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Strategies for Relevancy & Effectiveness: Advocacy Boot Camp Webinar #3

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Agenda

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Overview of “Go-To”

Building Relationships with Elected Officials

Developing Partnership and Coalitions

Leadership: Civic Engagement

Next Steps

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A “GO-TO” Organization

“Strengthen Our Brand”

while we “Expand Our Base”

while we “Lift Our Voice” 4

Credible

Visible

Connected

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Building Relationships with Elected Officials/Decision-Makers

• Tralonne Shorter• YWCA USA Senior Advocacy &

Policy Associate for Racial Justice and Civil Right

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Factors that Influence Members of Congress

Executive Branch

The Media Political Parties

Constituents Lobbyists Interest Groups

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How YWCA’s Influence Elected Officials

National/Grassroots-Grasstops Advocacy: Promoting or opposing legislation/amendments, working with staff on priority legislation

Coalitions: Advancing or opposing legislation to achieve a common goal

Constituents: Elected officials are often motivated by re-election. Legislators represent and advocate for the interests of constituents and in-district/state interests. YWCA’s ARE constituents and they serve constituent's.

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Concrete Strategies to Build Relationships with Elected Officials

Communicate Regularly and Follow-Through on Requests

Update your elected officials and staff on your advocacy agenda

Share advocacy stories with your elected leaders and link the story to your advocacy agenda

Be A Reliable & Trustworthy Expert

Understand what motivates your elected official and do research on your legislator

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Concrete Strategies to Build Relationships with Elected Officials

Invite Members of Congress and Staff to your facility during Congressional recess/Work Period. Invite state/local elected officials.

Introduce your local association to the In-District Staff of your Federal Legislators

Invite elected officials to serve on your Board

Create Opportunities for Legislators to Be Seen At Community Events

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Constituent Service Work Important to Members

Analysis• Members prioritize serving and staying in touch with constituents; constituent conversations guide

policymaking, and every Member realizes that reelection hinges on their ability to serve the constituents who vote them into office

• Nonetheless, Members face constraints in their ability to meet constituent demands, and advocates should be sensitive to Members’ limited time and resources when making specific asks of their Member of Congress

Importance to Members’ job satisfaction of staying in touch

with constituents

Very important

Our government doesn’t work without constituent conversations and feedback. Knowing the issues important to constituents, and knowing what they think Washington needs to do, is the only way

I can succeed at my job.

- 5th Term House Member

“”

Source: Congressional Management Foundation and the Society for Human Resource Management, “Life in Congress: The Member Perspective,” 2013.

Somewhat important

Member response to the statement: “I have the

time and resources I need to accomplish my goals in

Congress.”

Disagree

Neutral

AgreeHowever

…

But Members May Lack Resources to Meet Demands

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Developing Partnerships and Coalitions

Desiree Hoffman, YWCA USA Director of Advocacy

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Building YWCA’s Collective Power

YWCA’s influence Members of

Congress through grassroots-grasstops advocacy

Cultivating relationships with elected officials on

federal/state/local levels enable

the YWCA to advance

advocacy agenda

Another strategy to build YWCA’s collective power

is through coalition building and identifying

partnerships

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Advocacy Coalition

A coalition contains, “people from a variety of positions (elected and agency officials, interest group leaders, researchers) who share a particular belief system” and “who show a non-trivial degree of coordinated activity over time.”

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Cultivating Partnerships and Coalition Building

Coalition building and identifying partnerships help local associations advance their advocacy agenda. Participating in the “right” coalitions and partnerships help drive collective advocacy action.

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Example of YWCA Partnership: Americans for Responsible Solutions

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Key Questions to Consider When Identifying Coalitions/Partnerships

Does this coalition share our advocacy vision, agenda and

philosophy?

Does it include a broad group of

stakeholders such as women’s groups,

civil rights, labor, business

community etc.?

Does the partnership or

coalition present any conflicts of

interest? Are we willing to accept the

risks associated with joining?

Are our internal stakeholders

completely bought into the issue or

partnership?

Will the coalition further our interests?

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Key Steps to Coalition Building

Explore the Landscape

Join Existing networks and coalitions

Cultivate relationships with decision makers

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Healthy Coalitions/Partnerships

• Promote Active Participation• Establish new relationships (Technical experts,

community colleges, faith based organizations) • Develop clear advocacy plan (Includes goals,

objectives, messaging, target audience)• Agree on common purpose, set priorities and

clarify expectations • Accountability mechanism • Assess coalition and partnership value

Coalition work and

partnerships can be

complex, challenging

and sometimes

conflict ridden.

