, there are policy and finance committees in every major policy area: education, health, human services, economic development, governmental operations, agriculture, crime. Choose chief authors who are members of the committees that will hear the bill. This is crucial because these committees could (1) recommend passage to the full house or senate, (2) kill the bill by either denying it hearings or referring it to other committees that will hold it up, or (3) vote it down in committee and thus stop its progress. (There are ways to bring a bill to life after it dies in committee, but it is better to start with chief authors who have a good chance of shepherding it through committees with positive votes.)

Power. Look for chief authors with political power. The committee chair, the majority leader of the house or senate, or a long-standing and well-respected member of the committee has more power to influence the committee's agenda and action than a rookie. It is almost always best to have the chief authors of a bill be from the dominant political party, and it helps if the legislators have a powerful position within their political caucuses. If you can choose chief authors who provide a display of bipartisan support, so much the better.

Don't forget about the governor's office!

It will be helpful to scope out the feelings of the executive branch on your proposal as state agency staff are often solicited in committee to provide testimony as to the impacts of a bill. You don't want to be surprised with executive opposition. On the contrary, strong support from the ultimate "implementers" of your proposal (following passage) will only add to the reasonableness of your idea. If you don't have a personal connection to the governor's staff, ask to speak with a policy aide, or government-relations staff who is assigned to your issue area. It is common for executive staff to specialize in various categories (e.g. budget, taxes, health or human services, environment, etc.).

Persuasiveness. Sometimes a legislator has power as the recognized expert in an issue area such as housing, insurance regulation, or technology development. Your chief authors will have to be your bill's best lobbyists! They must care enough about the issue to move it through all the steps by which a bill becomes a law. This will require a clear understanding of the bill and the process and the ability to influence a wide variety of decision makers along the way.

Some other considerations in selecting chief authors and coauthors:

Work with someone who knows and trusts your organization. You'll want the chief authors to call on you when decisions have to be made and compromises considered

To the extent possible, invite a mix of coauthors whose "signing on" reflects support from all political parties and all geographic areas of the state

Look for gender balance and full representation of the community in the list of authors

Seek leaders as coauthors. It can be very helpful to have a speaker of the house or a senate majority leader as a coauthor. They may be too busy to be chief authors, but their names on the bill signals to others that they are on board

3. Lobby for passage

As you prepare to lobby for passage of your bill, convert your research and writing on the issue to attractive forms for supporters, the media, the public, and public officials. Be creative, interesting, persuasive, and do it all with materials that are brief and compelling. Several samples of such materials can be found in the annotated samples in Appendix D.

With materials in hand, your primary goal is to shepherd the bill through the legislative process, working tirelessly to see it pass. In this all-important process, the lobbyist's duties include working to

Introduce the bill

Move the bill through committee

Influence decision makers after your bill passes in committee

Be there on the day of the vote

Introduce the bill

Move the bill through committee

Influence decision makers after your bill passes in committee

Be there on the day of the vote

Introduce the bill

The bill is usually formally introduced (often called "given a first reading") before the full legislative body, assigned a number, and referred to a committee for consideration. Your lobbyist should work with your chief authors as the bill is ready to be introduced. Some tips:

Urge the legislator who is the chief author in the house and the legislator who is the chief author in the senate to have the bill introduced and assigned to a committee in each body early enough in the session to give it time to be heard and to meet any committee deadlines

Allow time for supporters to be alerted to the bill's introduction and the names of committee members who will be hearing it, and to contact key legislators to voice their support. Identify and mobilize supporters and stakeholders from key legislators' districts. They will understand and make convincing arguments to legislators about the impact of your proposed public policy on their district

Build in time for unexpected delays or legislative maneuvers. Many bills that are introduced independently are rolled into more comprehensive bills, sometimes called "omnibus bills" or "committee bills." This occurence may require an extra committee hearing or that the bill be heard independently before it can be considered for inclusion in an omnibus bill

Remember that, in many states, if the house and senate pass bills that are not identical, a joint committee (sometimes called a "conference committee") will be convened to reconcile differences

Move the bill through committee

Prior to any committee hearing, learn about the members. This information is available from the legislative information services and should be on file in your office. Refer to Worksheet 8: The People of the Process to review your earlier detective work on committee membership.

Meet with each member of the committee prior to committee hearings. You should be sure that each committee member knows what the proposed legislation is intended to accomplish. Your role is to describe the problem that needs to be addressed, what solution the bill offers, and why you think this legislation will provide an effective solution to a problem.

How to testify at a committee hearing

Committee testimony is one form of formal, strategic communication. Your lobbyist and the bill's sponsors can help get you into a position to testify. You have already prepared your key messages as you developed your lobbying materials. Draw your testimony from your key messages. (See the sidebar Shape key messages as you write your proposal, page 110.) Make your testimony clear, brief, and compelling. Use real-life stories to make complex issues meaningful and personal. Here are some tips for testifying.

• Prepare a formal statement of your position. Explain that position in clearly enumerated points. This can range from a one-page handout that is the most direct statement of your position to letters of support, press clippings, pictures, and artifacts.

• Learn everything possible about the committee members. It is important to know the audience. And legislators are always pleased to be addressed by name.

• Choose a person to provide your primary testimony. Choose someone who is articulate and convincing and has status within your organization or coalition. Your board chair, executive director, or the staff person with the highest level of expertise may be more appropriate for this role than your lobbyist, who serves as "stage manager." The organization needs its own best and most influential voice.

• Provide an additional person or two to testify. Choose people who can state why they support your position and how they expect it to impact their lives or communities. If time is limited, include their stories in written form.

• Respect committee protocols. Address the committee correctly (Madam or Mister Chair and Members of the Committee). Respect time constraints.

• Anticipate questions and opposition. Research who opposes your position, why, and what they are saying about the issue. Assume that opponents, too, will have lobbied committee members and their staff. Assume that you will get requests to explain your facts. Also be prepared for questions driven by a different position or perspective on the issue. You and your legislative supporters should identify these potential questions and how you will address them. Write out the questions and answers to the best of your ability.

• Rehearse. Critique. Revise.

• Relax. Remember that you know more about your issue than almost anyone else in the process and you are prepared to make a case for something that matters. Square your shoulders, take a deep breath, and do your best.

• Ask the committee members to vote in support of your position.

In meetings with individual committee members, ask them how much time they have. Respect their time constraints. Get to the point early in the discussion, and leave written information with the committee member and his or her staff person. Limit the meeting to two or three individuals from your organization and include a representative from the committee member's legislative district if possible.

Before you conclude a meeting with a committee member, ask for his or her vote for your position. Remember that not everyone will agree with your position. If you know that a legislator opposes your proposal, find out why. The more information you have about how strongly a legislator opposes or supports you, the better you will be able to work to gain or strengthen support for your issue. Keep careful notes of a legislator's commitments to support you and questions or concerns.

