LOBBYING BY NONPROFITS: THE HOW TOS

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LOBBYING BY NONPROFITSTHE HOW TOS
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What is Lobbying?

• Lobbying is a form of public policy advocacy and
  educating government.
• Lobbying is communicating with legislators and
  the executive branch to encourage them to take
  action on specific legislation and in some states
  regulations.
• Lobbying is part of participating in the
  democratic process.

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What is lobbying continued

• Lobbying can involve government, the media,
  people nonprofits serve and even the entire
  community.
• Lobbying can be an effective strategy for
  offering new ideas to government, holding
  government accountable and securing better public
  policies that affect nonprofits missions.

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A little knowledge about the following will get
you started lobbying

• The legislative process
• Setting up a legislative network
• Use of a government relations committee
• The role of media in lobbying
• The law governing lobbying by nonprofits

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The nonprofit lobbyists skills

• To start, the nonprofit lobbyist needs to know
• A few basics about the legislative process
• The main arguments for and against your bill
• How to communicate effectively with your
  organizations members, the public and the media.

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The federal legislative process

• The legislative process is controlled by people,
  not institutions.
• Legislation usually moves from
• subcommittee to
• full-committee to
• floor vote (in both chambers of a legislature) to
• conference between the chambers.
• At each step its possible to influence outcome.

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The legislative process (cont)

• All members of the legislature are not equal.
• Majority party members have more power.
• Senior members are usually more influential.
• Senior legislative staff often wield enormous
  power.

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Your leader in the legislature

• It is important to secure the support of a Member
  of the legislature, preferably in the Committee
  making decisions about the bill.
• It is important for this Member to become the
  Champion.
• Almost equally important is the skill and
  commitment of the legislative staff.

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Lobbying the Administration

• Sometimes persons within the Executive Branch
  hold power over the prospects for legislation.
• It is important to know who are potential allies
  and who are potential opponents.
• Developing strong relations with executive branch
  employees can be important. Legislators may come
  and go but often career executive branch
  employees have invaluable institutional knowledge
  and credibility for a given issue.

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Effective written lobbying communications are

• Accurate
• Brief
• Clear
• Timely
• Followed up with a telephone call

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Current communication technologies for mobilizing
grassroots support

• E-mail
• Web sites
• Faxes
• Telephone Routing Systems
• Zip Code Matching (targeting grassroots in a
  certain geographic area)

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Effective communication methods with
Congressional offices

• Spontaneous letters from constituents
• Visits from constituents
• Articles in state/district newspapers
• Telephone calls from community and issue opinion
  leaders
• Telephone calls from constituents

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Your letter to your legislator

• Use personal or business letterhead.
• One page -- your own words.
• Ask legislator to reply - ask directly whether
  he/she supports.
• Dont use threatening tone.
• Dont overstate influence.
• Be certain letter arrives before the vote.
• Say thank you.

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Meeting with your legislator

• Nervous? You know more about the subject.
• An advance appointment is important.
• A small group (2-3) is fine.
• Discuss the issue from your legislators
  perspective.

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Meeting with your legislator (cont)

• Cant answer a question? Dont bluff. Gather
  information and get back.
• Leave fact sheet.
• Write -- say thanks -- remind legislator of
  agreements reached.

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Presenting Testimony

• Keep statement brief -- include
  a one page summary.
• First choice for presenter -- volunteer senior
  staff second choice.
• Get other groups to sign your testimony.
• Plant questions with supportive members of the
  Committee holding the hearing.

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Presenting Testimony (cont)

• Dont read the testimony.
• Okay to be direct in response to hostile
  question, but always be courteous.
• Dont have the answer? Say so - get information.

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Telephoning

• Telephone call to Washington office can be very
  persuasive.
• Keep it brief.
• Cant get through, ask for aide.
• Cant reach aide, leave message with the
  receptionist.
• Calls to the legislators district office is
  second-best, but better than nothing!

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E-mail and faxes to Congressional offices

• 90 of Congressional offices use e-mail.
• E-mail from outside the Congressional district
  not relevant.
• Faxes and e-mail are acceptable but well written,
  personal postal letters continue to rank highest.

