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[post_content] => This week the House voted to force a sale of TikTok by a tally of 352 to 65. Preceding the vote, a grassroots advocacy campaign from TikTok resulted in hundreds of thousands of calls to Capitol Hill. With the vote going through despite the calls, it raises the question — what’s the value of grassroots advocacy? While this campaign may not have earned TikTok’s desired result, here are six reasons why you should be investing in a grassroots advocacy program.
Show Legislators Their Constituents Care
The most obvious answer to why advocacy campaigns have value is that they are the best way to show legislators that their constituents care about an issue and as a result the legislator should care. This is especially important for lower-profile issues where a legislator and their staff are trying to figure out if they should spend time on an issue.
Congressional grassroots advocacy campaigns require letter senders to be in their district — if they don’t live in the district, they won’t read the message. That means the messages hold more weight because legislators know they are real constituents.
One way to have even more impact is to hold messages in your grassroots advocacy system and deliver them in mass the day of or the day before you meet with a legislator. The emails will show the volume of support on your issue, then you can get into the specifics in your meeting — a best-of-both-worlds approach to messaging your issue.
Force Legislators To Take A Position On An Issue
An underappreciated fact is that the vast majority of Congressional offices will take the time to reply to the emails and letters their constituents send them. In those replies, they want to be as topical as possible. So, if you send in enough letters on a specific subject, the legislative correspondent is going to draft a letter on the issue to respond with. To get that approved, it will have to go to the Legislative Assistant covering the issue, along with the Legislative Director — forcing them to discuss, research, and opine on the issue. This helps get it on their radar before you go in to advocate.
Collect Stories From Your Advocates
Grassroots advocacy campaigns serve as an incredible way to collect stories from your advocates about why an issue matters to them. Asking advocates to write in an open form why they care about something gives you a story bank of personal stories you can share with legislators. This can be especially useful for legislators who are already on your side. By sharing constituent stories, they can then bring those examples to committee hearings or floor speeches to help sway their colleagues.
Some of Quorum’s corporate clients have also found that they find out about initiatives in parts of the company they hadn’t previously heard about in response to grassroots advocacy requests they have sent out. The Quorum Grassroots platform will soon be able to collect video testimonials— increasing the impact of a story.
Educate Your Advocates, Members, Donors, and Employees About Government Affairs
An under-appreciated impact of grassroots advocacy programs is that it gives you an opportunity to educate your advocates, members, donors, or employees about the work that government affairs is doing. In order to get them to take action, you’re going to send emails on the issues that you’re engaging on and why they matter, the results you’re achieving, and more.
Government Affairs has to be funded at the end of the day and you shouldn’t pass up an opportunity to highlight the work that you are doing. One public affairs leader told me they would continue to run their grassroots program even if they never sent another message to Capitol Hill for this reason alone.
Giving Your Donors An Opportunity To Engage
Donors or PAC Members who are more engaged with the work of your government affairs team are more likely to donate to your organization or PAC. Think about it - you wouldn’t want to just be asked for money all the time and not be educated about the work the organization is doing. Providing an opportunity for them to contact lawmakers gives them an easy recurring engagement opportunity that will keep them involved — ensuring their donations occur or even increase.
“Break In Case of Emergency” System
Finally, grassroots advocacy programs are the most effective “break in case of emergency” tool that advocacy teams have if you have a crisis pop up. While you may hope to never have to use it, if a major piece of legislation that impacts your organization’s bottom line pops up, you don’t have time to start from scratch on an advocacy program.
This rapid response is especially effective at the congressional level. In Congress, the phone lines connect to each other. If the staff assistants are on a call, instead of a busy signal, the caller will ring through to the Legislative Correspondents, and then to Legislative Assistants, and then sometimes to more senior staff. Eventually, the whole staff is on the phone and talking to constituents about your issue.
So Why Didn’t TikTok’s Campaign Work?
Two things. First TikTok is facing an uphill battle given they are not a U.S. company and there are potential national security implications the administration was highlighting. Second, was that TikTok messaged in their grassroots advocacy campaign that the app was going to be banned. Legislators saw the legislation as forcing a sale - not a ban - and so felt the grassroots advocacy efforts were disingenuous. The result was that the TikTok campaign further played into the fear that TikTok could be used to manipulate the views of users.
Whether it be to show legislators their constituents care, get them to take a position on an issue, or use it as an opportunity to engage your advocates, employees and donors, grassroots advocacy is an incredible engagement strategy you should have in your toolkit.