If the elected official needs additional information or has concerns about the bill, offer to get the information (if you believe this can be done and will make a difference). Always follow up on promises to provide additional information, whether those are facts, lists of supporters, examples of the problem, or models of similar bills and their impact in other locations.

Be prepared to address questions that committee members are likely to raise about your bill during committee hearings. Know as much as possible about how they are likely to vote. Your bill's sponsor will appreciate knowing ahead of time how much support and opposition to expect when the bill is heard by the committee.

Work with your chief authors and those legislators who support your bill to pass it in each committee and return it to the full legislative body for passage. Here are some tips:

Ask the chief author to request that the committee chair hear the bill (rather than let it languish on the roster and die for lack of action)

If you wish to present expert witnesses and constituents who have personal stories, find out how the committee sets the agenda of speakers and get on the list. The bill's author will be expected to introduce and explain the bill to the committee. He or she can tell the committee chair and staff that you are there to testify about the bill and its intended impact. (See the sidebar How to testify at a committee hearing on page 115.)

Be sure that your lobbyist has observed the committee and knows the committee protocol. Your presenters will need to know how to formally address the committee members (usually "Mister or Madam Chair and Members of the Committee") and how long their testimony should be to conform with committee rules and attention spans

If you are not initiating a bill but want to respond to an existing proposal—for or against the measure—the same approach applies. Work with your strongest ally in the legislature to ensure that you will testify. Involve your lobbyist and citizen activists in persuading committee members of the merits and importance of your position

Influence decision makers after your bill passes in committee

During and especially after the committee process, your focus must embrace all members of the legislative body who will have a final say in the passage or failure of the measure you hope to enact. Your lobbyist and your grassroots supporters need to reach every legislator with your message. In the best case, your lobbying will deliver key messages and materials to every elected official or his or her key staff, and every legislator will hear from supporters in his or her legislative district.

Resources for such full coverage may be limited, so your strategy should include priorities. Focus your efforts on

Strong supporters who need to be encouraged to provide leadership for your cause

Undecided officials whose vote can make the critical difference

Elected officials from areas where you have strong and well activated grassroots support

Key leaders in political caucuses who can encourage their colleagues to support your position

Opinion shapers who are respected as experts and policy leaders in your issue area

Be there on the day of the vote

When your legislative proposal has proceeded through the committee process and is scheduled for a hearing in the full house and senate, you should make a timely effort to reach all members of the legislature with a final reminder. This is where your preparation of key messages, the materials you have developed, and your education and mobilization of supporters can make a difference in the final vote. Some steps that you can take on the day of the vote:

Get a final reminder to each elected official about your position. This reminder may take many forms, including electronic messages. Supporters not present at the capitol can send e-mails or texts or utilize social media. You could leave a final "fact sheet" at the legislator's desk before the floor debate begins, the day before or early in the morning of the vote. You could urge supporters to make final phone calls or to "catch legislators in the halls on the way to session" to get in a final word. When resources are limited, target these final reminders to the undecided legislators who can make the key difference in whether your measure passes or fails

If you can get a supportive editorial from a newspaper or other media outlet, try to time it for the days prior to the vote. Deliver it to legislators before the floor session in which they will debate the issue begins

Have supporters present in the house and senate galleries as the issue is debated and the vote taken. Wear identifiable buttons so that elected officials know that people care and are watching the debate and final action on the bill

Many government hearings and full sessions at all jurisdictional levels (city, county, state) are available to the public through live streaming or cable television broadcasts. These broadcasts enable supporters across the area to observe proceedings in real time from their offices or homes or at the capitol and outside the legislative chambers. Your organization can then communicate quickly with elected officials while the debate is in progress and votes on amendments or final passage of a bill are pending. This is when the use of electronic media can be effective for showing support for an issue and also for communicating information to champions. If an author of your bill, or a key leader supporting your position, suddenly faces an unanticipated question or unexpected amendment, your organization can share information and recommendations instantly using electronic communications. An e-mail exchange during a floor debate has saved more than one important policy from amendments that could weaken or defy the original intent. Let your legislators know how they may reach your experts and that you will be available to support them.

In some legislatures, it is possible to send messages to members of the house or senate when they are in floor sessions debating bills. Constituents who are present in the capitol building will have a good chance of getting their representatives to meet with them for even a minute or two so that they can get a final lobbying statement in on behalf of your organization's cause

Greet legislators when the vote is over and the session has recessed. Thank them for their support. Avoid any recriminations if they have failed to support you. For opponents, a genuine statement that you hope that you can work together on these and other issues in the future will do more good than an expression of anger or frustration.

4. Celebrate success, learn from failure

At the end of any legislative campaign, brief or extended, simple or complex, take some time for lessons learned. Here are some steps to take:

Debrief. Within a few days of final legislative action on your proposal, convene those most heavily involved in the legislative effort for a debriefing. First reactions may be victory shouts or groans of defeat. Give people a chance to express their reactions. Then guide them into an evaluation of the work. Pose some key questions for the group to address collectively:

What were the strengths of our campaign?

What were our weaknesses?

What were the three most important factors leading to our victory? How can we build on these so that our strengths grow in future efforts?

What three factors had the most influence in defeating us? How can we redesign our approach to overcome these weaknesses?

What surprised us? How can we be better prepared next time?

Was any damage done that will require immediate remedial action on our part?

Whom do we need to thank? How do we build on the support they provided here for future efforts?

Be critical. Be forward-thinking about how to build for a next effort. But DON'T be too tough on yourselves; many factors in legislative debate and action are simply outside of your control. Learn to identify these. Then work where you can make a difference. This is always a steep learning curve.

Report. Write a summary of the effort along with your findings (What happened? What went well? What went poorly? Why? What are the next steps in growth?). This report can be written by one person, often the public policy coordinator, based on the group discussion.

Discuss lessons learned and next steps. Present the summary to the full public policy advisory committee for discussion and recommendations. This will serve many purposes: advisory-committee members will be included in your analysis of how the organization can build on strengths to improve its lobbying capacity; advisory-committee members may add ideas and insights that those involved in the day-to-day campaign didn't consider; and advisory-committee members will use what they learn from this experience in their next efforts to inform the organization's public policy work.

Win or lose, celebrate your good work. Even if your bill didn't pass this time, celebrate your accomplishments: you made a good case; you educated elected officials about your organization and issues; you built a base of supporters that you can develop for the future; and you learned some lessons that will improve your next efforts. Thank everyone who contributed—warmly and often. Have a party for supporters. Take time to be proud of what you did accomplish!

