The nature of issue advocacy is changing. Inside-the-beltway efforts alone are no longer enough to affect public policy outcomes if voters and constituents don’t support them.
Our approach is to design customized campaign strategies that change attitudes and influence public policy outcomes.
What does that mean? It means building a movement that surrounds public policy makers with a chorus of supporting voices, and reaches them through multiple channels so they understand their own constituents expect action on an issue. Our approach ensures policy makers feel the message, not just hear it.
Many efforts to influence federal policy focus narrowly on federal lobbying. Federal lobbying is an essential element in a successful campaign. Yet in a hyper-partisan and gridlocked Capitol, progress on big issues happens only when traditional efforts are supported by public demand.
The movements we build wrap the lobbying effort with outside support from branding and mobilization campaigns. By the time your lobbyist talks to a member of Congress, that member will have heard from constituents, supporters, and community leaders from their home district on your behalf. As one federal lobbyist recently said to Politico, “The more facets of a diamond, the more opportunity for the sparkle to get noticed.”
Policy makers are motivated to action by constituents. They are elected to serve their constituents, and they win re-election based on how well constituents believe they have performed.
Many American presidents have noted the power of the public in moving Members of Congress.
Reagan said, “I’ve had my share of victories in the Congress, but what few people noticed is that I never won anything you didn’t win for me. They never saw my troops; they never saw Reagan’s regiments, the American people. You won every battle with every call you made and letter you wrote demanding action.”
More recently, President Obama conveyed the same idea this way: “When the American People speak loudly enough, Congress listens.”
The movements we build harness the power of constituent advocacy.
