How does your organization prepare for Capitol Hill lobby days? When your advocates arrive in Washington, D.C., to promote your top issues, have you prepared them adequately for verbal jousts with members of Congress and their staffs?
You'll find practical answers in the newly revised position paper, "Five Minutes with Your Member of Congress: Navigating Your Next Washington Fly-in."
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The updated "Five Minutes with Your Member of Congress" features an opening statement that gives the lowdown on Congress' current policies for visits by the public. It begins, "The pandemic changed Capitol Hill and how its denizens interact with the public. The coronavirus crisis created a new environment as fly-ins morphed into Zoom-ins. Everyone had to adjust — your government relations staff, your advocates, Capitol Hill offices, and the consultant you work with to ready your troops."
A Crack in the Door
Congress is still following sensible health and safety precautions and has yet to reopen fully. As the paper notes, "When arriving for meetings on either the House or Senate side, visitors must wait outside to be escorted by staff."
Thus, the Zoom-in (as I like to call it) remains intact. Quoting from the new publication, "Smart organizations realize that a two-prong approach is necessary to get their advocates up to speed on both in person and remote Congressional visits. With many offices still taking only video meetings, preparation for a Zoom-in still demands attention. This means more preparation and work."
How can you steel your organization for this dual approach? The paper contains lots of strategic and tactical advice on how to prepare grassroots advocates, what to do when the big day arrives, the critical importance of assessing the performance of both your emissaries and your organization, and more.
Beyond the Beltway
While "Five Minutes with Your Member of Congress" concentrates on Capitol Hill, much of the strategy also pertains to petitioning state and local officials as well as regulatory bodies on the federal, state, and local levels.
As the updated position paper's closing statement posits, "This guide provides practical steps to streamline and improve your next Washington lobby day. Do you have what it takes to utilize grassroots advocacy on Capitol Hill to create success for your organization?"
Well, do you? Get your copy and position yourself for public policy success.
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