How to Support Legislation That Has Been Introduced

Often your role is not one of a bill's creator but of a key supporter. When this occurs, you will use many of the same techniques as when you have been the primary mover of a bill. You will need to take extra care to be sure your efforts complement those of the bill's creators and existing supporters.

Sometimes, you will be working alone or alongside others to support some proposed legislation. Other times, you may choose to work as part of a coalition. When groups want to see the same outcomes in a public policy debate, they can increase their chances for success by working in coalitions. Coalitions can share both direct and grassroots lobbying efforts. This strengthens the information base and increases the numbers of constituents that elected officials hear. It is a powerful organizing strategy, provided the coalition serves as a means to a shared goal and doesn't consume time and energy that drains your ability to lobby effectively.

There are essentially four steps in supporting legislation proposed by someone else:

Do adequate research to affirm that you agree with the proposal.

Identify what added value you bring to the effort to support the existing proposal. Can you help to make a difference in support of the cause?

Determine whether you will work in coalition with others or alone.

If you intend to work with a collaborative effort, initiate the discussion about your specific role and responsibilities.

1. Determine whether to work alone or in coalition with others

When you choose to support an existing legislative proposal, find out which individuals and groups inspired the legislation and are working to support it. An easy way to get this information is to talk to the chief sponsor of the bill in the legislature. He or she will want your support and will be willing to discuss the genesis of the bill and the groups that support and oppose it.

If a coalition of supporters exists, contact key leaders to discuss their objectives and strategy and to determine whether or not your participation will help you meet shared goals. If no coalition exists, your nonprofit can take the leadership position of inviting supportive groups to meet to discuss the merits of coordinated work. In building a coalition, consider new allies. Often organizations that might seem to be unlikely partners have a common agenda on a specific legislative issue. Working together, you and a new partner may broaden the base of support for your work and signal to decision makers that your issue touches diverse constituencies.

Some criteria can help you to assess if a coalition effort is an effective way to reach your goal. The following questions will help as you weigh the merits of joining or forming a coalition.

Do you share a common objective?

Do you agree that the proposed legislation is the best way to solve a problem that all potential coalition members have identified as a priority? Sometime organizations agree on a definition of a problem but have different and contradictory solutions to offer. If a shared legislative solution can be crafted that all agree will address the problem, your nonprofit can avoid competing with multiple proposals about the same issue. Elected officials will appreciate this sorting out of options and a unified focus on a solution that all agree is best.

Do you agree on key messages and arguments to support your shared position?

Working in coalition, organizations that have a common message can present a powerful and unified voice. Compare the arguments and key messages you would use with those of your potential allies.

Do you agree on the lobbying strategy for supporting the proposed bill?

Even when the end goal is the same, some groups use tactics that may be in direct conflict with your organization's values. A coalition of such groups—when they do not agree to abide by the same strategies—can be damaging to both parties.

Coalition partners build power to influence policy choices

Contributor: Patti Whitney-Wise, Executive Director, Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon

The work of Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon (PHFO) exemplifies multiple dimensions of the value of work in coalition. This nonprofit grew out of a 1989 legislative initiative, the Oregon Hunger Task Force (OHTF). The mission of OHTF was to study the problem of hunger in Oregon, make recommendations for policies and programs to alleviate hunger, and help local communities implement changes. OHTF includes community-based organizations, nonprofits, and faith-based organizations, as well as legislators and state agency representatives.

In 2006, the Task Force helped to launch a private, non-profit organization to advance the implementation of the key policy agenda created in the "Act to End Hunger". Progress was made on 30 of the 40 action items. This creation story reflects that governmental and nonprofit partners, working with a shared goal, can collaborate in ways that build broad momentum, support, and action on an issue. Partners and the Task Force created a new five-year action plan in 2010, "Ending Hunger before it Begins," and is focused on implementing that new plan.

Partners and the Task Force, working in alliance, bring together the perspectives, knowledge, skills, networks, and clout of many partners and is a force for change. Key components of their collaborative strategy include:

• Organizations working across sectors and interests can be powerful when united incommon cause. Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon now supports and participates in several issue coalitions that include legislators, nonprofits, lobbyists, and business representatives. OHTF/PHFO helps lead the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Alliance and the Earned Income Tax Credit coalition and participates in the Housing Alliance. Partners reports regularly to the Human Services Coalition of Oregon and draws other issue organizations into its work during legislative session. It is obvious that the depth of knowledge, the reach, and the combined power of these many entities make change possible.

• Planning matters. Both the five-year plan, "Ending Hunger Before it Begins: Oregon's Call to Action," and advance legislative agendas from OHTF/PHFO help shape the policy dialogue in focusing on shared commitment and direct specific responsibilities for meeting the plan's objectives.

• Message matters. All involved have adopted a clear and simple statement as their signature statement: "Hunger is an Income Issue." They have developed talking points with coalition partners to use with the media and legislators. This straightforward statement reflects the bias of the strategy developed to end hunger and invites a broad range of organizations and individuals concerned about income disparities and the impact of poverty to support the five-year plan and actions. The message reflects a strategic frame.

• Positioning matters. Work with partners who are decision makers and have strengthened their leadership and improved policy outcomes. In this instance, it has worked well for OHTF/PHFO, born of a legislative initiative, to continue strong bonds with the legislative, executive, and administrative components of government. With four state agencies as partners, and the legislators who are part of the ongoing Oregon Hunger Task Force on board, PHFO/OHTF has well informed and deeply committed champions in policy arenas. The reach included Governor Ted Kulongoski who took on a highly visible role because of his dedication to ending hunger from 2003 to 2011. Currently, First Lady Cylvia Hayes has continued and broadened that legacy to include a new Prosperity Initiative and Governor John Kitzhaber (2011-) is supporting both hunger- and poverty-prevention initiatives. Information must be timely and accurate. OHTF/PHFO is able to ensure that it is always working with good policy and analysis and is succinct. Tapping into academic partners and fiscal-policy analysts as well as coalition partners, OHTF/PHFO produces one-page fact sheets that clearly lay out the issues at hand and are widely used by legislators and partners alike.

• Outreach is essential. OHTF/PHFO works with leadership organizations from all sectors. Therefore, it has the reach needed to engage the media, opinion shapers, and the people of Oregon to make hunger, as an income issue, a high priority.

• Opportunities for citizen engagement matter. A coalition with a broad range of partners presents multiple and diverse channels for citizen activism. Individuals and groups can join this collective effort through any entry point: an organization with which they are already affiliated, the coalition itself, or the leaders who invite them to the work.

• Coalitions build mutual accountability. A formal coalition, working from a shared plan, requires each partner to fulfill its commitments. Too many respected partners will know if some group isn't meeting its promises to advance the plan.

