Developing A Successful
Grassroots Campaign By Stephanie Vance
Having a grassroots component in your advocacy plan
and provide facts, case studies or anecdotes to back you up.
is always a good idea, but how do you make it happen? What does it take to get people excited about the issues and motivated to do something about it? Though there’s no “Miracle Gro” for your grassroots campaigns, focusing on the advocates, issues, venues, and organization will allow you to have maximum impact on your elected officials.
Advocates Effective grassroots campaigns are composed of a myriad of elements, but the most crucial by far are the actual people who advocate on the issues. All of the planning and researching in the world is useless without passionate people to present the message.
Identifying The first step is to identify the people who care about your issues. Use an Internet search to seek out likeminded coalitions and ask current members to help find new individuals. Ask them to recruit five new members, or offer a prize for the most referrals. Then, learn as much as you can about your advocates by asking them what they think are the key issues. Conduct a free online survey at www.zoomerang.com.
Motivating Post as much information as you can on your Web site to make it easy for your grassroots advocates to get involved. Then get creative. Enlist the help of an elected official to let your advocates know the difference they are making. Ask him/her to write an article for your newsletter or speak at an advocates’ meeting to explain how constituents are the most important people in a lawmaker’s office. 12
frpa journal | spring 2010
Activating When your advocates are enthused about the campaign, it’s easier to set them into action. Provide plenty of opportunities for them to get involved. Send out urgent action alerts when you need them to contact their elected officials, and ask for a commitment of three alerts and one site visit or meeting per year. The best time to make an impact is during the weeks preceding a vote, but it’s important to stay on your elected officials’ radar screens throughout the year by sending article clippings or other useful information about your organization.
Issues Once you have a dedicated group of advocates, your next step is to provide them with a good message. The development, expression and defense of your issues must be well-researched and presented. For developing campaign positions, consider your desired action status (proactive, reactive or both), how your views are generally received by elected officials, how strong are your enemies and your grassroots support, and how to best incorporate various views and advocates in the issue/policy development process. To express the positions you eventually develop, keep in mind that elected officials look for position statements that express both a specific problem and a clear and doable solution that will benefit their constituents. Be sure to address both sides of your issues (acknowledge your opposition)
Venues Now that you have advocates and a message, you need to decide where your voice can be best heard. In a grassroots campaign, venues refer to the legislative, executive, and media scenes in which your advocacy effort could possibly play out. Legislative venues, which are generally reserved for changes in law, are built upon the principle of “representation.” Elected officials care about the people that elect them. Hence, your goal is to demonstrate a district or representational connection. Executive venues, which are generally reserved for implementing laws, are built upon the principle of effective “administration” (read “budgets”). Your goal is to demonstrate why a particular approach makes sense administratively and may serve to increase an agency’s budget. Finally, remember that all officials pay attention to the media, so you must get them to cover your issues! Maintain personal relationships with journalists and then relate your issue to current events happening in the readers’ communities.
Organization Thinking about advocates, key issues and venues is a great start, but without integrating your ideas into the framework of your organization, your thoughtful planning will never come to fruition.
Institutionalizing Advocacy in Your Organization Everyone should be thinking about how advocacy fits into the overall mission of the organization. Maintain topdown support demonstrated through funding, inclusion in the organizational mission and specific board involvement. Identify who will be responsible for key aspects of advocacy by creating