How to Craft a Winning Public Affairs Strategy
As state legislatures across the country adjourn for the summer — and in many cases, for the rest of the year — it’s a good time to take stock of your policy landscape.
How did your organization fare this legislative session? Were you able to advance your public policy priorities? Did key legislation move forward? Do adopted regulatory changes support your mission and the communities you serve?
Whether your organization has a government affairs function or engages in advocacy informally, one thing is clear: Strategic communications plays a critical role in shaping public policy outcomes.
Now is the time to prepare a winning public affairs strategy for next year.
A holistic approach to policy
Too often, organizations view government affairs mainly as lobbying. Direct engagement with policymakers is important, but it is only one part of a successful advocacy strategy. The most successful government affairs programs rest on three simple and mutually reinforcing pillars:
- shaping public opinion
- building and mobilizing a constituency
- direct representation before decisionmakers
1. Shape the opinion environment
Before policymakers can act, they must understand the problem and its importance. They must also get a clear sense that public opinion supports your cause. The challenge is that while your mission is central to your organization, it is not necessarily central to anyone else. Elected officials, regulators, journalists, and the public face competing priorities daily.
That’s why broad-based public awareness is so important. Organizations seeking policy change must invest in educating the public about the challenges at hand, and about the benefits of proposed solutions.
A strategic communications plan that supports your government relations initiatives, you should combine earned media, social media, stakeholder communications, and paid media when resources allow.
The goal is to raise awareness of your issue and mission, and to establish your organization as a credible voice. You must effectively communicate the imperative for action.
2. Build and mobilize a constituency
Awareness alone rarely changes policy. Successful advocacy organizations cultivate a network of supporters, including those whose lives are impacted by an issue and would be improved through policy change. These supporters bring the issue to life through their experiences, expertise, and community standing.
Depending on the issue, key stakeholders may include consumers, employers, business leaders, community organizations, and working professionals. Influential leaders can open doors and lend credibility, while broad-based public engagement demonstrates the depth of support behind an issue.
Building your constituency requires sustained effort. Supporters must be recruited, informed, engaged, and nurtured over time. The most effective organizations can quickly mobilize advocates when opportunities arise to contact legislators, submit testimony, attend public hearings, participate in media opportunities, or share their stories publicly.
Elected and appointed officials are far more likely to pay attention when they hear consistent messages from a diverse and credible group of stakeholders.
3. Execute effective direct representation
The third element of successful government relations is direct engagement with policymakers and regulators.
To represent your cause, you may find yourself working with professional lobbyists, association representatives, government affairs staff, organizational leadership, board members, or subject matter experts. Whatever the role of the person you want to engage on your behalf, successful representation depends on solid preparation, unassailable credibility, and vibrant relationships.
You must prepare your representatives with compelling data, persuasive arguments, constituent stories, and practical solutions. Equally important, effective advocates build or have relationships before they need them. Policymakers are more likely to engage with individuals they know and trust.
Policymaking is a rough and tumble game of give and take. Your advocates need to be visible and present all the time, constantly building relationship capital and influence.
A winning strategy
The strongest government affairs programs recognize that policy change rarely results from a single meeting, campaign, or legislative session.
Success occurs when organizations simultaneously shape public understanding, cultivate stakeholder support, and maintain effective representation before decisionmakers. These three elements reinforce one another.
Not every advocacy effort will result in immediate legislative or regulatory victories. But organizations that invest consistently in these three areas are far more likely to ensure that their voices are heard when important decisions are made.
Contact us to talk about how we can help you take your pbulic affairs strategy to the next level.
