Timely Advocacy
Timing is everything with advocacy. Sometimes organizations have lots of time to gather advocacy emails. But in many instances, organizations will lose the fight if they can’t summon up their supporters’ messages. Successful advocacy campaigns rely on delivering messages to the right lawmakers fast.
Organizations prepare campaign advocacy with a plan that involves agility and strategy. That is to say; advocacy leaders can master the legislation pathway and the intervention moments when delivering supporter voices to lawmakers will have maximum effect.
Too often, email advocacy into Congress and state legislatures are the Hail Mary strategy to head off disaster in a game that’s almost over. The time to bring supporter messages to lawmakers is early on, and often, without unnecessarily bugging your members or lawmakers.
Lots of legislation is drawn up before a General Assembly begins. Most advocacy leaders give lobbyists or legislators a heads up concerning bills affecting their interests.
Lawmakers write better legislation when a member communication campaigns influence them in the early stages of writing. Unless the bill is a Trojan horse for a contentious political issue, most bill sponsors want input into legislation.
Organization members have good insight into what policy will make their business work better or worse. Getting these members’ knowledge to legislators as bills are written is critical. Nevertheless, the right personal story, facts, or arguments can influence legislation toward positive results.
Gathering Messages
A challenge in gathering messages is to limit the number of times you “go to the well” to collect member emails.
Efficient email advocacy applications allow advocacy leaders to gather, use and reuse member emails as legislation moves from committee to committee and chamber to chamber.
Lawmakers bombarded by hundreds of emails with disconnected advice on how to change legislation or how to vote, do not make progress.
In essence, lawmakers need coherent, thoughtful, polite messaging, helping them understand, clarify, and vote.
