Corporate Grassroots Advocate Development
For Kentucky and Tennessee State Farm Insurance employees, we delivered a campaign involvement school to facilitate employee relationships with elected officials. We also assisted the staff with participant screening and evaluations, and provided implementation timelines and benchmarks to maintain the post-training momentum. Within a week of training, over 70% of the participants signed on to a campaign.
For State Farm Insurance employees in Colorado, we conducted a Key Contact workshop that resulted in a 300% increase in Key Contact and lawmaker interactions.
"Thank you for the excellent campaign-training program that met and exceeded my goals and expectations. Over 70 percent of the participants are working on a campaign. It is apparent that the trainees were very motivated by your training techniques. Your knowledge of the insurance industry, extensive grassroots experience, and the enthusiasm you have for your work was very inspirational during this process."
– Dustin Miller, Public Affairs
Specialist,
State Farm Insurance Companies (formerly)
Public Policy Associates, LLC
National Association Grassroots Staff Development
For the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) we designed and delivered a series of staff development workshops. We began with a detailed survey of their most productive grassroots advocates and staff members, and then reverse-engineered the process to deliver their highest priority training outcomes. Our curriculum included, but was not limited to: increasing advocate meeting attendance, persuasive recruitment tactics, presentation skills development, and how to use the science of influence to increase member commitment and loyalty.
Corporate Grassroots Program Launch
Auntie Anne's Pretzels needed to create excitement about their re-vamped grassroots program to thousands of their franchises. We collaborated on the design of a persuasive grassroots recruitment presentation, and advised the staff on appropriate language and messaging for calls to action and newsletter communications. As a result, the responses to their grassroots employee mobilizations tripled.
"Amy's direct consultation was precisely what we needed to target and prioritize action items that are essential to starting a grassroots program. That is what is so great about Amy! Whatever the status of your grassroots program, she meets you where you're at and gives you the tools and direction to build the kind of grassroots results that will enhance your ability to share and influence public policy. As a result of our collaboration, one franchisee after another came up to me and said it was the best and most interesting presentation of the whole two-day event. They admitted that they used to delete my emails when they received them, but after my presentation, they want to get on board with grassroots advocacy. The President of our company even thought it was great. After conducting just three of these meetings, our action call participation rate jumped from 7% to over 22%."
– Andrew Weikert
Government Affairs Liaison,
Auntie Anne's, Inc.
National Non-Profit Grassroots Strategic Plan & Plan Implementation
The American Heart Association hired us to provide counsel and materials development for their five year grassroots strategic plan. Our collaboration included counsel on the plan presentation to senior AHA leadership, the creation of a strategic plan implementation manual, facilitation of affiliate staff meeting to create plan buy-in, and customized staff training workshops. Advocacy is now an integral part of how the AHA meets its objectives.
Increasing Quality Grassroots Participation and Senior Management Recognition
We conducted an all-day "boot camp" consultation with the government affairs team of the national Association for International Educators (NAFSA). We reviewed grassroots best practices and integrated them with their strategic grassroots goals.
Corporate Key Contact Program Establishment
For New York Life Insurance, we counseled staff on appropriate Key Contact selection, communications, and motivation strategies, as well as general employee grassroots communications and programming. We also created Key Contact role descriptions and an annual grassroots communications plan. The staff can now more easily manage their multiple grassroots and PAC responsibilities. We also analyzed existing PAC recruitment communcations for their scientific influence quotient, and recommended appropriate PAC recruitment messages based on the current employee attitudes and scientific influence strategies.
"We hired Amy because of her extensive knowledge of how to create sustainable grassroots and PAC programs. My staff was very comfortable working with Amy. As a result, they quickly organized a new Key Contact network, started a headquarter office grassroots program, and are gearing up to increase our PAC's visibility and contributions. Our team now has the confidence and knowledge to maintain these programs."
– Jessie Colgate
Senior Vice President
New York Life Insurance
Grassroots Advocate Training Resources
Our publication, 105 Ways to Build Relationships with Your Elected Officials is purchased by corporations and associations who want to encourage their advocates to do more than attend fundraisers and write letters to legislators.
Corporate Grassroots and PAC Recruitment
Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA) is the nation's larges provider of dialysis services and products for those suffering from kidney failure. An acquisition of another large dialysis provider presented new advocacy and PAC outreach opportunities for FMCNA's government relations team. We collaborated with Fresenius' direct lobbying and advocacy staff on several projects, including PAC/grassroots message testing and advocacy workshops. As a result, Fresenius now has 252 new Key Contacts, and has experienced an increase in PAC receipts.
Grassroots and PAC Leadership
In 2001, several experienced grassroots and PAC professionals across the country approached Amy Showalter, Peter Kennerdell, and Tony Kramer, asking them to develop a more advanced grassroots and PAC conference than was available through existing trade and professional organizations. The result is their annual Innovate to Motivate National Conference for Political Involvement Professionals. Innovate to Motivate is the first conference of its kind for political involvement professionals that incorporates a full PAC, grassroots, career acceleration, and science of influence curriculum.
Corporate Grassroots and PAC Change Management
The ConocoPhillips government affairs team was tasked with integrating multiple PAC and grassroots cultures, both from a major merger and several large corporate acquisitions. Cultural differences were significant on how the PAC's were managed.