• Collective action can lead to success. The first five-year plan to end hunger in Oregon made significant progress on 30 of its 40 objectives. The second plan has brought new partners to the table and helped to spur the Oregon First Lady's Prosperity Initiative, which is focusing on poverty reduction as the long-term solution to hunger and includes many of the hunger plan's objectives.

• Coalitions seed long-term change. The combined strengths of OHTF/PHFO and its many allies make it bigger than a single bill, a single plan, a single moment in time. This coalition is the core of a social-change movement.

Each collaborative effort has its unique purpose, structure, and value for nonprofits advocating for change. This example presents a high-profile issue, an engaged group of elected officials, and nonprofits with much experience and expertise. Some other collaboratives may need to be structured as basic ad hoc working groups meeting a short-term need, informal alliances for ongoing work mostly on parallel paths, or issue-campaign-specific formal coalitions. In all of these cases, partnerships create increased knowledge, outreach, and power in working for change.

Will your combined efforts provide needed strengths that no group can bring alone?

Assess whether or not working in coalition will strengthen your effort enough to justify the effort that goes into the work. It takes time, money, and resources to agree on lobbying tactics and activities. Weigh the potential costs against the likelihood of success with either approach.

Do the groups trust one another?

Without trust, it is impossible to coordinate efforts for very long. Member groups may not share essential information or work from the agreed-to lobbying strategy.

Are there leadership and capacity to coordinate coalition efforts?

Someone needs to be designated as the convener of the coalition. In addition, the organizations in the coalition need to create a common system for sharing information, making decisions, and sending out calls to action. Be sure that a coalition that you join or form has the capacity and resources matching its goals.

2. Identify your unique contribution

Whether you work in a coalition or lobby independently, identify and use the unique contribution that you make to the cause. Following are some specific strengths that you might have that would enhance the debate. (See also the sidebar Coalition members build power to influence policy choices on page 121.)

Even if your issues are not "popular" with political leaders in a particular time or at a specific level of government, maximize the value of your nonprofit's nonpartisanship. As a 501(c)(3) organization, you are not engaged and should never be identified with a political party or candidate. You work with all "people of the process" to advance your issues, build support across the aisles, and serve the people of the community in your mission-driven work. There is extraordinary opportunity in being a facilitator of nonpartisan cooperation on issues that matter to your community. Be the bridge builder. It isn't always easy, but it is almost always important!

Exclusive information

This could be data about the clients that you serve or the programs and services that you provide. What unique information could you bring to the effort?

Access to people who will be directly affected by the bill

Organizations and people who are the intended beneficiaries of proposed legislation have an important role to play in providing feedback about whether or not proposed legislation will meet their needs. Access to them may be your strength.

Credibility on the issue

If your organization has in the past provided essential information that shaped related legislation, elected officials will be expecting you to make your position known on allied bills being proposed. Once you establish that you have expertise in an issue area, your support will carry weight.

Access to legislators

Your board, staff, volunteers, and clients may be able to reach elected officials in a unique way. You will have great influence with legislators from your own district. And you may have friends in the legislature who know and trust you and will give credence to your messages of support. You can tap members of your board who are key leaders in the community to use their influence with elected officials.

Never assume that groups already in the debate can represent the interests of your organization's stakeholders. Always assume that your expertise, insights, and credibility in the community allow you to make a difference in whether a proposal passes or fails.

3. Support the bill

The actions that you take in supporting a proposed bill will be similar to the legislative efforts described in the section How to Propose New Legislation, pages 108-119.

Learn what has been done on the issue. The organization or coalition that is initiating the proposal will have conducted research and prepared a case statement. The group is likely to have arranged to have chief authors and to have a bill drafted. You will need to review the organization's work, determine if you have any differences of opinion with the proposal, and assess where you can contribute additional information to the effort. Work with the originators of the proposal to use your unique contributions strategically. Sometimes, you may wish to weave your organization's specific research, stories, and ideas into the overall case statement. At other times, you can provide more support by being a separate voice, supporting the bill but providing your own rationale, stories, and perspective. The crucial step is to cooperate with those who have taken a lead on this issue so that your efforts are complementary and coordinated.

Build relationships. As you would with any advocacy campaign, learn about the people who will be important to your lobbying efforts. In addition to the originators of the proposal, you will need to develop relationships and good communications of your own with people important to this process: legislators who are authors and coauthors, committee members, other groups supporting the proposal, your own supporters, and the media. If your voice is going to add strength to the effort already under way, these relationships will be essential to your ability to be an effective voice.

Lobby for passage. Here you will coordinate with the primary supporters of the bill, but you will nevertheless carry out a full range of activities. You will meet with legislators to make your case; prepare fact sheets and materials to persuade elected officials and the media to support your position; educate and mobilize supporters who will add their voices to the groups already weighing in on the issue by meeting with legislators, writing letters, making phone calls, and activating others; and provide testimony at committee hearings.

4. Celebrate success, learn from failure

This, of course, goes without saying—but never forget to pat yourself on the back and learn from experience.

How to Defeat Legislation That Has Been Proposed

Nonprofits are often drawn into public policy lobbying to fight proposals that will damage their organizations, hurt the people and communities they serve, or create new problems in their areas of interest. Approaches to defeating legislation parallel the steps described in this text for passing and supporting legislation, with a few additional considerations:

Before launching a full campaign in opposition to a proposal, make overtures to proponents of the measure if possible. You may be able to persuade them to withdraw or amend the proposed law. At a minimum, they will be forewarned that you will be opposing their bill

Remember to work with the executive branch. In most states, the governor can exercise veto authority over legislative proposals that he or she deems to be detrimental to the state Mistakes to avoid

Whether you are proposing new legislation, joining others in supporting an existing bill, or trying to defeat a bad idea, there are some common mistakes to avoid:

• Lone Ranger expectations. Don't expect one person in an organization to do it all! It takes many voices to make a difference in policy arenas.

• Petitions and postcard campaigns. These lack the personal voice that persuades officials that constituents really care about the issue.

• Crying wolf! Don't sound so many alarms that your supporters can't sort out the real need for action from the stack of alerts in their e-mail.

• Showing up at a hearing without following the protocol for signing up to testify. Witnesses are expected to call ahead. Learn the local customs and rules on testifying.

• Missing the boat. Don't wait until late in the decision-making process to voice your support or concerns.

• Surprises. Public officials expect honesty and full disclosure. Don't leave your supporters in the legislature, county board, or city council in the lurch by failing to tell them all the facts about an issue. It is part of the lobbyist's job to tell elected officials who opposes a position, as well as who supports it, and why.

• Angry, hysterical, or threatening communication.

The next section guides you as you proceed to lobby the governor and other members of the executive branch.

