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Today:
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Volume 2, Number 4
May 15, 2002
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A Grand View of Online Advocacy
What exactly is online advocacy? People often ask me this question.
Sometimes they seem to understand what it means, but at some point
in our conversation, I realize that their definition is extremely
narrow, which often obscures their ability to see how online advocacy
can help their state government relations program. Typically, people
tend to think online advocacy is just about using online technology
to facilitate a grassroots program.
This view is hardly surprising, given the extensive
market penetration of district matching email software that matches
a person's zip code to their elected representatives in order to
facilitate communication about specific legislative issues. Grassroots
management software, which is designed to organize and orchestrate
grassroots networks and campaigns, is also well known. So, it is
no wonder that people think "grassroots" when they hear
"online advocacy."
But online advocacy is far more than just a set of
tools and strategies for grassroots politics. Certainly, grassroots
campaigns are a natural fit for online technology, but a grander
view of online advocacy is necessary to understand how it fits into
the larger government relations landscape.
Throughout the past issues of The Online Advocate,
I have continually stressed the importance of integrating online
technology into every aspect of your government relations program.
Given this simple piece of advice, it is apparent that online advocacy
reaches far beyond grassroots, just as grassroots programs are only
one component of a comprehensive government relations program.
Let us review some of the ways online advocacy strategies
can enhance a full-scale government relations program:
Lobbying. Direct communication between GR
professionals and lawmakers is the cornerstone of government relations.
Unfortunately, the old adage "out of sight, out of mind"
describes a serious obstacle to effective lobbying. Lobbyists may
meet with lawmakers to make the policy pitch and leave behind supporting
materials for lawmakers to review, but once the meeting is over,
a decay process begins. The lawmaker may look over the materials,
but perhaps only once before it ends up in a stack of papers, buried
in a file drawer, or tossed in the trash. In many instances, one
lobbyist's visit is part of a succession of visits from other lobbyists
seeking favor on this and unrelated policies. Before long, the original
policy message can become lost in a sea of requests.
If, however, the materials left by a lobbyist include
a Web address to a site that provides comprehensive and timely information
about the policy issue, and that Website is promoted by the lobbyist
during the visit, then there is a good chance that lawmakers will
bookmark the site. If the site is designed to be a valuable resource
to the lawmaker, then the lawmaker will use it repeatedly as the
policy is developed. The opportunity to deliver issue information
to lawmakers, framed to your advantage, will give you significantly
greater influence in the policy process.
Educating Lawmakers. Lawmakers and their
staff do prepare for policy debates. The best of them research the
issue before making policy decisions. These days, it is foolish
to think that they will not use the Internet for some of this research.
If the balance of information online is unfavorable to your goals,
then the policy passed will more likely be unfavorable, too. Thus,
another essential online advocacy strategy is to make your voice
as prominent as possible online. An issue Website is a start, but
participating in online policy forums frequented by those concerned
about the policy is also important. The Internet offers many opportunities
to be influential, and these opportunities do not all reside on
your own Website.
Educating the Media. Given the growing opportunities
to become involved in politics available to the general citizenry,
effective media relations is essential to a successful government
relations strategy. Journalists, like lawmakers, are using the Internet
for their research. Whether or not your organization is using the
Internet to educate them, they will find the background information
they need for their stories. But if you are not contributing to
the materials they will find, you undermine your ability to shape
their coverage.
Supporting Your Allies. Policy battles can
emerge at any level of politics, international, federal, state,
or local. Your government relations program may not be sufficiently
resourced to handle all of these. But you may have allies that are
in a position to take up your banner. For associations, this may
be your members. For individual companies, it may be your employees
or other companies in your industry that have a physical presence
in the jurisdiction under contention. In these situations, online
technology can deliver supporting resources to your allies in a
timely fashion. You may not be able to get directly involved in
every relevant policy debate, but at least you can provide access
to resources that reflect a collective experience and knowledge
base for winning these types of policy battles.
Grassroots Programs. This is where this discussion
began. We have already talked about email campaigns and grassroots
network management software. But beyond simply prompting a letter
writing campaign and keeping track of the letters written, online
technology can help you identify and communicate with key contacts
within your grassroots network. You can also use it to more efficiently
orchestrate personal visits to lawmakers by your grassroots network
members. For example, you can coordinate the movement of a group
of supporters visiting Capitol Hill, or any state capital, by sending
a short text message from your email to all of their mobile phones,
at once.
While there are many other ways to integrate online
advocacy technology into your government relations program than
discussed here, it should now be obvious that online advocacy is
much more than using the Internet to enhance your grassroots program.
Fully integrating online technology will strengthen all of your
government relations efforts.
Online Advocacy Tips:
Grand View of Online Advocacy
1. Use Online Resources to Educate Lawmakers, News Media, and
the Public.
2. Use Online Resources to share essential information with your
allies.
3. Keep your eyes open for new ways to integrate online technology
into your GR programs.
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