Category Archives: Influencing Legislators & Politicians
The Most Successful Get Out the Vote Program Tactics
Alan Gerber and Donald Green’s book, Get Out the Vote, is a rigorous, research-based approach to validating various voter registration and GOTV (Get Out the Vote) drives. The authors conducted their experiments over several years in federal midterm elections, state and municipal elections, the 2000 presidential election, and various nonpartisan voter mobilization efforts.
More than 29 findings were ranked on a three-star system. A tactic that received a three-star rating was deemed most effective, meaning that the finding was implemented with a large number of voters and implemented by different groups in a variety of settings.
The findings in Gerber and Green’s research can help us develop realistic expectations about our campaigns. They cite the most effective tactics as well as the…
The Influence Tactics of Fortune’s “Power 25”
Background
It is our interest in excellent government relations programs and “best in class” organizations that inspired our second research project with Fortune magazine’s “Power 25.” The first project focused on how they recruit, retain, and motivate their most productive grassroots advocates.
This research seeks to answer a second vital question: “What influence tactics predict success when attempting to gain legislative support”? We believe the answers are vital, because there are competing mythologies about what works in the legislative influence arena.
For example, when a group wins a high-profile campaign, the campaign is usually dissected for strategies and tactics, disregarding the influence context or the influence target that helped those tactics succeed.
We were also intrigued that workshop audience members (government relations staff and…
Who Is Most Responsive to Get Out the Vote Programs?
Frequent voters are most responsive to GOTV (Get Out the Vote) requests. This is a critical finding for organizations with ballot issues and elections in non-presidential election years.
Target frequent voters for your off-year ballot or special elections. The content of the nonpartisan message does not matter so long as it is not outlandish. Alan Gerber and Donald Green found that telling people “one vote can make a difference” when the election is anticipated to be a blowout is completely ineffective. What does help spur turnout is information on the location of polling centers and poll hours.
Communicating with Congress: Myth vs. Reality
Brad Fitch joined CMF in 2001 as Deputy Director. In addition to assisting in the management of CMF, Brad conducts consulting sessions with congressional offices, leads training programs, and coordinates press inquiries. In addition, he was the managing editor of the 108th edition of Setting Course. Prior to joining CMF, Brad worked on Capitol Hill for 12 years in various capacities including: House Press Secretary, House Committee Communications Director, Senate Communications Director, and House Chief of Staff.
Brad also is the author of Media Relations Handbook for Agencies, Associations, Nonprofits, and Congress. Prior to working for Congress, Brad worked as a radio and television reporter. He is a member of the adjunct faculty at The American University, where…
How to Prevent Burnout of Your Most Valuable Advocates
If you have a non-stop stream of enthusiastic grassroots advocates who are willing to repeatedly contact lawmakers when you ask, read no further. If you have advocates who consistently leverage their personal legislator relationships for your cause, read no further.
If you don’t, there’s research that reveals what you need to do to keep them interested and motivated (and it has nothing to do with plaques and awards). The surprising results are based on The Showalter Group’s proprietary research with hundreds of quality grassroots advocates – the ones who attend your annual Lobby Day events, D.C. Fly-In’s, testify before legislative committees, write and meet with their lawmakers when asked, etc. They come from a variety of professions and interests, including, but…