How to Lobby the Executive Branch and Administrative Agencies

The executive, or administrative, branch of government plays a key role in shaping public policy. Governors, commissioners, and mayors can develop policy and funding proposals that shape priorities in all segments of community life. Therefore, you should have ongoing contact with executive branch officials, agency directors, and those staff within agencies who work in your program areas. These connections will allow you to seed discussions with information and issues that need to be addressed.

As you prepare to lobby the executive branch, review your identification of key leaders in the executive branch in Worksheet 8: The People of the Process. Following are some steps you can take to maintain good relations with the people in the executive branch who have an impact on your mission. By following these steps, you will be better prepared to ask for their support on your key issues.

1. Work from the bottom up

Continually work to have good relationships with the staff of the executive branch of government. You can have an impact on the policies they shape and their funding decisions, and you can persuade them to support your position in working with the legislative branch. Work to gain executive branch support and endorsement for your position and to insulate your issue against a veto. More than one nonprofit issue has been saved from the veto pen by a governmental agency director who advised a governor to follow a legislative recommendation and keep a nonprofit's priority in place.

Know which agencies have policy and funding authority in your issue areas

Learn about the organizational structure in those agencies that have policy and funding authority over your issues. Build ongoing strategic relationships with these agencies' leaders and staff. Focus on developing regular communications with the agency program staff who have oversight responsibility for any funding and regulations that affect your issues and organization. These people make recommendations to people in power about your program. They can also alert you to anticipated opportunities or crises.

Build relationships with the people who control your funds

If you get government grants or contracts, be certain that contract officers who administer your funding and monitor your work understand what you do and what needs you meet in your community. Get to know them and gain their trust in your knowledge of the issues and ways to address those issues. If you don't have an existing relationship with staff in government agencies who administer the programs and policies that you care about, ask to meet with these key people. Introduce your organization and explain your case.

Become a trusted resource to administrative offices

Make it your goal to be a resource to administrative departments and executive offices as they develop new policies and set priorities. If agency staff accept your ideas for how to solve problems, they are in a position to make recommendations to agency directors. When this happens, your ideas may turn into a governmental agency's recommendation to a mayor or governor. Thus, you get a voice in the developmental phase of policy shaping and budget planning. This is a plus for your lobbying campaign.

2. Work from the top down

Create a good relationship with the chief executive. You will have a better chance of the chief executive's support if you make sure he or she has had a chance to understand your cause and looks to your organization for reliable information.

Know the chief executive's priorities and positions

Know the chief executive's priorities and positions on the issues that you care about. This information can be gathered from campaign statements, public statements while in office, and documents presented to the legislative branch and the public, including budget proposals and "State of the State," "State of the County," and "State of the City" addresses. If you meet with the chief executive or have him or her as a guest speaker at an event that you host, keep a record of his or her comments about your nonprofit and your issues. Most units of government have a website that includes a section maintained by the chief executive's office. It may include biographical information as well as the official's vision and policy positions.

Know the chief executive's responsibilities and deadlines

Know the responsibilities of the chief executive and the timeline for carrying these out. Know when he or she presents budget proposals and annual reports to the legislature or other body, and what the rules are that govern veto authority and veto timelines. You may also want to explore the extent of executive authority a governor or executive official has. "Executive orders," may be an attractive alternative to legislation.

Know the chief executive's staff

Learn the organization of the chief executive's staff and the people in key roles that affect your nonprofit's work. Positions that are usually most important are chief of staff, government relations director, and communications director (also called press secretary). Once you know the structure of the chief executive's office, learn about and meet with the key staff. Acquaint them with your organization and your public policy agenda.

Get to know the governmental-relations staff person responsible for your issue area. He or she needs to know how you can be a resource in your areas of expertise. This is also the person who, along with the administrative agency director, will provide information to the chief executive to shape the executive branch agenda and make decisions about policy and funding that you propose. Provide executive office staff with written information about your organization, including your issue priorities, lists of types of information you have available, names of contact people with expertise, and information about your supporters. Invite the government relations staff to meet with you at your organization's location if possible. Time your request for a meeting so that you have established this relationship before policy debates have begun and as the executive branch is shaping its proposals to the legislature.

Get to know the communications director. The communications director can be an ally in arranging press coverage when the chief executive and your nonprofit share the same position on a legislative issue. For example, if you are working for affordable housing funding, the mayor of your community may be eager to hold a press conference at your shelter facility to underscore the importance of the city council's agreeing to fund affordable housing units for those who are working but cannot find stable housing.

Understand the organizational chart of cabinet-level positions and agency staff

Generally, the higher the position (e.g., commissioner or state-agency director), the more political the position. Cabinet-level staff are generally appointed by the executive and serve at the pleasure of the executive for the duration of the elected official's term. What may be of more value to you in your advocacy is the cadre of program-manager staff, who are often content experts who serve numerous administrations over a long period of time.

3. Maintain systematic communications

Have a systematic way of maintaining communications with the executive offices in your issue area. Send regular updates on your issue. Call with new information or progress reports on your legislative initiatives. Alert executive staff to anticipated attacks on positions that you share with the executive branch. Include staff in regular mailings about your organization, such as your newsletter and annual report.

Provide honest feedback when you disagree with an executive decision. Emphasize points about which you agree. Note that you respectfully disagree on other points and explain why. Express hope that you will be able to work together in the future to reach a mutually acceptable position. Invite a discussion about next steps at which you will provide new information or stories to strengthen your case. Never threaten and never limit the possibility of future collaboration.

Above all, thank the executive for any support. Awards, letters of appreciation, invitations to address your supporters at meetings or events, and letters to the editor applauding good work on your behalf strengthen your relationships.

Nonprofit Lobbying on Ballot Measures

Susie Brown, contributor

In some states, ballot questions are common; in others, they have recently gained a foothold as a policy-making strategy. Whether as a proactive strategy or something requiring an unexpected defense, nonprofit organizations may encounter ballot questions as an advocacy approach that is new and unfamiliar. This section provides information and guidance intended to help your organization be ready to be active and effective participants in this kind of policy making, which is both the same as other advocacy in many respects and has several important differences to be considered.

What are ballot questions?

Unlike legislative policy making, ballot questions take the policy making to the voters.

Establish trusting relationships in the executive branch

Keep in mind that agency program staff often prepare preliminary policy proposals and budgets for consideration by the agency leadership: the commissioner, director, or deputies. The agency leaders, in turn, propose policies and budgets to the governor's staff and the governor. The cabinet members have access to the chief executive on a regular basis and are essential in shaping proposals, informing the policy process in concert with the experts in the agency, and negotiating final decisions about policies and appropriations.

It is important for the many nonprofits that receive government support and/or work in programmatic partnerships with government to build strong and ongoing relationships within the agencies that address your issues. You are an important resource to the staff and political appointees who are charged with building policies and allocating resources to address needs. Be sure that they know and trust you and that they have access to you and your organization's expertise, data, stories, and spokespersons when needed. Work with agencies is ongoing, year-round work in the cycle of advocacy.