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Other ways to communicate

• Invite legislator to --
• Visit your facility
• Speak at a meeting sponsored by your group
• Meet with your board
• Attend breakfast meeting at state capital
• (Note See CLPI tutorial, Charitable Nonprofits
  and Election-Related Activities for important
  limitations on the above activities during
  election campaigns)

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Grassroots Action through a Legislative Network

• All politics is local former Speaker Thomas
  Tip ONeill.
• Legislative networks are an organized, systematic
  means of communicating with local volunteers who
  have agreed to contact legislators.
• Legislative networks dont have to be elaborate.

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Legislative Networks (cont)

• Volunteers are ultimately more
  influential than paid staff.
• To set up a network
• Get list of legislators
• Recruit volunteers
• Develop means of communicating quickly
• Work at it. Networks are absolutely essential --
  but atrophy quickly.

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Lobbying in Coalition

• The enactment of major legislation often takes
  the effort of a coalition of people and
  organizations focusing the resources of many
  groups with interest in the same issue.
• Coalitions are always fragile, but have potential
  for enormous influence.
• Coalition leaderships job is to build trust,
  openness and honesty. No surprises is paramount.

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Lobbying in Coalition (cont)

• Every coalition must have a clearinghouse to
  get quick information to members.
• Coalition membership may change markedly over
  time.
• Getting coalition information out can take time,
  plan ahead of time how to get the information
  out.
• When a coalition effort is successful -- spread
  the glory!

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Government Relations Committees

• The role of government relations committee is to
  establish and pursue legislative priorities for
  the organization.
• A big mistake of such committees is to take on
  more than one number one priority.
• An organization can follow 20 issues, but all
  must be ranked.

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Government Relations Committees (cont)

• A committee member may push staff to emphasize
  his/her pet priorities. Dont give in!
• Delegate authority to small group to make
  pressure decisions on legislation when time
  doesnt permit convening your larger group.
• Subgroups will help.

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Government Relations Committees (cont)

• Meetings tips
• Agendas
• Cordial tone
• Physical arrangements
• Dont let anyone dominate
• Use of name tent cards

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Role of Media in Lobbying

• Legislators note organizations that media quote.
• Congressional staff rank news articles and
  editorials in daily newspapers very high.
• A person with experience in media relations (a
  volunteer is fine) is invaluable.

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Role of Media in Lobbying (cont)

• Several points to keep in mind
• Send only news worthy information
• Recognize the herd instinct
• Off the cuff quotes should be well-rehearsed
• Keep list of journalists who have contacted you
  or have done a story on your issue.

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Role of Media in Lobbying (cont)

• An effective press release
• Include the most important information in first
  paragraph
• Put the rest of information in descending order
  of importance
• First page should answer five ws -- who, what,
  when, where and why.

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Role of Media in Lobbying (cont)

• Press conferences
• In most major metropolitan areas, its difficult
  to get press conference attendance because of
  competition.
• You will need to know
• Hour, day press most likely to attend
• Location that will attract reporters
• How far in advance press must be notified
• How best to notify.

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Role of Media in Lobbying (cont)

• Press Conferences (cont)
• Give a reminder call on day of conference
• Have a well-written press statement and
  background piece
• Be certain audio systems are flawless
• Keep it short time for questions
• Keep a list of attendees for follow-up

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Role of Media in Lobbying (cont)

• Letters to the editor
• Keep letters tightly composed
• Use specific examples
• One point per letter
• Accurate, up-to-date information
• Dont attack opposition
• Always sign your name include address and
  telephone number.

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Role of Media in Lobbying (cont)

• Radio and Television
• Radio and TV offer public service time.
• Dont forget news directors of radio and
  television stations when circulating press
  releases.
• Have a visual angle for TV news story.

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Role of Media in Lobbying (cont)

• Radio and Television (cont)
• Keep public service television spots short -- 9
  to 10 seconds
• Radio, 20 to 30 seconds
• Get well-briefed spokesperson for your group on
  radio, television talk show
• Give local radio, TV your ideas for editorial.

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The Law Governing Lobbying By Nonprofits

• See the CLPI tutorial, Lobbying, Advocacy, and
  the Law for important information on the law
  governing nonprofits ability to lobby.

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Have additional questions regarding your lobbying
efforts?

• Contact CLPI staff
• at [phone] or at centerforlobbying_at_clpi.org
  .
• WWW.CLPI.ORG