This is the third post in a series about how any organization with 501(c)(3) status can build a grassroots advocacy network and do lobbying within the confines of the law.
Step Three: Connect with Legislators
The size of your network is not as important as the credibility of the volunteers you have engaged. If they know the right legislators – or more important, if the legislators get to know them – you can get some attention and get things moving. I’ve seen an advocacy network with 12 volunteers get legislation passed and networks with thousands of volunteers flounder. The difference was simple: the smaller network was made up of highly motivated, engaged volunteers with connections to legislators.
Advocacy groups can build their credibility with legislators by providing needed information about an issue, making sure the legislator’s staff are fully informed on the issue in question, and scheduling a series of brief meetings with each legislator whose voting record indicates they might be sympathetic to your cause.
Don’t repeat the mistakes of many large grassroots advocacy organizations that have over-emphasized email advocacy. These organizations urge their volunteers to use Web-based advocacy to send personalized letters or emails to their elected representative with a few computer clicks. Email campaigns have a place in today’s political process, but their usefulness is increasingly limited – especially as far as Congress is concerned. Congressional staff report that they believe much of the email they receive from advocacy groups is not written by the person who sent it. Some members began requiring email correspondents to solve a simple math problem in order for their emails to get through. The idea was to ensure that the emails were coming from actual people, not mass-mailing computers of the kind often used by interest groups.
Email advocacy has a place in grassroots activism – as long as it is part of a plan that includes personalized, customized communications between constituents and lawmakers. Even in today’s digital democracy, any credible, experienced grassroots activist will tell you that a good campaign culminates with an old-fashioned lobbying technique – face-to-face meetings with legislators and their staffers. Too often, grassroots organizers have spent too much time organizing their online volunteers and not enough time engaging them personally. Make sure your volunteers understand that meeting with staff is the norm and where much of the action takes place.
