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Congress posted 628,998 times in 2024. Here’s what they’re talking about.

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WP_Query Object ( [query] => Array ( [name] => national-multiple-sclerosis-society [post_type] => resources [resource-type] => case-studies ) [query_vars] => Array ( [name] => national-multiple-sclerosis-society [post_type] => resources [resource-type] => case-studies [error] => [m] => [p] => 0 [post_parent] => [subpost] => [subpost_id] => [attachment] => [attachment_id] => 0 [pagename] => [page_id] => 0 [second] => [minute] => [hour] => [day] => 0 [monthnum] => 0 [year] => 0 [w] => 0 [category_name] => [tag] => [cat] => [tag_id] => [author] => [author_name] => [feed] => [tb] => [paged] => 0 [meta_key] => [meta_value] => [preview] => [s] => [sentence] => [title] => [fields] => [menu_order] => [embed] => [category__in] => Array ( ) [category__not_in] => Array ( ) [category__and] => Array ( ) [post__in] => Array ( ) [post__not_in] => Array ( ) [post_name__in] => Array ( ) [tag__in] => Array ( ) [tag__not_in] => Array ( ) [tag__and] => Array ( ) [tag_slug__in] => Array ( ) [tag_slug__and] => Array ( ) [post_parent__in] => Array ( ) [post_parent__not_in] => Array ( ) [author__in] => Array ( ) [author__not_in] => Array ( ) [search_columns] => Array ( ) [ignore_sticky_posts] => [suppress_filters] => [cache_results] => 1 [update_post_term_cache] => 1 [update_menu_item_cache] => [lazy_load_term_meta] => 1 [update_post_meta_cache] => 1 [posts_per_page] => 10 [nopaging] => [comments_per_page] => 50 [no_found_rows] => [order] => DESC ) [tax_query] => [meta_query] => WP_Meta_Query Object ( [queries] => Array ( ) [relation] => [meta_table] => [meta_id_column] => [primary_table] => [primary_id_column] => [table_aliases:protected] => Array ( ) [clauses:protected] => Array ( ) [has_or_relation:protected] => ) [date_query] => [queried_object] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 8238 [post_author] => 43 [post_date] => 2022-06-01 02:19:45 [post_date_gmt] => 2022-06-01 02:19:45 [post_content] => The numbers tell the story of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Public Policy Conference, the annual Washington fly-in that has taken place for more than 30 years. More than 1,300 people registered for the conference in 2022. When it came time to visit lawmakers, the Society met with more than 160 offices on Capitol Hill, involving more than 200 grassroots supporters in the meetings. Their calls to action generated more than 3,000 messages to Congress. All of that sprang from a virtual event that began with a single day of education and activities. “We do feel like we’re being heard,” said Director of Grassroots Advocacy Laura Bennett. “We know we’re making an impact.” The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is having success because it has a great story to tell, but its playbook is also powered by professional government affairs technology that makes advocacy efficient and effective. Quorum’s advocacy suite gives them an edge. Using keywords and shortcodes (e.g. Text “MSresearch to 52886”), the organization texts its supporters with invitations to education events and then the conference itself. They also use keywords and shortcodes in other ways, such as on social media, written materials—even a phone greeting. The Society had it recorded in English and Spanish. The organization uses text and email for the advocacy campaigns that ran before, during and after the conference. At the event, they ran two live calls to action right from the podium, displaying a live digital map that tracked the action as it took place. Nearly 1,000 messages were generated right on the spot. The MS Society uses a similar playbook in the 30 states where it conducts state-level fly-ins. “We love all of the functionality,” Bennett said. “We love that we can do everything state and federal in one place—it’s like a one-stop shop. We can do our action alerts, our email sends, our text messages. Everything is done in one place, therefore, all of the data is connected. We rely heavily on stats and metrics reporting, so that makes our lives a lot easier.”

