Three Ways to Give Your PAC and Grassroots Programs Staying Power (and why you should care)

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One of the revealing occurrences in our profession is the succession and transition process among political involvement professionals. It’s encouraging because it can reveal who was a good steward of their program by leaving it better than they found it. It’s discouraging when we find that the program was only as good as the leader; when the leader leaves, the program becomes less effective. I see this more with PAC’s than grassroots, but I see it enough that I think we need to examine whether we can create programs with longevity that last beyond the leader (and don’t get me wrong, the leader rightly has much to do with a program’s success, but that is an article for another time).

The book The Longevity Project by Howard Freeman and Leslie Martin shares the results of following over 1500 elementary school students to find out the habits of those who lived the longest. While you might think that their findings center on health and fitness, they actually point to other behaviors that determine longevity. As I read a synopsis of the book, I realized that there are several parallels for anyone who wants a grassroots program or PAC with staying power.  

Why Care About Your Program’s Longevity?

You might be wondering, “Fine, Showalter, but why should I care? No one stays in one job forever.” You should care because the past is prologue, and what you do accumulates. When you covet the next great job or promotion, your reputation will determine if you are even being considered. And your program’s results are your reputation.   

Here are a few of the behaviors that Freeman and Martin found bring about long life and I believe, political involvement programs that last beyond the current leader’s tenure.  

Focus on the Main and the Plain

The researchers found that the people who lived the longest weren’t the carefree, simple-living, people who live in a mountaintop yurt and practice yoga  24/7 (I’m for that, because as many of you know, I am a mountain girl and like yoga in small doses).  But that kind of lifestyle does not bring about more years. What does is having a goal and conscientiously working toward it, and following through with seemingly mundane tasks—the “main and plain” of your work, as I often say. Here’s an example. 

I conducted a client focus group with CEO’s of their member companies. One of the focus group members said, “You know, I wanted to start an internal grassroots network in my company and I contacted my association’s staff about having them help us get started. We talked about it, and they said they would get back to me, but they never did, they didn’t follow through, so I dropped the idea.” He went on to elaborate on how discouraged he was by their lack of follow-through. 

Most government relations professionals I know would get really excited about such an opportunity; they are begging for those types of requests because it builds the organization’s grassroots capacity. Even if this association did not have the skills to help the CEO establish such a program, why didn’t they follow up and explain why it wasn’t a priority?

The bottom line: Are you focusing on the main and the plain, are you conscientious? Are you consistent? Do you follow through? Try it, you and your program will live longer.

Give More to Live More

Next, they found that you’ve have to “give more to live more.”  Those who lived the longest had a servant’s heart.  

When is the last time you thought of how you could help a volunteer rather than focusing on what they can do for you or your program?  Are you giving them acknowledgement, praise (when deserved) and benefits from volunteering besides “making a difference?”  Give more and you’ll experience more longevity in your program.

Run the Rat Race

And last, those who lived the longest run the rat race---you read that right; they have grit. They tended to persevere at jobs they didn’t like more than once in their lives. The utopia of having their “dream job” was not the norm. Their reality was working in hard jobs that they did not always love, but again, they were conscientious and stuck it out.  

We concluded our first “Best of Innovate to Motivate” conference last month. It was designed to showcase our top rated faculty (it was hard to pick from over 250 workshops in the last 10 years!) for those who have not been able to attend the annual two and a half-day conference.

Some of the sound bites included:

“Be genuine, tell your story, make a difference – thanks Ann Gallagher for the inspiration!”

“I gained several new insights on how to use communications more effectively when under fire from sympathetic groups who are unfortunately wrong sometimes.  I learned about how to work with a PAC without cashing in your credibility. I learned a couple ways for how to keep annual issues fresh. And Leann and Heather gave some good tips for our fly-in event.”

“Usually I attend only my trade association's educational sessions. I2M gave me the chance to hear what is done in other industries and to hear about new ideas and different perspectives. Another key plus is that everyone at the conference is willing to share their experiences and insights.”

“I attend I2M partly because I am beginning to feel like "these are my peeps.” I see familiar faces and there is a sense of community. Also, it is a GREAT conference!”

“Here is my take away from Ann's session: Perception matters! I'm going to conduct a survey of close friends and colleagues to find out the top three things that come to their mind about me.”

“Kelly Knowles was phenomenal and her ideas are applicable to me and my PAC.”

“ Meaghan Killion Joyce's session was from a corporate PAC stand-point, but I found it provided great insight and useful tactics used for "the other side" that I can tweak and apply to my association PAC.”

“Both the strategic planning by Betsy Vetter and grassroots website session by Kristine Kilbride offered great ideas and real take backs to implement into my grassroots and PAC program.”

“I really enjoyed the Rock the Vote presentation - was so impressed with the science behind the work.”

“Amy was terrific in the PAC/Grassroots Town Hall just for having such a command of the topic to herd the group conversation into the allotted time without missing anyone. Of course, the insights offered including the research were fascinating.”

“Betsy Vetter gave very specific steps for implementing a strategic plan.”

“The workstorm on finding allies by Laura Feldman gave a great look at the personal relationships needed to cultivate grassroots.”

Welcome New I2M Advisory Committee Members

I2M has stood the test of time because we don’t just talk about volunteer leadership, we live it! Out Advisory Committee determines the majority of the conference curriculum, and also vets potential faculty members to ensure high-level content. We welcome our new committee members and look forward to burning some brain cells together:  

Eric Young, Wellpoint

Ken Goldsmith, American Bar Association

Elizabeth Burt, South Carolina Hospital Association

Sharon Sussin, NFIB – D.C.

Karin Sherbin, Virginia Credit Union League

Jolynne Flores, American College of Physicians

Thanks for reading!

IN THIS ISSUE

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