Engagement Edge: The Science & Practice of Political Involvement Amy Showalter

Beyond the Great Idea in the Shower - For Your Elevation - Insights for Clients of The Showalter Group

The problem with elementary benchmarking research is that it does not compare successful advocacy campaigns and unsuccessful ones. I read with a combination of intrigue and amusement a recent article about  the best mediums for advocacy communications. Before you start lighting torches and hoisting your pitchforks en route to my office, I do believe that having benchmarks is useful, but who determines if the benchmark represents successful persuasion? As you can imagine, I have an opinion.  Listen here.

Why You Need to Think Like a Hollywood Mogul for Attention, Persuasion and Action

Do you know the IQ (Influence Quotient) of your priority legislators, particularly those who will be meeting with your advocates?

In our second biennial GRIP® (Grassroots Influence Pulse) research, my colleague, Dr. Kelton Rhoads, had an insight that was superb, true, and vital for advocacy professionals and those they serve. One of the questions we asked was whether the organization’s relationships with elected officials was better or worse than the previous year. A majority responded that they were having better relationships, although they would also cite that legislators were less accessible, so I’m not sure how that squares, but they felt that the relationships were getting better. They also reported that legislators were voting in favor with their issues less frequently than in the past.

One of the reasons our advocate training is advanced training, is because we live in Realville. We teach advocates that the lawmaker constituent conversation is a two way influence street. It’s not a simple exercise where you fill the legislator’s empty brain (although I’m sure that is true at times) with information and they make a decision based on the volume of identical information they receive. We may wish it was that easy, but it’s not.

During a recent CEO Update event, a group of prominent association CEO's agreed that one advocacy outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic is that associations need to, "upskill, reskill and future-proof", the skills of their advocates. I was delighted to hear that, because we are not content for our clients to 'do the advocacy limbo', instead of raising the advocacy bar. My research for The Underdog Edge uncovered over 50 skills advocates who change a lawmaker's mind utilize...which one is particularly relevant in the virtual advocacy environment? To find out, listen in.

As I think more about the challenges advocacy and PAC professionals have with establishing proper program metrics, I realized that they cannot be solved with the same level of thinking that created the elementary, volume-oriented metrics commonly used. So, presto! A new Amyism.