Generating Personal Stories

The MS Society’s system has utility far beyond fly-ins. It facilitates effective advocacy all year long by allowing the team to increase its capabilities. Identifying personal stories is a good example. The Society often uses stories contributed by supporters to increase understanding of multiple sclerosis and advance its policy agenda. When it was invited to testify before the Senate Finance Committee on prescription drug prices, it could quickly identify personal anecdotes obtained through multiple advocacy campaigns run on the Phone2Action platform. When Vice President of Advocacy Steffany Stern appeared before the committee, she was able to impart real stories about Lisa in Michigan, Helen in Massachusetts and others. “It was really great to do a search, scan through a document in 10 minutes and grab five stories that hit on this,” Bennett said. Bennett says the system is also flexible, which will serve the organization well as things change moving forward. “We try to evolve as this goes between a virtual world and an in-person world, and eventually a hybrid world,” she said. “Things like text, keywords, the live action map where people can see their names, making sure things are mobile friendly, they are really important to us. As we move on in future years, and we have people participating in different locations and having somewhat different experiences, we want them to get to the same endpoint. We want to make sure it’s as interactive as possible.”

Results

  • 1,300+ People registered for the Public Policy Conference in 2022
  • 160+ Meetings with lawmaker offices on Capitol Hill
  • 200+ Grassroots supporters involved in the meetings
  • 3,000+ Messages to Congress generated from supporter calls to action
[post_title] => How the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Uses Technology To Energize Advocates [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => national-multiple-sclerosis-society [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2024-12-04 09:59:03 [post_modified_gmt] => 2024-12-04 14:59:03 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.quorum.us/?post_type=resources&p=8238 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => resources [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [queried_object_id] => 8238 [request] => SELECT wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts WHERE 1=1 AND wp_posts.post_name = 'national-multiple-sclerosis-society' AND wp_posts.post_type = 'resources' ORDER BY wp_posts.post_date DESC [posts] => Array ( [0] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 8238 [post_author] => 43 [post_date] => 2022-06-01 02:19:45 [post_date_gmt] => 2022-06-01 02:19:45 [post_content] => The numbers tell the story of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Public Policy Conference, the annual Washington fly-in that has taken place for more than 30 years. More than 1,300 people registered for the conference in 2022. When it came time to visit lawmakers, the Society met with more than 160 offices on Capitol Hill, involving more than 200 grassroots supporters in the meetings. Their calls to action generated more than 3,000 messages to Congress. All of that sprang from a virtual event that began with a single day of education and activities. “We do feel like we’re being heard,” said Director of Grassroots Advocacy Laura Bennett. “We know we’re making an impact.” The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is having success because it has a great story to tell, but its playbook is also powered by professional government affairs technology that makes advocacy efficient and effective. Quorum’s advocacy suite gives them an edge. Using keywords and shortcodes (e.g. Text “MSresearch to 52886”), the organization texts its supporters with invitations to education events and then the conference itself. They also use keywords and shortcodes in other ways, such as on social media, written materials—even a phone greeting. The Society had it recorded in English and Spanish. The organization uses text and email for the advocacy campaigns that ran before, during and after the conference. At the event, they ran two live calls to action right from the podium, displaying a live digital map that tracked the action as it took place. Nearly 1,000 messages were generated right on the spot. The MS Society uses a similar playbook in the 30 states where it conducts state-level fly-ins. “We love all of the functionality,” Bennett said. “We love that we can do everything state and federal in one place—it’s like a one-stop shop. We can do our action alerts, our email sends, our text messages. Everything is done in one place, therefore, all of the data is connected. We rely heavily on stats and metrics reporting, so that makes our lives a lot easier.”

