Pro tip: Combining state and local tracking with grassroots advocacy can help you communicate policy information to your stakeholders and engage them to deliver targeted, personalized messages to legislators. This can go a long way in getting attention for your issues, as well as receiving essential government aid or making accommodations to help the response efforts.
5. Continue Hosting Virtual Events
A year into this socially distanced life, most everyone is comfortable with the technology to make remote work… work. We’ve proven that you can still have meaningful conversations in a virtual setting. In fact, these forums can elicit more engagement than in-person events by removing geographical, budgetary, logistical restrictions.
Pro tip: Read how the Electronic Security Association and the National Retail Federation conducted successful virtual fly-ins and even got more participation than in previous in-person events.
6. Making Lawmakers Listen Through Constituent Impact
Constituents and their votes matter more than anything when it comes to building relationships and showing lawmakers the importance of your legislative and regulatory agenda. By being able to demonstrate and educate lawmakers on the financial impacts of your public policy issues, you’ll be able to have a more direct line of communication and influence with state, local, and federal legislators.
“The staffers may not be interested in talking to us lobbyists if they don’t already know us, but they’ll always talk to their constituents,” Russell Harrison, Director of government relations at IEEE USA.
Pro tip: Using a district mapping solution allows your team to visually understand where your assets and lines of business are located and what your organizational footprint is in congressional and state districts. By providing elected officials with an “at-a-glance” visual with metrics such as the number of jobs your organization provides, locations of offices or factories, property tax paid, sales tax collected, and payroll generated, you’ll be able to show your financial value to their constituencies making it easier to educate them on your issues. Read how the Education Commission of the States successfully leverages policy maps.
7. Leverage Social Media
While you might think of social media as more noise, it can actually be a good way to amplify your reach, stay on top of what legislators and the public are saying, and create a sense of community around your issues. It can also be a way to tap into a new audience like the National Down Syndrome Society did with TikTok.
“There's a whole new audience to be tapped into that is going to be affected by or is affected by these issues,” says Nicole Patton, manager of grassroots advocacy at NDSS.
Pro tip: FiscalNote has the most current contact information for all state representatives, Congress, and their staff — including social media profiles. Additionally, social media integration allows you to monitor and keep track of which lawmakers are posting about your issues.
8. Be Creative and Use Technology to Press On
All these tactics and tools can be powerful vehicles to continue pushing your agenda through to lawmakers as we prepare to return to more normal conditions. FiscalNote’s tools are at your disposal for strategically and swiftly positioning your messages in front of your key target audience. From defining and organizing your issues and identifying the key lawmakers you need to influence, to mobilizing your advocates and reporting on your success, FiscalNote is with you every step of the way.