Lobbying Strategy Development

I spent 8 years working on Capitol Hill. I've been lobbied thousands of times. Here are 10 strategies for lobbying Congress on an issue you care about (regardless of who wins the election next week): 1️⃣ - Begin with your own elected officials. Offices prioritize their constituents. When you reach out, provide your city and zip code to show they represent you. 2️⃣ - Have a clear ask. It's ok to explain why you're passionate about the issue, but ask them to take a specific action. See if they'll support an existing bill or letter, or if one doesn’t exist, ask them to lead the issue. 3️⃣  - Amplify your voice. Rally ten other constituents to make calls, send emails, and write letters in support of your cause. A single call won't move the needle, but multiple ones can. 4️⃣ - Contact relevant legislative staff. If you can’t find their email address online, call the main line and ask. Or stop by the office and pick up their business card. 5️⃣ - Be clear and succinct. Send a personalized email requesting a 15-minute call or meeting. Explain the issue in a few lines and attach a memo with additional information. If they don’t respond the first or second time, try something different and get creative. 6️⃣ - Provide a compelling justification. Explain why it’s in their interest to support the idea. Show them it's politically safe if it aligns with their previous positions or has constituent support. 7️⃣- Seek assistance from advocacy groups. These outside organizations can endorse the legislation, reach out to staff, and rally support from other constituents. Before supporting initiatives, legislators will often ask which groups support the idea. 8️⃣ - Validate the idea. Highlight thought leaders, academics, and experts that endorse the idea. Have them write an op-ed or ask them for a favorable quote. Their endorsement makes it easier for legislators to support your cause. 9️⃣ - Engage supportive elected officials. Ask those that already champion the idea to talk to your legislator. They will want to know if other like-minded elected officials support the issue. Peer pressure works. 🔟 - Leverage celebrities. Most stars are passionate about something. Find the one who cares about your issue and encourage them to engage. Set up briefings and events where they can speak to legislators and staff. What has worked for you? 👇 Let me know in the comments ♻️ Repost this to help other advance the issues they care about. And follow Geo Saba for more.

Most organizations have Public Affairs roles ....But most have positioned their Public Affairs Teams for failure. Want to know how to build a successful lobby Machine? Here is my take 👇 1️⃣ Define Your Lobbying Team: Lobbying should be a cooperation between three roles; a C-Level member, the Lobbyist, and an expert. C-Level members provides political clout, the Lobbyist oversees the process and is something of a field-commander, and the expert adds substance and expertise to the lobby. I call this the holy trinity effective lobbying. 2️⃣ Roles Beyond Core Group: Consider additional supporting roles like a media spokesperson, ideally merged with the Chief Lobbyist, and a junior lobbyist or intern for capacity support and execution of errands. Management should not be part of this exeution-group, instead they should be briefed regularly so that they can help handle internal affairs, like allocating resources and communication. 3️⃣ Start with a Plan: A Public Affairs Plan is the foundation of any lobbying effort. Define key asks, analyze the political and policy arena, identify decision-makers and stakeholders, plan actions for the next half-year, and articulate roles and structures. If you don't have a timeline with action, your lobby is a hobby, not a serious effort. 4️⃣ Rules of Engagement: Establish clear rules to keep the lobby machine self-propelled. Like agreeing to give read outs of meetings with MEP' and politicians. But also how the Principal is prepared and discussing who talks to whom? Regular Public Affairs agenda points in weekly meetings keep the team informed. But also don't have too many meetings, as too many of them shift the focus on internal affairs where victory is outside, not inside the organisation. 5️⃣ Monitoring, Strategic Foresight and Internal Communications Dedicate substantial time to strategic foresight, planning actions for the coming months. While I hate having too many internal meetings, I have the feeling I can't spend enough time on monitoring and strategic insight. Regularly inform the wider organization about lobbying activities through newsletters or blogs. So I hope you have an organisation that has a plan, allows you to go outside and helps you by allocating enough resources to lobbying? What am I missing? Drop me your thought 👇

As Brussels is about to pause between legislative terms, it's prime time to fine-tune your lobbying strategy. If your advocacy activities have been unsuccessful or less successful than you expected during the past term, it's a good moment to figure out why. Most of the issues faced by interest groups can be diagnosed using this 3-circle framework: 1️⃣ Problems of access Symptoms: ❌You don't know the people holding the pen or decision making power on the file affecting your cause ❌You know the right people but you can't get a meeting with them 2️⃣ Problems of messaging Symptoms: ❌You get to meet the right people but they don't seem to understand what you say/do not appear to be moved by what you say. 3️⃣ Problems of credibility Symptoms: ❌Your arguments and data are consistently not taken on board during decision-making process ❌People decline invitations for follow-up meetings and events with you ❌There are questions about your integrity (based on your previous engagements) ❌You inherit an organisation with legacy issues This exercise is difficult because it requires some soul-searching and a critical look at the mirror (if you can't get to do it yourself, hire a consultant to audit your situation). Unfortunately, this is the only way to avoid banging your head against the wall during the next 5 years.