Generating Personal Stories

The MS Society’s system has utility far beyond fly-ins. It facilitates effective advocacy all year long by allowing the team to increase its capabilities. Identifying personal stories is a good example. The Society often uses stories contributed by supporters to increase understanding of multiple sclerosis and advance its policy agenda. When it was invited to testify before the Senate Finance Committee on prescription drug prices, it could quickly identify personal anecdotes obtained through multiple advocacy campaigns run on the Phone2Action platform. When Vice President of Advocacy Steffany Stern appeared before the committee, she was able to impart real stories about Lisa in Michigan, Helen in Massachusetts and others. “It was really great to do a search, scan through a document in 10 minutes and grab five stories that hit on this,” Bennett said. Bennett says the system is also flexible, which will serve the organization well as things change moving forward. “We try to evolve as this goes between a virtual world and an in-person world, and eventually a hybrid world,” she said. “Things like text, keywords, the live action map where people can see their names, making sure things are mobile friendly, they are really important to us. As we move on in future years, and we have people participating in different locations and having somewhat different experiences, we want them to get to the same endpoint. We want to make sure it’s as interactive as possible.”

Results

  • 1,300+ People registered for the Public Policy Conference in 2022
  • 160+ Meetings with lawmaker offices on Capitol Hill
  • 200+ Grassroots supporters involved in the meetings
  • 3,000+ Messages to Congress generated from supporter calls to action
[post_title] => How the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Uses Technology To Energize Advocates [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => national-multiple-sclerosis-society [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2024-12-04 09:59:03 [post_modified_gmt] => 2024-12-04 14:59:03 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.quorum.us/?post_type=resources&p=8238 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => resources [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) ) [post_count] => 1 [current_post] => -1 [before_loop] => 1 [in_the_loop] => [post] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 8238 [post_author] => 43 [post_date] => 2022-06-01 02:19:45 [post_date_gmt] => 2022-06-01 02:19:45 [post_content] => The numbers tell the story of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Public Policy Conference, the annual Washington fly-in that has taken place for more than 30 years. More than 1,300 people registered for the conference in 2022. When it came time to visit lawmakers, the Society met with more than 160 offices on Capitol Hill, involving more than 200 grassroots supporters in the meetings. Their calls to action generated more than 3,000 messages to Congress. All of that sprang from a virtual event that began with a single day of education and activities. “We do feel like we’re being heard,” said Director of Grassroots Advocacy Laura Bennett. “We know we’re making an impact.” The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is having success because it has a great story to tell, but its playbook is also powered by professional government affairs technology that makes advocacy efficient and effective. Quorum’s advocacy suite gives them an edge. Using keywords and shortcodes (e.g. Text “MSresearch to 52886”), the organization texts its supporters with invitations to education events and then the conference itself. They also use keywords and shortcodes in other ways, such as on social media, written materials—even a phone greeting. The Society had it recorded in English and Spanish. The organization uses text and email for the advocacy campaigns that ran before, during and after the conference. At the event, they ran two live calls to action right from the podium, displaying a live digital map that tracked the action as it took place. Nearly 1,000 messages were generated right on the spot. The MS Society uses a similar playbook in the 30 states where it conducts state-level fly-ins. “We love all of the functionality,” Bennett said. “We love that we can do everything state and federal in one place—it’s like a one-stop shop. We can do our action alerts, our email sends, our text messages. Everything is done in one place, therefore, all of the data is connected. We rely heavily on stats and metrics reporting, so that makes our lives a lot easier.”

Generating Personal Stories

The MS Society’s system has utility far beyond fly-ins. It facilitates effective advocacy all year long by allowing the team to increase its capabilities. Identifying personal stories is a good example. The Society often uses stories contributed by supporters to increase understanding of multiple sclerosis and advance its policy agenda. When it was invited to testify before the Senate Finance Committee on prescription drug prices, it could quickly identify personal anecdotes obtained through multiple advocacy campaigns run on the Phone2Action platform. When Vice President of Advocacy Steffany Stern appeared before the committee, she was able to impart real stories about Lisa in Michigan, Helen in Massachusetts and others. “It was really great to do a search, scan through a document in 10 minutes and grab five stories that hit on this,” Bennett said. Bennett says the system is also flexible, which will serve the organization well as things change moving forward. “We try to evolve as this goes between a virtual world and an in-person world, and eventually a hybrid world,” she said. “Things like text, keywords, the live action map where people can see their names, making sure things are mobile friendly, they are really important to us. As we move on in future years, and we have people participating in different locations and having somewhat different experiences, we want them to get to the same endpoint. We want to make sure it’s as interactive as possible.”

