Lending A Voice

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Lending A Voice

• Chris Raymond
• National Council of Higher Education Loan
  Programs
• Matt LeBretton
• F.H. Cann Associates, Inc.

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Organizing Grassroots

• Christopher Raymond
• March 30, 2009
• Debt Management Conference
• Ft. Worth, Texas

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Laying the Groundwork

• All NCHELP members designate an Advocacy
  Assistant (AA)
• AA is the contact for message and communications
  strategy
• Up to the AA to organize their work place and
  make sure message is communicated
• Google group

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Strategy Committee

• Develops the Message
• Develops the Communications Strategy
• Gets information out to the Membership

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What Does Grassroots Mean?

• A mode of organizing from the ground up
• Senator Albert Jeremiah Beveridge of Indiana
  (1912) "This party has come from the grass
  roots. It has grown from the soil of people's
  hard necessities."

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Organization Matters

• Congress depends on hearing from their
  constituents
• Letter
• Email
• Phone calls
• Meetings
• Consistent messaging creates an eco chamber

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Timing is Everything

• Communications should only come from constituents
• Timing your outreach with Congressional action
• Know which chamber you need to contact
• Do your homework (Members may already have a
  position on your issue)

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Quality v. Quantity

• Which is better?
• High quality message
• Short
• Targeted
• Informative

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When Quantity is Pushed Over Quality

• Bad practices get noticed
• Mischaracterizing the Members position
• Trying to overwhelm an office
• Generating identical messages from one
  constituent
• Phone calls to the Hill without adequate
  preparation
• Singling out one staff member

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New Media

• Facebook
• Linkedin
• Twitter
• Google/Yahoo Groups
• Drive the VAN
• Internet Fundraising
• Obama

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• "OK, you've convinced me. Now go out and put
  pressure on me."
• Franklin D. Roosevelt

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Grassroots Dos and Don'ts

• Mr. Mathew Lebretton, Esq.Chief Operating
  Officer
• 877-750-9801 ext 236

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Politics is the art of looking for trouble,
  finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly
  and applying the wrong remedies
• - Groucho Marx

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Trouble found us
• Washington is currently in the diagnosis phase
  and they are headed to Grouchos conclusion
• How do we get them to use a different elixir?

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Trade organizations like NCHELP and paid
  professionals are an integral component
• But remember.
• Noahs Ark was made by volunteers and the Titanic
  was built by professionals!

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Effective grass roots communication is the most
  important part of our current campaign
• What is a grass roots effort?
• Real people with real issues interacting with
  elected and appointed officials as constituents.
• Democracy in action

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Most Effective Means of Communication
• Grassroots Activity 52
• Lobbying by Execs 27
• Contributors 5
• Pro Lobbyists 4
• Issue Ads 2
• Public Affairs Council Survey

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Enact a battle plan
• Scope
• What are our goals?
• Knowledge
• Issue, counter points and what the others are
  saying.
• Key contacts
• Alliances
• Across industries
• Trade partners
• Vendors

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Enact a battle plan
• Timeline
• What is happening when?
• Delegation
• Persistence

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Lets ChatWhat works?
• Letters
• E-mail
• Fax
• Phone calls
• Petitions

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Lets ChatWhat works?
• Face-to-face
• District offices vs. Capitol Hill
• Editorials/Blogs
• http//bizbox.slate.com/blog/2009/03/small_busines
  s_salon_frank_can.php

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Highest Ranked Sources of Communication
• 1. Spontaneous letters from constituents
• 2. Telephone calls from constituent
• 3. Congressional Research Service
• 4. Articles in major daily newspapers
• 5. Editorials in major daily newspapers

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Highest Ranked Sources of Communication
• 6. Visits from constituents
• 7. Articles in district daily newspapers
• 8. Congressional Record
• 9. Editorials in district daily newspapers
• 10. Government publications
• - Burson Marsteller, Partial List

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Thanks for taking the time
• Know the Member!
• Know the staff!
• Janitors and administrative assistants
• Be respectfulbut dont overdo it
• Be on time
• Thanks for meeting/all youve done
• Sally says you are the greatest
• Make a clear and defined ask
• Get in, give it and get out!

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Go fishing with letters hook, line and sinker
• Hook one or two sentences that grabs the reader
• Reel the body of the letter be concise and
  informative
• Sinker the ask clear and concise

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Use personal letterhead
• Brevity is your friend
• Dont guess use facts and figures
• Avoid templates at all costs

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• www.house.gov or www.senate.gov
• The Honorable (E.O.s full name)
• United States Senate
• Dear Senator

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• US Senate 83 Million Emails
• Received 2000 to 2004
• US House 99 Million Emails
• Received from 2000 to 2004
• of Personal Office Staff for
• House and Senate Members
• Unchanged in 20 Years

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Before getting this job I was unemployed for
  some time, I was staying from house to house and
  didnt have a steady place to live. With jobs
  being as hard to find as it is, if this program
  ceases to exist, it would be very possible that
  I could go back to being somewhat homeless. I
  have a daughter to support and I cannot afford
  for this to happen to me again.

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• I respectfully ask you to take into
  consideration my situation and how you might feel
  if you were in a similar situation when
  addressing the funding of the FFEL Program.

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Dos
• Be a constituent
• Say nice thingsbut dont overdo it
• Get down to brass tacks
• K.I.S.S.
• Leave something behind dont forget your
  business cards!

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Dos
• Help make them an expert
• It is good for me and for YOU
• Ask, Ask Again, Ask Again Again
• Follow up!!!

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• Don'ts
• You work for me!
• Be negative
• Be rude to the Member or staff
• Kitchen sink
• Use flowery language
• Dont mislead
• Dont be afraid to not know
• Be offended

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• In 1649, one vote caused Charles I of England to
  be executed.
• In 1845, one vote brought Texas and California
  into the Union.
• In 1868, a single vote saved President Andrew
  Johnson from an impeachment conviction.
• In 1875, one vote changed France from a monarchy
  to a republic.

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• In 1876, one vote gave Rutherford Hayes the
  Presidency of the United States.
• In 1982, In Illinois Jim Thompson defeated Adlai
  Stevenson by less than 1/2 a vote per precinct.
• In 1800, President Jefferson beat Aaron Burr by
  one vote in the House following an electoral tie.

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• In 1824, John Quincy Adams defeated Andrew
  Jackson by one vote following a tie.
• In 1941, one vote defeated a bill that would have
  killed the draft law--just months before Pearl
  Harbor.
• In 1920, one vote from an obscure state
  legislator gave all women the right to vote after
  100 years of struggle.

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Grassroots A Closer Look

• In 1923, one vote gave Adolph Hitler leadership
  of the Nazi Party.
• In 1776, one vote gave America the English
  language instead of German.

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• Questions?