Campaigns & Elections' Politics - February 2008 - (Page 59) For grassroots lobbying, the key to making a difference rather than just making noise lies in understanding several things: 1. Quality is more persuasive than quantity. Grassroots advocacy is not a sweepstakes, where the more you enter the greater your chances are to win. No matter the vehicle— postal mail, e-mail, fax or telephone call—it is content that matters, not volume. A small number of personal messages generally have more influence than a large number of identical messages. Grassroots campaigns that make a difference use several strategies to generate high-quality messages to Capitol Hill. The highest-quality messages are generated by the constituents themselves; are relevant to a current issue or bill in Congress; are relevant to the member’s state or district; and are personalized with the constituents’ own views. 2. It is important to know how Congress works. To make a difference, campaigns must be strategic and actionable. Learn how Congress works, and choose your timing and targets for maximum effect. Ineffective techniques include sending messages too early or too late for members to do anything; encouraging members to support legislation they introduced or co-sponsored; delivering messages from people who aren’t represented by a member; or discussing a bill under consideration in the other chamber. Organizations that want to make a difference will strategically consider when, how and to whom to send their communications. 3. The organization behind a grassroots campaign matters. Congressional offices are becoming increasingly mistrustful of grassroots campaigns, and they are jaded by the lengths to which some organizations go to disguise them. In any office, there are a few staffers who manage all constituent communications. They can recognize a grassroots campaign in a heartbeat. Because members need to understand the context of a campaign, not just the content of the messages, staff will re- search who is behind it before they act on it. Staffers will find out, no matter what. It just takes time—time that is better spent acting on the message. For this reason, organizations should identify themselves in their campaigns. 4. There is a difference between being noticed and having an impact. Every congressional office has stories of campaigns that intentionally overwhelmed them simply to get attention. Bad practices range from swamping an office with (continued on page 60) February 2008 Politics 59 http://www.completecampaigns.com/bestpoliticalsoftware.asp http://www.completecampaigns.com/bestpoliticalsoftware.asp
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