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Taking Leadership: Civic Engagement

• Presented by Lindsey Hodel,Nonprofit VOTE National Field Director

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Founded in 2005, Nonprofit VOTE partners with America's nonprofits to help the people they serve participate and vote.

We are a leading source of nonpartisan training, materials and other resources for nonprofits doing voter engagement work.

Find out more about our mission and partners on our site www.nonprofitvote.org

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• Our voices are not being heard

• Nonprofits have unique access and assets

• Voting improves the health of individuals and communities

Why VOTING matters

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• Builds political clout and relevance for our organizations

• Brings power to our advocacy agenda

• Improves the health of our communities and clients

• When we do this work, we are extremely effective.

Why voter engagement matters

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• Mayoral elections: More than 600 cities and towns across the nation will hold mayoral elections

• Ballot questions: Hundreds of measures will appear on the ballot this year

• Increased impact in off year elections

• The importance of local elections to nonprofits

Opportunity in 2015

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BEING NONPARTISAN

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THE ONE RULEA 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization may NOT support or oppose a candidate for public office or a political party.

A 501(c)(3) may not:• Make an endorsement• Donate money or resources

http://www.nonprofitvote.org/nonprofits-voting-elections-online/

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WHAT NONPROFITS CAN DONonprofits may conduct nonpartisan voter engagement activities designed to educate the public and help them participate in elections

• Voter Registration• Voter Education• Get Out The Vote (GOTV)• Candidate Engagement

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GETTING STARTED

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• Designate a Staff Lead: Choose a staff lead, someone who will be the point person for your voter engagement work.

• Establish Buy-In: Get buy-in from your Executive Director, senior staff and front line staff.

Step One: Establish Buy In

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Face to face and one on one interactions are proven to be the most effective ways to influence people• Engaging your staff• Programs and Points of Contact: At your agency, at

events, or in your neighborhood

• Services or classes to target• Special programs or events: A graduation, a

community festival, a citizenship ceremony, etc.

Step Two: Target Activities

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• Identify staff and volunteers who will be involved

• Get riled up! Provide a rationale for the work

• Initial training: Make sure they have the skills they need.

• Ongoing training and support: Periodically review with staff what they need to know, provide materials & resources

Step Three: Staff Up and Train

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VOTER ENGAGEMENT TACTICS

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• When: Ramp up your activities as you near the registration deadline.

• Conduct a pilot of your registration efforts

• Keep in mind:– Some are already registered– Updating an address or name

is just as important as registering for the first time

Voter registration

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• Combine voter registration with another activity

• Updating an address is just as important. Always ask ”Have you moved recently?”

Keys To Successful Registration

VoterRegistration

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• Nonprofit Votes Count is a nonpartisan, national campaign to ensure the staff and volunteers of America’s nonprofits are registered to vote – because democracy depends on the participation of all, including the nonprofit sector. 

NONPROFIT VOTES COUNT

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• September 22nd is National Voter Registration Day!

www.nationalvoterregistrationday.org

www.celebratenvrd.org

National Voter Registration Day

NVRD!

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VOTER EDUCATION• Education on the process of

voting– Inform clients and constituents of the

date of the election, polling place hours, where to get help voting, early voting opportunities, etc.

• Education on candidates/offices and issues– Pass out nonpartisan voter guides or

a sample ballot

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THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

• Make it personal: Personal contact works best

• Create urgency around your issue or the impact of the election

• Raise the volume as Election Day approaches. That’s when people are most tuned in

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• Create visibility:  Make the election visible at your agency

• Promote Early Voting– When and how to vote early in

person– Help applying for a mail ballot

• Promote Election Day voting– Big push in final week and last 2

days– Remind/offer help voting during

services, at events, over the phone

GET OUT THE VOTE

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•Give staff time off: To work at polls or do nonpartisan GOTV

•Ask if you voted:  Ask everyone if they voted or need help voting

•Celebrate Democracy: Make Election Day special. Have a party.

ON ELECTION DAY

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info@nonprofitvote.org

617.357.VOTE (8683)

www.nonprofitvote.org

Nonprofit VOTE89 South StreetSuite 203Boston, MA 02111

Lindsey Hodel

lindsey@nonprofitvote.org

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Closing Thoughts

Opportunities Abound in 2016!

Be Ready!

Get your house in order, systems in place and !

Reach out for any assistance or sharing successes!

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Thank you and good luck!

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