Making
the Constituency
Connection
Voter Participation and Involvement
PMA Resources
To start off on the right advocacy foot, it's best to have a few organizational pieces in place. Chances are you may already have these functions within your organization. If so, we hope you will be willing to add some of the functions outlined below and in the Advocacy / GR Staff job description to their responsibilities, if that has not been done already. If not, think carefully about who you might assign as the point person for these important activities.
Government relations / Policy team or advisor: If you already have GR or policy staff, be sure to pull them into the loop on advocacy efforts. If you do not already have someone assigned to the task of government relations or advocacy outreach, it's a good idea to make this activity part of someone's job description. The amount of time spent on advocacy will vary from company to company. In some cases, it may be just a few hours per month spent in coordinating with PMA's GR staff or any relevant state association resources. In others, it may be a full-fledged department with different individuals responsible for state legislative relations, state agency relations and outreach to other policy-related organizations. Either way, to be an effective member of GROW, it is important that your business have at least one point person for advocacy and GR communications.
Click here for a draft job description for your Advocacy / GR Point Person
Other divisions of your company that should be involved in the GR / Advocacy effort include:
Marketing -- the messages you put out to the world may sometimes wind up in the hands of elected officials or agency-types. Your marketing division needs to have an understanding of some of the basic policy goals (and potential pitfalls) in order to assist in the overall effort.
Customer Development / Sales -- sometimes, your customers can be your best advocates! If you have a customer who is particularly pleased with your product or service, ask them if they'd be willing to participate in your advocacy campaigns. Policy makers are always impressed by the testimonials of real, live people.
Employee Relations / HR -- Policy makers will also sometimes listen to "front line" employees more than corporate-types. They like to know how their efforts are assisting the "common man." Much of the focus of this toolkit is on ways to engage employees in your efforts -- without forcing them to go along (which is never influential).