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[post_content] => This week the House voted to force a sale of TikTok by a tally of 352 to 65. Preceding the vote, a grassroots advocacy campaign from TikTok resulted in hundreds of thousands of calls to Capitol Hill. With the vote going through despite the calls, it raises the question — what’s the value of grassroots advocacy? While this campaign may not have earned TikTok’s desired result, here are six reasons why you should be investing in a grassroots advocacy program.
Show Legislators Their Constituents Care
The most obvious answer to why advocacy campaigns have value is that they are the best way to show legislators that their constituents care about an issue and as a result the legislator should care. This is especially important for lower-profile issues where a legislator and their staff are trying to figure out if they should spend time on an issue.
Congressional grassroots advocacy campaigns require letter senders to be in their district — if they don’t live in the district, they won’t read the message. That means the messages hold more weight because legislators know they are real constituents.
One way to have even more impact is to hold messages in your grassroots advocacy system and deliver them in mass the day of or the day before you meet with a legislator. The emails will show the volume of support on your issue, then you can get into the specifics in your meeting — a best-of-both-worlds approach to messaging your issue.
Force Legislators To Take A Position On An Issue
An underappreciated fact is that the vast majority of Congressional offices will take the time to reply to the emails and letters their constituents send them. In those replies, they want to be as topical as possible. So, if you send in enough letters on a specific subject, the legislative correspondent is going to draft a letter on the issue to respond with. To get that approved, it will have to go to the Legislative Assistant covering the issue, along with the Legislative Director — forcing them to discuss, research, and opine on the issue. This helps get it on their radar before you go in to advocate.
Collect Stories From Your Advocates
Grassroots advocacy campaigns serve as an incredible way to collect stories from your advocates about why an issue matters to them. Asking advocates to write in an open form why they care about something gives you a story bank of personal stories you can share with legislators. This can be especially useful for legislators who are already on your side. By sharing constituent stories, they can then bring those examples to committee hearings or floor speeches to help sway their colleagues.
Some of Quorum’s corporate clients have also found that they find out about initiatives in parts of the company they hadn’t previously heard about in response to grassroots advocacy requests they have sent out. The Quorum Grassroots platform will soon be able to collect video testimonials— increasing the impact of a story.
Educate Your Advocates, Members, Donors, and Employees About Government Affairs
An under-appreciated impact of grassroots advocacy programs is that it gives you an opportunity to educate your advocates, members, donors, or employees about the work that government affairs is doing. In order to get them to take action, you’re going to send emails on the issues that you’re engaging on and why they matter, the results you’re achieving, and more.
Government Affairs has to be funded at the end of the day and you shouldn’t pass up an opportunity to highlight the work that you are doing. One public affairs leader told me they would continue to run their grassroots program even if they never sent another message to Capitol Hill for this reason alone.
Giving Your Donors An Opportunity To Engage
Donors or PAC Members who are more engaged with the work of your government affairs team are more likely to donate to your organization or PAC. Think about it - you wouldn’t want to just be asked for money all the time and not be educated about the work the organization is doing. Providing an opportunity for them to contact lawmakers gives them an easy recurring engagement opportunity that will keep them involved — ensuring their donations occur or even increase.
“Break In Case of Emergency” System
Finally, grassroots advocacy programs are the most effective “break in case of emergency” tool that advocacy teams have if you have a crisis pop up. While you may hope to never have to use it, if a major piece of legislation that impacts your organization’s bottom line pops up, you don’t have time to start from scratch on an advocacy program.
This rapid response is especially effective at the congressional level. In Congress, the phone lines connect to each other. If the staff assistants are on a call, instead of a busy signal, the caller will ring through to the Legislative Correspondents, and then to Legislative Assistants, and then sometimes to more senior staff. Eventually, the whole staff is on the phone and talking to constituents about your issue.
So Why Didn’t TikTok’s Campaign Work?
Two things. First TikTok is facing an uphill battle given they are not a U.S. company and there are potential national security implications the administration was highlighting. Second, was that TikTok messaged in their grassroots advocacy campaign that the app was going to be banned. Legislators saw the legislation as forcing a sale - not a ban - and so felt the grassroots advocacy efforts were disingenuous. The result was that the TikTok campaign further played into the fear that TikTok could be used to manipulate the views of users.
Whether it be to show legislators their constituents care, get them to take a position on an issue, or use it as an opportunity to engage your advocates, employees and donors, grassroots advocacy is an incredible engagement strategy you should have in your toolkit.