You can learn a lot about the way in which state or local governments structure their agencies and the people who hold program positions within the agency at the agency website. Reach out to the people who have lead roles in your issue areas. Meet them before you are promoting a specific policy to acquaint them with your mission, program, and accomplishments. Ask whether there are specific "government-relationships" staff in the agency whose responsibility it is to work with legislators, and get to know those people, too. Cabinet members often speak at public meetings or nonprofit gatherings. Learn about their priorities by showing up, understanding their perspective, and making an effort to meet them (catch them!) for a brief introduction. As more and more nonprofit leaders also work in government, you may find that you have people whom you know in agencies who can help you to navigate the bureaucracy and target the staff and leaders who will want your information and respond to your requests.

Even if your issues are not popular with political leaders in a particular time or specific level of government, maximize the value of nonprofit nonpartisanship. As a 501(c)(3) organization, you are not engaged and should never be identified with a political party or candidate. You work with all "people of the process" to advance your issues, build support across the aisles, and serve the people of the community in your mission-driven work. There is extraordinary opportunity in being a facilitator of nonpartisan cooperation on issues that matter to your community. It isn't always easy, but it is almost always important!

The specific mechanism for this to occur differs from state to state. Some states, such as Oregon and California, are initiative and referendum states. In these cases, citizen petitions bring an issue to the voters, and, if they pass, the issues become statutory changes similar to those made by the legislature. In other states, ballot questions are originated by the legislature before going to the voters. This is the case in Minnesota, for example, where questions before voters result in changes to the state constitution. Each state has its own mechanism for questions coming to the voters and the place where the policy change occurs (statute or constitution). You can learn about the process in your own state by contacting your secretary of state's office.

A word about terminology

Language varies from state to state and even within states, describing policy questions on the ballot. Some of the language describes the process (such as initiative and referendum), and others describe the outcome (constitutional amendment). Still others indicate what the actual question on the ballot is called: for example, ballot measure, ballot question, or ballot initiative. Uniformity in language is less important than understanding what the language you or others are using refers to. It would be incorrect, for example, to use Initiative and referendum terminology in a state whose process is legislative, rather than citizen-driven. This book uses the general and universal term ballot question, although the terminology used in your state is likely to be different.

How can this be the same as other advocacy work when it feels so different?

As nonprofit organizations plan their advocacy strategies, ballot questions should be considered both similar to and different from the legislative advocacy strategies we are more commonly familiar with. The main similarities include: for the purposes of the IRS, this work is considered lobbying, allowable under the federal laws that govern our sector; these are often issues that are of significant importance to the communities we serve; and our organizations may have critical information and views to inform the debate. Meanwhile, the ways that ballot questions differ include: while we may educate the public about other choices on the ballot (candidates), we may not take a position—but, in this case, we may; it is likely there are state-level regulatory and reporting requirements governing this activity; and it is likely that timelines, activities, and strategies differ substantially from the advocacy we are accustomed to.

Can we take a position on ballot questions?

Yes, nonprofits may lobby on ballot questions. In this case, the voters are the decision makers. For more information on the law governing advocacy and lobbying, including lobbying on ballot initiatives, see page 155 of this Handbook.

Whom are you trying to influence? Different strategies required

While many nonprofit organizations may be comfortable and familiar with lobbying elected officials, they will likely find that lobbying the public on a ballot question demands a very different approach. In the state of Maine, for example, the job of influencing the legislature—a group of 186 people whose names and contact information are readily available and whose job is to listen to information presented on issues and formulate a position—is substantially different from influencing the nearly 1 million registered voters in the state who are widely dispersed and potentially disinterested in the questions that are before them. Time-tested strategies such as testimony, personal stories, research papers and citizen engagement may not be the strategies needed to reach the public. Rather, nonprofits must learn from strategies honed by political campaigners, a group accustomed to activities such as message testing, polling, targeting, direct mail, and paid media. The nonprofit concern about issues coupled with the need for different strategies suggests that new partnerships or new staffing models will be needed for effective advocacy. Formulating your plan with the assistance of an experienced campaign strategist will lay a good foundation, and seeking unusual allies and staff with political campaign experience may be necessary.

Short-term campaign, long-term strategies

In addition to requiring new skills and different partners, ballot-question advocacy is orchestrated as a campaign, much like campaigns for elected office. By nature, campaigns are short term with a single, identifiable goal and end date. Win or lose, those seeking elected office are on to another thing the following day, either preparing to take office or returning to private life, their campaign staff often on to another job. But for nonprofit organizations building ballot questions into their year-round, long-term advocacy work, the immediate focus will shift on the day after the election, but the long-range work and the core advocacy function of your nonprofit is as present as ever. You might experience a feeling that the momentum stops and your partners disperse, but the next critical role in your cycle of advocacy is just around the corner. Take a short rest, learn from what happened, reconfigure your policy agenda based on the outcome, maintain the new relationships that were built, and pursue your strategies with the vision and long-range approach that will best serve your community. Most important, while you are engaged in ballot-initiative advocacy, tend to the core needs and long-range goals of your organization. Can you use this opportunity to build your list? Have you attracted the attention of potential new funding sources? Did the campaign produce information such as polling, research, or messages that can be used in your long-term work? As with all advocacy efforts, ballot-initiative campaigns should be carried out strategically in ways that support your long-term goals—the community you serve is counting on it!

Media Advocacy and Social Media Advocacy

Strategic media advocacy is an important extension of the strategic communication that you do when you advocate and lobby. Media coverage expands your ability to reach key audiences, including the general public, people who are affected by your issue, and elected officials and their staff.

Strategic use of media is a specialty unto itself, and there is a wealth of publications on the topic. However, you can accomplish your advocacy goals by following a few principles:

Be media ready

Clarify your position, goals, and audiences

Use media that will accomplish your goals

1. Be media ready

Nonprofit organizations advocating their cause via news media need to build the organizational infrastructure to do this work well. Key components of building capacity for media work are, first, to put someone in charge of media relations and, second, to have him or her build relationships with key media people.

Put someone in charge of media relations

Aim for clear designation of board and staff responsibility for media work. Identify one person in the organization as the media specialist. Your media person can facilitate communications with the media and maintain internal systems for media advocacy. Official spokespersons may be chosen based on issues and expertise, but, for every lobbying issue, it is important to determine who will speak for the organization in various situations.

