Stewardship is the most important piece

Stewardship is the most important piece to moves management. Elected officials usually hear from organizations only when they need something, but successful advocacy groups maintain regular contact with electeds.

A colleague told me, "The most important work with legislatures occurs not when they are in session, but during the breaks in between."

Say thanks

After an elected official takes an action you asked for, please be sure to say thanks -- again and again.

Make sure your surrogates thank the officials personally. Phone calls, handwritten notes, and personal messages go a long way.

Make sure your advocates/activists thank the officials en masse. Just as you ask supporters to urge action, you should deploy action alerts for "thank you" calls to elected officials who have helped your organization. Hundreds of emails thanking an official can make him or her go, "Gee, I made the right choice here."

Make sure the people you serve thank the officials. Nothing is more effective than getting a note from a person who benefits from or participates in your programs.

Awards
You can take your stewardship to the next level by presenting annual awards to elected officials who have helped your organization. Everyone likes awards, and they will remember that your organization honored them. Presenting awards also gives a press opportunity to get exposure for both your organization and the official.

Restarting Moves Management
Finally, schedule a follow-up meeting to restart the moves management process. Have your surrogates sit down to make an in-person "thank you" and ask for advice for the next round of funding or the next legislative session.

With that follow-up meeting, moves management then becomes a cycle. You continue cultivating that relationship to prepare for a new ask later down the road.

Present a clear, succinct ask for the elected official

Now that you've spent time cultivating relationships with elected officials, it's time to ask them to do what you need. Prepare a written, one-page ask in letter or memo form that outlines what you need from the elected official.

You should call a meeting with the official and your surrogates to explain your case and present an ask letter.

Remember those three-paragraph essays we learned about in high school? My English teacher, Dr. Bloom, taught me to "tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, and finally tell them what you just said." That advice fits with government relations for non-profits.

Good business writing is vital to advocacy work, yet it is often lacking when people write elected officials. Harvard Business Review has a great blog post on better business writing and offers a comprehensive business writing guide for $20. Both are well worth the read.

Here are some tips for you to write an ask letter for elected officials:

Your ask should be succinct -- no more than one page. This is not the time to test your skills in writing complex prose. Too often, constituents and non-profits send 4-5 page letters to elected officials and expect them to be read and digested word-for-word. Elected officials and staff have limited time and need easily-read documents.

Note: If you absolutely need to present more than one page of information, consider attaching or enclosing an addendum with more information. Still keep the "ask letter" to one page.

Your ask should be in the first paragraph. In many letters to elected officials, the ask is buried after pages of introduction and buildup. You should get to the point early on and then follow with corroboration.

Your ask should be specific. If you want action on legislation, include the bill number. If you want money, provide the exact amount. What will the money be used for? Why is it important?

Your ask should give details about your organization. Provide clear metrics on what you do and why it matters. How many people do your serve? Are you effective? How many people are affected by your cause? How are you good stewards of public money?

Your ask should refute your opposition or acknowledge reality. If you know there are groups who oppose you or if you know the political climate is difficult, acknowledge the situation but provide information that might allay the elected official's concerns.

Your ask should explain what's in it for them. If your organization has a large following, mention that. If you organization works within the official's district, mention that. If you have a PAC or 501(c)(4), mention that.

Your ask should incorporate advice they have given you. If you got advice from them during the cultivation phase, mention it in your letter to let them know you were listening.

Your ask should give a timeline. If you need an answer by a certain time, let the official know.

Your ask should provide contact information if the elected official or staff members have questions or need to follow up.

Your ask should be signed by a good surrogate, preferably someone who has met with the official before.

Here is a sample letter:

Sample Ask Letter for Budget Consideration

Cultivating relationships with elected officials

A successful government relations program focuses on building relationships with elected officials before asking them for something.

Fundraisers have figured this out. Seldom do development officers meet random strangers and ask them for $10,000 gifts in the first conversation. They take careful steps to build regard and understanding.

How do you build a relationship with an elected official? Start first with an introductory meeting to introduce elected officials to your organization and its cause. Before you pick up the phone, though, there are a few things you need to consider:

Use your surrogates to build relationships. Remember, surrogates are respected members of the community who can carry your message. Based on your research, find the right surrogate to accompany you on your visit and be sure to reference the surrogates when you call to make your appointment.

Ask for advice. Heed an adage I lived by during my fundraising days: "Ask for money, and you'll get advice. Ask for advice, and you'll get money."

Use the introductory meeting to ask the elected official for advice on how you can be successful with your advocacy goals.  Some key questions to ask:

• How can we achieve our objective?
• What's the process for our objective?
• What are our chances for success?
• What can we do to bolster our case?
• Who else do we need to meet with?

Follow up.  Immediately send a follow-up note and have your surrogates do the same. After the meeting, take any steps the elected official recommended. For added follow-up, invite your elected official to tour your facility or attend an event you may be hosting.

Identify good surrogates for your organization

Non-profit executive directors usually handle meetings with elected officials, but including strong surrogates will help you deliver the message. Elected officials are more likely to take a meeting request from someone "important" than a non-profit staffer. Surrogates need to be respected members of the community and have name recognition.

Good surrogates include:

• Your board chair
• Other influential board members
• Your largest donors
• Local business leaders
• Influential supporters like local or state celebrities
• Other elected officials (we'll call them "champions" in later posts)

The Conservation Trust for North Carolina, on whose board I sit, lobbied the North Carolina General Assembly to restore funding to the Clean Water Management Trust Fund. CTNC sent three people to lobby the legislature:  the executive director, the board chair, and Eric Montross, a board member and UNC basketball standout from the 1990s. Legislators were eager to meet with Eric and restored $1.5 million to the trust fund.

If you can't think of people who fit this bill, invest time in finding surrogates for your organization. Consider adding influential people to your board or even developing an honorary board of local and state celebrities. Also, talk with you donors about your government relations needs and cultivate them as potential surrogates.

You may want to consider organizing a Government Relations Committee for your board to follow the legislative process and serve as formal surrogates for the organization.