We collaborated on a variety of grassroots and PAC development initiatives, including, but not limited to: PAC and grassroots message testing, employee PAC and grassroots leader training, a persuasive turn-key PAC presentation, a new PAC recruitment campaign, a members-only web site featuring special streaming video messages, and a comprehensive employee grassroots leader manual.
The PAC participation rate has increased 78% and receipts have increased 64%. Employee awareness of legislative issues impacting the company is clearly on the rise, and employees come forward on a regular basis asking to be on the grassroots leadership team. Membership on the grassroots leadership team has grown to over 200 employees in 14 states.
Grassroots Results
Increased Grassroots Visibility
with Presidential Candidates
Integration of Grassroots into Non-Profit Culture
The American Cancer Society
hired us to work with their national advocacy staff
throughout the country to develop tools and motivational
strategies for their grassroots advocates throughout
the country.
They hired us to work with the
volunteers in the early presidential primary states
on a “Campaign Against Cancer” initiative.
The goal was to urge presidential candidates to make
finding a cure for cancer a top legislative priority.
We trained volunteers across the
country on how to approach presidential candidates and
the media at town hall meetings, rallies, and fundraisers.
We showed them how to “work a room,” ask
provocative questions, and tell their personal stories
to candidates so that finding a cure for cancer would
be talked about more frequently in public campaign forums.
As a result, American Cancer Society
volunteers made over 140 personal volunteer contacts
with presidential candidates, and over 35 news articles
were published that featured ACS issues discussed at
town hall meetings.
Based on the new level of volunteer
activism, grassroots advocacy has become a vital part
of the American Cancer Society’s culture. The
Campaign against Cancer has been integrated into the
American Cancer Society’s culture with increased
staff, budget, CAC national events and collateral materials.
“This represented the first
time our organization ever achieved this type of attention
from candidates during the campaign season. Best of
all, we did it through real people, thus enhancing our
credibility with candidates and lawmakers.”
- Catherine Grant
Director, Grassroots Advocacy (formerly)
American Cancer Society
Professional Association Grassroots
Volunteer Leadership
The American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA)
needed to elevate the roles of their Key Contacts. We
designed a two day workshop focusing on advocate recruitment,
chapter leadership, advocacy motivation responsibilities,
and presentation skills training. The Key Contacts are
equipped to increase local grassroots involvement and
PAC contributions.
For the American Academy of Audiology,we conducted
a workshop to empower state chapter leaders to better
mobilize and communicate with their colleagues on issues
important to the association. The leaders now have clear
direction on how to grow their networks without spending
additional chapter funds.
Corporate Grassroots Influence Campaign
Southwest Airlines asked us to provide counsel on how to create persuasive messages and train their employee grassroots volunteers to carry their message throughout their communities. We provided ongoing strategic influence counsel to the Legislative Awareness team, conducted focus groups and developed salient focus group messages for use in the campaign. We also wrote and designed a persuasive turn-key presentation for employee use at community group meetings. Southwest won the issue, and this represented a cultural change in how they tackle major legislative influence challenges to a research-based approach.
"Amy's counsel as we developed our program has had lasting results. In fact, a recent employee grassroots campaign on major federal legislation resulted in over 13,000 personal letters to Members of Congress, helping to save our company millions of dollars a year. Our achievement was recognized and lauded by our company leaders. I attribute this to the solid organizational foundation and implementation strategies that we learned from Amy."
– Susan Goodman, Director, Legislator Awareness,
Southwest Airlines
For Dow Chemical, we created a grassroots
program management manual with numerous templates that help the staff
to maintain program momentum all year. We also counseled the staff on
how to build employee grassroots networks at key operating facilities,
including design of a recognition program for employee advocates. This
accelerated the development of their internal employee grassroots program.
We also conducted an influence audit of existing grassroots and PAC materials
which revealed opportunities to increase the utilization of scientific
influence principles in their employee communications. The staff now
has a template that incorporates scientific persuasion principles when
creating calls to action and issue updates.
Key Contact Program Establishment
For New York Life Insurance, we counseled staff on appropriate Key Contact selection, communications, and motivation strategies, as well as general employee grassroots communications and programming. We also created Key Contact role descriptions and an annual grassroots communications plan. The staff can now more easily manage their multiple grassroots and PAC responsibilities. We also analyzed existing PAC recruitment communications for their scientific influence quotient, and recommended appropriate PAC recruitment messages based on the current employee attitudes and scientific influence strategies.
Building Association Grassroots through Corporate Members
For the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), we developed materials for their corporate members to motivate employee grassroots involvement, as well as a grassroots procedures manual for IDFA staff, and counseled them on creating a member company grassroots award. The IDFA now employs a more strategic, purposeful approach to member company grassroots involvement, rather than ad hoc grassroots communications. This increased member company employee grassroots activity culminated in a victory on a perennial federal legislative issue.
Revitalizing an Existing State Wide Grassroots Network
For the National Safety Council (NSC) we re-organized a dormant statewide organization through the initiation of a regular newsletter publication, volunteer recognition, meetings with key volunteer leaders and the creation of a turn-key grassroots recruitment presentation for the Coalition’s volunteer leaders. We increased the Coalition’s membership by over 30% in six months. The legislation went further in the legislative process than it had in the previous four years. As a result, we were asked to present our methodologies to other NSC state grassroots consultants. The NSC staff stated that "your work in Ohio will serve as a model for our grassroots initiatives in other key states."
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