Build relationships with key media people

The person in your nonprofit who is responsible for advocacy and media needs to know the diverse media that are available to you for moving your messages. For traditional media, including newspapers, radio, and television, it is important to know what the outlet covers, who does the key reporting in your issue area, and how to gain access to that person. Keep in mind that, in the newspaper industry and news radio—in print, on the air, and online—there is a firewall between the reporters who cover news and those who take and publish opinions: the editorial board. It is time well spent to read, listen, watch, and know about the people on the news, feature, and editorial components of the medium. Do they care about your issue in general? Do they reach an audience that matters to you? Are there long-standing journalists and editors with whom you can build a professional relationship?

Build a list of the media that matter for the purposes of your work. Most outlets have information online about how to contact them. Where possible, get to know the people of the press and encourage them to trust you as a source by giving them good information about the issues and access to interesting spokespersons, including those who have personal experiences and stories to tell. This approach is important with traditional media, with bloggers, with partner nonprofits that have a reach to your audiences, and with nontraditional sources.

Research and get to know the specialty press, which serves specific constituencies: student newspapers, online forums, and radio stations may be influential in your area. The weekly paper in your region is likely to be read carefully by residents in the area. Targeted press aimed at women, people with disabilities, communities of color, religious groups, immigrants, and language groups have loyal and important audiences. Work with them over time. Effective work with members of the media depend on a few basics:

Provide good information. Be accurate, clear, and reliable

Be interesting. Provide solid data and interesting stories to make your point

Maintain the highest levels of integrity and trust. Don't invent facts, don't gossip, and don't overstate your case

Be respectful of deadlines and other constraints of a particular medium. Ask reporters how you can best communicate with them

Be responsive to the media. It is always okay to ask for time to formulate a response or track down information. But follow through on commitments to get back to reporters

Don't be naïve about media work. Always assume when talking to a reporter that you are "on the record," and don't say anything you wouldn't want to see in print or hear on the air. Building relationships with the media will enable you to know how an individual journalist works and what to expect

Produce your own media

Nonprofit organizations are not dependent on traditional media to move their message for them. With access to everything from regular newsletters, letters to the editor, and free public-service announcements to websites and ever-growing forms of social media, your organization can promote your ideas and positions yourself. When you develop the communications component of your public policy plan, place an emphasis on what you will do, using all the tools available to you, to tell your story the way you want it to be told. This increased control over the content and targeting of messages has made earned media (i.e., not paid advertising) a powerful resource for advocates.

2. Clarify your position, goals, and audiences

Effective media advocacy requires that you are very clear about your position, what you want to accomplish through the media, and the audiences you want to influence. Elected officials have a keen interest in what their local newspapers, radio stations, TV stations, bloggers, Facebook friends, and websites of groups in their districts are saying about issues.

Know your position, goals, and key messages

What do you know about the community need and the proposed solution? This is important background information necessary for those covering your issue. Even though the reporters may not print the background, it will help them formulate their stories

What is the point you want to make (your position)? This is the statement of your fundamental stance about the issue

What do you want to happen as a result of your media advocacy? These are your goals. Make them specific, as in "Ten letters to the editor supporting our issue will appear over the next two weeks. We will reproduce these in large size and hand-deliver them to the heads of the appropriate senate and house committees."

How do you want your position and knowledge of the need and solution to be presented? These are your key messages

Much of this work has already been done at various stages. Assemble the information developed when you prepared to make your case to the legislative or executive branches, and adapt it as appropriate for the reporter.

Know your audiences

Whom are you trying to reach? Legislators? Executive branch officials? Grassroots supporters who can influence these policy makers? List each group you are trying to influence

How much does each audience already know about your issue and the context in which your issue is being debated? Is it a highly visible issue with lots of public debate and media coverage of pros and cons, or is it a hidden issue with little general appeal? Tailor the key messages and kinds and amount of background information to fit the audiences you'll use and the media who will reach them

How much complexity is your audience willing to deal with based on its interest in the issue? Often your job will be to help the media explain a complex issue in simple and straightforward ways so that people understand why they should care about it

3. Use media that will accomplish your goals

If your organization has a person responsible for community relations or media, that person should brief you about the media and the media outlets that you can target with your message. This information can also be obtained by monitoring the media, asking experienced lobbyists, requesting (or buying) a few hours of consultation time from a media-relations firm, and contacting your state's associations of newspapers and broadcasters. Also check the resources recommended in Appendix B. You will want to know the following information:

Who reaches your target audiences and how? While we're all familiar with the larger papers, radio stations, and television stations, there are a host of more tightly targeted media that reach specific audiences. Find out the daily, weekly, and specialty newspapers that reach each of your audiences. Legislators and executive branch leaders almost always read the clippings from their hometown or neighborhood newspapers. It is a high priority for them to know how an issue is playing in their own district and what their constituents are saying about it. An editorial or letter to the editor in a local newspaper or coverage of a local event has a very good chance of getting an elected official's attention.

Which radio programs have news and feature coverage or run public-service announcements? Who are the producers and hosts? Listen to the kinds of coverage and questions they favor

What television coverage is possible in your area? Whom do individual stations, including public television and local-access cable stations, reach? What feature segments of the news or public-affairs programs do they have that might be interested in covering your issues? Who are the producers and key reporters?

If you are working on an issue at a state legislature or city council, who are the beat reporters in all media assigned to the capitol press corps or city hall? They will be ever present in the arenas where you are working for change, and you will want to establish good working relationships with them

When you choose media to reach specific audiences, remember to package your message in the way that is most useful to the particular medium. Television is very visual; so, if you choose TV, illustrate your story visually. Radio is very friendly to interviews with "real people" that illustrate the issue you are dealing with. Newspapers can go into great depth. Newsletters can reach and motivate smaller but perfectly defined audiences. Bigger is not necessarily better. If the key people you need to influence can all be reached via a trade newsletter, go with the newsletter, and don't waste energy on other outlets

Get to know the local policy websites and blogs. Bloggers often are connected with a smaller audience than mass media, but their specific audience may be more likely to take action to support your issue

For more information on media advocacy, refer to Worksheet 11: Media Advocacy Checklist and Messaging Strategy.

Working with the press

Nonprofits need to develop strategic relationships with the press. The goal is not only to get coverage of the issues and ideas that you are promoting but also to become a resource to the press. You are positioned well when members of the media come to you for information and seek your reaction to proposals and points of debate.

Working with the press

Nonprofits need to develop strategic relationships with the press. The goal is not only to get coverage of the issues and ideas that you are promoting but also to become a resource to the press. You are positioned well when members of the media come to you for information and seek your reaction to proposals and points of debate.