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[post_content] => This week the House voted to force a sale of TikTok by a tally of 352 to 65. Preceding the vote, a grassroots advocacy campaign from TikTok resulted in hundreds of thousands of calls to Capitol Hill. With the vote going through despite the calls, it raises the question — what’s the value of grassroots advocacy? While this campaign may not have earned TikTok’s desired result, here are six reasons why you should be investing in a grassroots advocacy program.
Show Legislators Their Constituents Care
The most obvious answer to why advocacy campaigns have value is that they are the best way to show legislators that their constituents care about an issue and as a result the legislator should care. This is especially important for lower-profile issues where a legislator and their staff are trying to figure out if they should spend time on an issue.
Congressional grassroots advocacy campaigns require letter senders to be in their district — if they don’t live in the district, they won’t read the message. That means the messages hold more weight because legislators know they are real constituents.
One way to have even more impact is to hold messages in your grassroots advocacy system and deliver them in mass the day of or the day before you meet with a legislator. The emails will show the volume of support on your issue, then you can get into the specifics in your meeting — a best-of-both-worlds approach to messaging your issue.
Force Legislators To Take A Position On An Issue
An underappreciated fact is that the vast majority of Congressional offices will take the time to reply to the emails and letters their constituents send them. In those replies, they want to be as topical as possible. So, if you send in enough letters on a specific subject, the legislative correspondent is going to draft a letter on the issue to respond with. To get that approved, it will have to go to the Legislative Assistant covering the issue, along with the Legislative Director — forcing them to discuss, research, and opine on the issue. This helps get it on their radar before you go in to advocate.
Collect Stories From Your Advocates
Grassroots advocacy campaigns serve as an incredible way to collect stories from your advocates about why an issue matters to them. Asking advocates to write in an open form why they care about something gives you a story bank of personal stories you can share with legislators. This can be especially useful for legislators who are already on your side. By sharing constituent stories, they can then bring those examples to committee hearings or floor speeches to help sway their colleagues.
Some of Quorum’s corporate clients have also found that they find out about initiatives in parts of the company they hadn’t previously heard about in response to grassroots advocacy requests they have sent out. The Quorum Grassroots platform will soon be able to collect video testimonials— increasing the impact of a story.
Educate Your Advocates, Members, Donors, and Employees About Government Affairs
An under-appreciated impact of grassroots advocacy programs is that it gives you an opportunity to educate your advocates, members, donors, or employees about the work that government affairs is doing. In order to get them to take action, you’re going to send emails on the issues that you’re engaging on and why they matter, the results you’re achieving, and more.
Government Affairs has to be funded at the end of the day and you shouldn’t pass up an opportunity to highlight the work that you are doing. One public affairs leader told me they would continue to run their grassroots program even if they never sent another message to Capitol Hill for this reason alone.
Giving Your Donors An Opportunity To Engage
Donors or PAC Members who are more engaged with the work of your government affairs team are more likely to donate to your organization or PAC. Think about it - you wouldn’t want to just be asked for money all the time and not be educated about the work the organization is doing. Providing an opportunity for them to contact lawmakers gives them an easy recurring engagement opportunity that will keep them involved — ensuring their donations occur or even increase.
“Break In Case of Emergency” System
Finally, grassroots advocacy programs are the most effective “break in case of emergency” tool that advocacy teams have if you have a crisis pop up. While you may hope to never have to use it, if a major piece of legislation that impacts your organization’s bottom line pops up, you don’t have time to start from scratch on an advocacy program.
This rapid response is especially effective at the congressional level. In Congress, the phone lines connect to each other. If the staff assistants are on a call, instead of a busy signal, the caller will ring through to the Legislative Correspondents, and then to Legislative Assistants, and then sometimes to more senior staff. Eventually, the whole staff is on the phone and talking to constituents about your issue.
So Why Didn’t TikTok’s Campaign Work?
Two things. First TikTok is facing an uphill battle given they are not a U.S. company and there are potential national security implications the administration was highlighting. Second, was that TikTok messaged in their grassroots advocacy campaign that the app was going to be banned. Legislators saw the legislation as forcing a sale - not a ban - and so felt the grassroots advocacy efforts were disingenuous. The result was that the TikTok campaign further played into the fear that TikTok could be used to manipulate the views of users.
Whether it be to show legislators their constituents care, get them to take a position on an issue, or use it as an opportunity to engage your advocates, employees and donors, grassroots advocacy is an incredible engagement strategy you should have in your toolkit.