Results

  • 1,300+ People registered for the Public Policy Conference in 2022
  • 160+ Meetings with lawmaker offices on Capitol Hill
  • 200+ Grassroots supporters involved in the meetings
  • 3,000+ Messages to Congress generated from supporter calls to action
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!!! 8238
Case Study

How the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Uses Technology To Energize Advocates

How the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Uses Technology To Energize Advocates

The numbers tell the story of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Public Policy Conference, the annual Washington fly-in that has taken place for more than 30 years.

More than 1,300 people registered for the conference in 2022. When it came time to visit lawmakers, the Society met with more than 160 offices on Capitol Hill, involving more than 200 grassroots supporters in the meetings. Their calls to action generated more than 3,000 messages to Congress.

All of that sprang from a virtual event that began with a single day of education and activities.

“We do feel like we’re being heard,” said Director of Grassroots Advocacy Laura Bennett. “We know we’re making an impact.”

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is having success because it has a great story to tell, but its playbook is also powered by professional government affairs technology that makes advocacy efficient and effective. Quorum’s advocacy suite gives them an edge.

Using keywords and shortcodes (e.g. Text “MSresearch to 52886”), the organization texts its supporters with invitations to education events and then the conference itself. They also use keywords and shortcodes in other ways, such as on social media, written materials—even a phone greeting. The Society had it recorded in English and Spanish.

The organization uses text and email for the advocacy campaigns that ran before, during and after the conference. At the event, they ran two live calls to action right from the podium, displaying a live digital map that tracked the action as it took place. Nearly 1,000 messages were generated right on the spot.

The MS Society uses a similar playbook in the 30 states where it conducts state-level fly-ins.

“We love all of the functionality,” Bennett said. “We love that we can do everything state and federal in one place—it’s like a one-stop shop. We can do our action alerts, our email sends, our text messages. Everything is done in one place, therefore, all of the data is connected. We rely heavily on stats and metrics reporting, so that makes our lives a lot easier.”

Generating Personal Stories

The MS Society’s system has utility far beyond fly-ins. It facilitates effective advocacy all year long by allowing the team to increase its capabilities. Identifying personal stories is a good example.

The Society often uses stories contributed by supporters to increase understanding of multiple sclerosis and advance its policy agenda. When it was invited to testify before the Senate Finance Committee on prescription drug prices, it could quickly identify personal anecdotes obtained through multiple advocacy campaigns run on the Phone2Action platform. When Vice President of Advocacy Steffany Stern appeared before the committee, she was able to impart real stories about Lisa in Michigan, Helen in Massachusetts and others.

“It was really great to do a search, scan through a document in 10 minutes and grab five stories that hit on this,” Bennett said.

Bennett says the system is also flexible, which will serve the organization well as things change moving forward.

“We try to evolve as this goes between a virtual world and an in-person world, and eventually a hybrid world,” she said. “Things like text, keywords, the live action map where people can see their names, making sure things are mobile friendly, they are really important to us. As we move on in future years, and we have people participating in different locations and having somewhat different experiences, we want them to get to the same endpoint. We want to make sure it’s as interactive as possible.”

Results

  • 1,300+ People registered for the Public Policy Conference in 2022
  • 160+ Meetings with lawmaker offices on Capitol Hill
  • 200+ Grassroots supporters involved in the meetings
  • 3,000+ Messages to Congress generated from supporter calls to action