Category Archives: Political Action Committees
Is Your Organization’s Diversity Program Hurting Your PAC Recruitment?
Before you send me flaming e-mails, read on.
I had one of my many “learning moments” recently when working with one of my corporate PAC clients. We were talking prior to the workshop about all the new corporate diversity programs. There was no judgment as to whether they were good or bad; it was just an oral compilation of the various initiatives.
I know that one of the keys to get employees or association members to contribute to a political action committee is to emphasize what you have in common, rather than your differences. But what do diversity programs do? They emphasize differences, which leads to identity politics, which leads to bifurcation of any commonality one might have with one’s co-workers.
Please don’t…
Failure to Customize PAC Messages
Believing that what motivates a particular organizations’ PAC eligibles to join the PAC will motivate our organization has always intrigued me, and not in a positive way. Be wary of any generic “Motivating PAC Messages” workshops or consulting packages. Context is paramount in any successful influence campaign. The motivation depends on the environment, the organizational climate, the political climate, and with some PAC audiences, whether they are having a bad hair day or a bad horoscope.
“This is the number-one influence mistake,” said Kelton Rhoads, Ph.D. “Everybody knows you are supposed to focus on the mindset of the audience, and not on the mindset of the persuader, but people still do it in droves! The key is to conduct good audience…
Quick Tips for PAC and Grassroots Goal Setting
1. Be firm on your results, rather than the activities to get the results. I find that very successful people are firm about their intended results, and flexible on the process to achieve the results. Less successful people are firm about the process and flexible on the results.
2. Work backwards from your envisioned goal. Planning is taking what you have and generating activities. Strategy is working backwards from your envisioned goal.
3. Create implementation metrics and accountabilities.
4. Determine the level of organizational change needed to meet the goal and secure appropriate sponsors in key departments, as well as key grassroots and PAC volunteers.
En route to your goal:
- Communicate like crazy. Make the grapevine is the “truthvine.”
- Demonstrate early successes.
- Share credit and…
Change Management
For any government relations professional who must establish or reinvigorate their PAC, they are essentially in the change management field. This is a management discipline unto itself, but many neglect the importance of working the seams of change. The PAC then de-orbits and becomes a former “program of the month.”
Success in creating change is rooted in respect for the resistance to it. Mary Schell, Vice President of Government Affairs at Wendy’s International, Inc., started her PAC from scratch in 2003. She knew that she would need the support of senior managers, even those from departments not typically associated with PAC success. Rather than sending an email to all key company leaders and asking them to “contact her with any questions…
How to Gain Internal Support, Status and Money for Your Grassroots and PAC Programs: Part Two
In Part 1 of this article, we found that they all practice the following:
- Intrepid accountability
- “The first sale is to yourself”
- An internal marketing strategy
- Attention to the launch
I wish I could gleefully report that we could push the proverbial “easy button” to secure permanent increases in resources and staff support. Alas, there isn’t one. In addition to the above factors, we found even more success indicators among our “85% Club” members.
Securing Internal Champions
Most of us are aware of the cardinal rule of grassroots and PAC (and any government relations initiative, for that matter) existence: senior management support is critical for program success. The mistake is being content with that, rather than cultivating an “insurance plan” via more internal champions. We need support…
