Nine weeks into the COVID 19 pandemic, most advocacy and government relations professionals are working remotely and living on a constant diet of Zoom meetings and conference calls. Corporate government affairs shops, trade association staff and nonprofit leaders are busier than ever rewriting plans or budgets, and charting a course through the “new normal.” No…
Every year between April 1 and September 30, nonprofits, trade associations, and interest groups bring thousands of advocates to D.C. to meet with Congress. These ‘fly-ins’ attempt to shape the legislative agenda by drawing lawmakers’ attention to constituents and their causes. The grassroots advocates bring a level of credibility and authenticity that paid lobbyists cannot…
After working in politics for 20 years, I’ve learned many lessons—the most important being that if you want to get something done, you need to engage your top supporters, and you need to engage them early and often. Any political candidate, whether for the local school board or the U.S. Senate, will agree that keeping…
Welcome to 2018! It’s a new year and a great time to reflect on the successes and challenges from your advocacy efforts last year, so you can develop your goals for this year. Before the Congressional session really begins and the mid-term elections shift into gear, it’s important to take the time to determine what…