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This week the House voted to force a sale of TikTok by a tally of 352 to 65. Preceding the vote, a grassroots advocacy campaign from TikTok resulted in hundreds of thousands of calls to Capitol Hill. With the vote going through despite the calls, it raises the question — what’s the value of grassroots advocacy? While this campaign may not have earned TikTok’s desired result, here are six reasons why you should be investing in a grassroots advocacy program.
Show Legislators Their Constituents Care
The most obvious answer to why advocacy campaigns have value is that they are the best way to show legislators that their constituents care about an issue and as a result the legislator should care. This is especially important for lower-profile issues where a legislator and their staff are trying to figure out if they should spend time on an issue.
Congressional grassroots advocacy campaigns require letter senders to be in their district — if they don’t live in the district, they won’t read the message. That means the messages hold more weight because legislators know they are real constituents.
One way to have even more impact is to hold messages in your grassroots advocacy system and deliver them in mass the day of or the day before you meet with a legislator. The emails will show the volume of support on your issue, then you can get into the specifics in your meeting — a best-of-both-worlds approach to messaging your issue.
Force Legislators To Take A Position On An Issue
An underappreciated fact is that the vast majority of Congressional offices will take the time to reply to the emails and letters their constituents send them. In those replies, they want to be as topical as possible. So, if you send in enough letters on a specific subject, the legislative correspondent is going to draft a letter on the issue to respond with. To get that approved, it will have to go to the Legislative Assistant covering the issue, along with the Legislative Director — forcing them to discuss, research, and opine on the issue. This helps get it on their radar before you go in to advocate.
Collect Stories From Your Advocates
Grassroots advocacy campaigns serve as an incredible way to collect stories from your advocates about why an issue matters to them. Asking advocates to write in an open form why they care about something gives you a story bank of personal stories you can share with legislators. This can be especially useful for legislators who are already on your side. By sharing constituent stories, they can then bring those examples to committee hearings or floor speeches to help sway their colleagues.
Some of Quorum’s corporate clients have also found that they find out about initiatives in parts of the company they hadn’t previously heard about in response to grassroots advocacy requests they have sent out. The Quorum Grassroots platform will soon be able to collect video testimonials— increasing the impact of a story.
Educate Your Advocates, Members, Donors, and Employees About Government Affairs
An under-appreciated impact of grassroots advocacy programs is that it gives you an opportunity to educate your advocates, members, donors, or employees about the work that government affairs is doing. In order to get them to take action, you’re going to send emails on the issues that you’re engaging on and why they matter, the results you’re achieving, and more.
Government Affairs has to be funded at the end of the day and you shouldn’t pass up an opportunity to highlight the work that you are doing. One public affairs leader told me they would continue to run their grassroots program even if they never sent another message to Capitol Hill for this reason alone.
Giving Your Donors An Opportunity To Engage
Donors or PAC Members who are more engaged with the work of your government affairs team are more likely to donate to your organization or PAC. Think about it – you wouldn’t want to just be asked for money all the time and not be educated about the work the organization is doing. Providing an opportunity for them to contact lawmakers gives them an easy recurring engagement opportunity that will keep them involved — ensuring their donations occur or even increase.
“Break In Case of Emergency” System
Finally, grassroots advocacy programs are the most effective “break in case of emergency” tool that advocacy teams have if you have a crisis pop up. While you may hope to never have to use it, if a major piece of legislation that impacts your organization’s bottom line pops up, you don’t have time to start from scratch on an advocacy program.
This rapid response is especially effective at the congressional level. In Congress, the phone lines connect to each other. If the staff assistants are on a call, instead of a busy signal, the caller will ring through to the Legislative Correspondents, and then to Legislative Assistants, and then sometimes to more senior staff. Eventually, the whole staff is on the phone and talking to constituents about your issue.
So Why Didn’t TikTok’s Campaign Work?
Two things. First TikTok is facing an uphill battle given they are not a U.S. company and there are potential national security implications the administration was highlighting. Second, was that TikTok messaged in their grassroots advocacy campaign that the app was going to be banned. Legislators saw the legislation as forcing a sale – not a ban – and so felt the grassroots advocacy efforts were disingenuous. The result was that the TikTok campaign further played into the fear that TikTok could be used to manipulate the views of users.
Whether it be to show legislators their constituents care, get them to take a position on an issue, or use it as an opportunity to engage your advocates, employees and donors, grassroots advocacy is an incredible engagement strategy you should have in your toolkit.