A word about paid media:

Large organizations or coalitions that are working on a high-profile issue may need to use paid media advertising to promote issue education or call on people to take action. This is especially true with ballot measures, when the voters, not elected officials, are the decision makers. For most nonprofits, doing paid media will require guidance and support from public-relations professionals, who have the experience of designing the message, targeting the media that will reach the desired audience most efficiently, buying media time, and keeping the process moving in a timely way. Many nonprofits have access to public-relations firms that may provide discounted or pro bono work. If you know that you are likely to need this type of high-profile media tactic, begin early. Work with potential consultants to understand the cost, timelines, and opportunities that exist so that you can incorporate this component into your planning and budget setting in the initial phases of that work.

Use Worksheet 11, page 235, to make sure that the media component of your work is getting the attention and development it deserves as an important part of your lobbying effort. The checklist is self-explanatory, so no sample is provided.

Social-media advocacy

Contributed by Josh Wise

Effective nonprofits work with multiple communication strategies. While some earned-media work may focus on traditional media outlets—newspapers, radio and commercial TV—social media has become a major component of media advocacy. Additionally, as access to the Internet and even smart phones become the norm, your supporters will prefer electronic forms of communication, and you'll be able to save time and money by making the switch from print. Indeed, social-media sites are where people of all ages and demographics are choosing to communicate. Social media presents three unique opportunities to advance your cause. First, it allows your organization to communicate with a large audience on a regular basis with little effort. Second, it provides for two-way communication in real time to evaluate the effectiveness of your message. Finally, it serves as a rapid-response system to make your position known whenever there is a development in your efforts, be it positive or negative.

What is social media?

Social media is any form of communication that allows the people you're communicating with to communicate back. In reality, this means any thing from an oral conversation to correspondence, but in common practice means a set of online tools and sites that allow for instant two-way communication between you and your audience, be it the media, your members, or the public. The most common types of social media are blogs and articles with a comments section, micro-blogging sites such as Twitter, and online communities such as Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and many others. These sites also can link to your website and to each other and can be integrated with a level of sophistication limited only by your social-media savvy. For example, if you have a blog on your website, every time you have a new blog post, you can use your social media to provide a direct link to your site. Once you get hooked on social media, you'll find endless ways to make it work for you.

Getting started – know your audience

As with other communications, the most important things to consider in your social-media strategy are what the intent of your message is and who the audience is that you intend to reach. It is important to remember that a strong social-media presence is not a substitute for other modes of communication, especially personal conversations. Social-media posts for your advocacy campaign will generally fall into one of these categories:

• Educating your supporters about an issue

• Mobilizing your supporters to take action (call your legislator, etc.)

• Promoting and driving turnout to an event related to your campaign

• Rapid response to current events

Understanding whom you are targeting is important for each of these situations. If you want people to call their legislators, it makes sense to post during a time when people are likely to be free to make a call. There are free programs available that allow you to schedule when a post occurs. Another example is engaging reporters. If you know a story is developing and you want a quote included, it makes sense to tweet them directly, with plenty of time before a deadline. Worksheet 11 will help you map out what types of messages you want to deliver, the modes of communication for delivering the message, and which target audience will be moved most by each mode of delivery. Also, for each of the above categories, there are specific tools within social-media sites to help you out. You want to make sure to spend plenty of time exploring all of the tools you get with a social-media account.

Who does what

The next step of your social-media campaign is to set clear boundaries about what will be posted and who will have access to the social-media accounts. Having multiple people administering your account will enable you to post more content and engage more people, but it's important to make sure that everyone is on the same page with your message and how it gets disseminated. For example, while live updates from a legislative committee hearing may be interesting on their own merit, they can clutter your profile, and the message that you most want to get across may get buried. Second on this point is that there also needs to be a clear distinction between one's personal accounts and the account of the organization. Obviously, it is helpful to have staff sharing and promoting your organization to their own networks. However, when posted under the profile of the organization, posts should be directly relevant to the objectives of the advocacy plan and not simply a recounting of events that happened during the workdays of a given staff member.

Engaging audiences:

The third step of your campaign is building a network of supporters. The best way to do this is to "lead by following." Look for people and organizations with similar goals and interests and engage with what they are already posting. Share and re-post things from their profiles, and invite them to follow your posting. Eventually, as you begin to get noticed, your network of supporters will expand. For example, if you are starting out on Twitter, the first thing you want to do is search for the people and organizations you are affiliated with in the "real world" and follow them. By retweeting their material and mentioning them in your own tweets, not only will you get them to follow you back, but their existing followers, who likely also share your values, will see what you are posting and will begin to engage with your organization.

It's also important to remember that your job doesn't stop at posting. Especially for organizations, it's important to stay tuned to who is engaging with your posts. Foremost, you don't want people making comments that are offensive or irrelevant, so monitoring for that needs to be done. In addition to bad comments, you want to make sure to acknowledge good comments and use the two-way communication to inform future posts. It may sound obvious, but social media ism by its nature, social—and that means you must take time to interact, and, if you don't, your social-media campaign will suffer. Posting without taking the time to engage in the rest of what's happening in an online community means your network will be less engaged and your communications less effective. By keeping disciplined and engaged, you will be able to build a solid network of online supporters for your campaign.

After you've built your network, you want to make sure you're still evaluating your reach. Most sites offer some sort of free analytic system to see if you're reaching whom you want to reach. For example, both Google and Facebook will tell you how many people your posts are reaching and let you see activity over time in graph form. You should use these tools to evaluate your social-media program.

Words to the wise

It's important to remember, however, that the rapid pace of social media requires a high level of caution and discretion in order to avoid straying off message or inadvertently misspeaking or posting inappropriate content. Indeed, just like talking to the press, whatever you post is "on the record." As the prevalence of sites such as Facebook and Twitter have gained in popularity, so have the scandals due to off-the-cuff tweets and posts that were either misunderstood or poorly thought out, and a lot of damage control has had to be done. Finally, you need to understand that the landscape of social media is constantly changing. The best practices for each site change as the user bases become more savvy and the sites are developed to provide a better experience. As with advocacy, success in social media comes from active participation. The more you engage, the more savvy you'll become, and the more effective you'll be!

Summary: Now Go!

In the first half of Chapter 2, your planning team developed a work plan for your lobbying work. In the second half, the focus has been on the tactics that you employ to implement your plan. You have learned how to

1. Build the organizational infrastructure that enables you to manage, implement, and monitor your lobbying efforts systematically

2. Build strategic relationships with legislators and lobby the legislature to

Propose a law

Support an existing proposal for a law

Defeat a law

3. Build strategic relationships with the executive branch, and lobby for its support for your issues

4. Build and mobilize grassroots support for your legislative initiatives

5. Carry out a media advocacy strategy that supports your lobbying effort

From all that you have learned thus far, it is clear that your nonprofit can have a significant impact on your issues. But you're not quite there yet. Reporting requirements and regulations govern nonprofit organizations, and you must learn how to lobby within the legal guidelines. Nonprofit lobbying and the law that governs this activity will be discussed in the next chapter.