K Street Cafe

This morning at the Public Affairs Council’s National Grassroots Conference, former Member of Congress J. C. Watts spoke on what makes an effective grassroots advocacy strategy. Obviously, every Member of Congress has their own unique perspective, but it was helpful to hear from someone on the “inside” who advocacy organizations are trying to influence.

One interesting point Watts made was that he and his staff took notice of the volume of communications from constituents on any given issue:

“When I ask my staff, ‘Have we heard from constituents about an issue?’ and they say that we have received 47 calls, that does not impress me. But, if we receive 547 calls, then everyone sits up and takes notice. I think there must be something legitimate going on. We need to take notice.”

And then later, during a question and answer period he said:

“When the staff tells me we received 721 communications on an issue it makes me say, ‘Something is going on here – we need to find out more and take notice.’ ”

Watts then outlined some tips for Grassroots practitioners who are trying to influence Congress. He spoke about the good, the bad and the ugly:

The Good

*Messaging that is not “DC speak,” but rather “hometown speak.”

*Considering replacing fly-ins to DC with meetings with district office staff – you may have more influence.  There is an old saying, “The staff in DC works with the Member, the staff in the district works for the Member.”

*Calling sometimes, not because you want something but to say “thank you” or to ask how you can help.

The Bad

*Targeting Hill staff personally (unless you have a relationship).

*Being unprepared. Before you take up the time of a Member know your subject matter.

*Not respecting time. Pick up on clues – if you hear, “Congressman it’s 10:20,” you should know to start wrapping things up. Once a Member gets off schedule it’s hard for him or her to catch up

The Ugly

*Shutting down an office with inbound communications. Some would say it’s a good thing, but Members and their staff remember this and it often gives organizations a bad reputation.

*Not being truthful. Come to the table with integrity. Don’t be disingenuous.

If you’re interested in hearing what else is being said at the Public Affairs Council’s National Grassroots Conference, you can follow on Twitter using the hashtag #GRConf10.