What is a grasstops advocacy program and how does it differ from grassroots?
A grasstops advocacy program mobilizes influential individuals within your organization who have established relationships with lawmakers, such as board members, executives, and well-connected volunteers. Unlike grassroots advocacy which targets broad supporter bases for volume-based outreach, grasstops focuses on personalized, relationship-driven engagement. Grasstops advocates leverage their existing connections for direct meetings, targeted communications, and strategic influence during critical legislative phases like hearings and markups.
How does grasstops advocacy relate to public affairs?
Grasstops advocacy allows public affairs teams to connect to elected officials through personal connections in order to advocate on behalf of their issue. Grasstops and grassroots advocates are both important to a successful advocacy strategy, but organizations should consider four specific strategies when working with grasstops versus grassroots advocates.
An important role of grasstops advocates are in-person visits with a legislator’s office that can help move the needle on issues an organization cares about.
To organize a successful grasstops advocacy campaign that supports your ambassador program, organizations should seek out specific strategies, such as giving advocates a specific ask.
What are the three main pillars of building an effective grasstops program?
The three essential pillars are:
- Identification – finding members with existing lawmaker relationships through surveys, lead-generation campaigns, and peer referrals.
- Education – providing comprehensive training through webinars, one-pagers, advocacy handbooks, and peer-to-peer mentoring to prepare advocates for effective communication.
- Mobilization – establishing consistent outreach schedules (monthly or quarterly) beyond urgent requests, including in-district meetings, social media campaigns, and annual fly-ins to maintain engagement.
How do I identify the right advocates for my grasstops program?
Start by surveying your membership to discover existing relationships with legislators. Look for board members, executives, major donors, and community leaders with political connections. Use lead-generation campaigns and peer-to-peer referral programs. Focus on individuals with credibility, influence, and willingness to engage. Consider business leaders, former elected officials, respected activists, and those with personal or professional ties to lawmakers. Document relationship strength, frequency of contact, and legislative priorities.
What training and resources should I provide to grasstops advocates?
Provide comprehensive educational materials including video training series, webinars, one-pagers, and infographics on key issues. Equip advocates with organizational data about membership and legislative representation. Offer advocacy training in virtual, in-person, or hybrid formats covering messaging, meeting protocols, and communication techniques. Supply talking points, fact sheets, and impact data. Implement peer-to-peer training where experienced advocates mentor newcomers. Maintain year-round educational content to keep advocates informed and engaged.
How often should I mobilize my grasstops advocates?
Establish a regular mobilization schedule rather than limiting outreach to urgent requests. Best practice suggests monthly or quarterly touchpoints to maintain relationships and advocate confidence. Year-round engagement opportunities include in-district meetings during legislative recesses, social media campaigns, site visits, annual fly-ins, and regular educational briefings. This consistent approach strengthens relationships with lawmakers, keeps advocates prepared, and ensures your organization maintains visibility throughout the legislative cycle, not just during critical votes.
What technology and tools do I need to manage a grasstops program?
Essential tools include a CRM system to track advocate relationships and legislator interactions, advocacy software for message segmentation and campaign management, and reporting dashboards to monitor engagement metrics. Use social media platforms for amplification, event management software for meetings and fly-ins, and communication tools for advocate updates. Consider platforms that offer relationship mapping, automated outreach capabilities, legislative tracking integration, and ROI measurement features to demonstrate program impact to stakeholders.
How do I measure the success and ROI of my grasstops program?
Track both quantitative and qualitative metrics including number of legislator meetings secured, policy wins influenced, amendments adopted, and financial impact of legislative outcomes. Monitor advocate engagement rates, relationship strength scores, and message delivery success. Measure meeting-to-action conversion rates, media mentions generated, and coalition partnerships formed. Document specific examples where grasstops relationships changed legislative positions. Use advocacy software to track these KPIs and create reports demonstrating program value to leadership and stakeholders.
What are best practices for grasstops advocate communication with legislators?
Encourage advocates to leverage personal connections and share compelling personal stories that illustrate policy impact. Prepare customized talking points for each advocate based on their relationship and the legislator’s priorities. Focus on face-to-face meetings, site visits, and direct phone calls rather than mass emails. Time outreach strategically around committee hearings, markups, and key votes. Ensure advocates follow up meetings with thank-you notes and maintain ongoing dialogue beyond specific asks.
How do I integrate grasstops with my existing grassroots advocacy efforts?
Use grassroots campaigns to build momentum and demonstrate broad support, then deploy grasstops advocates for targeted influence at critical decision points. Coordinate messaging across both programs while tailoring depth and personalization. Leverage grassroots data to identify potential grasstops relationships. Use grasstops advocates as spokespersons for grassroots campaigns. Time grassroots volume campaigns to precede grasstops meetings, creating a foundation of constituent concern that grasstops advocates can reference in their personalized outreach.
What budget and resources do I need to launch a grasstops program?
Budget considerations include staff time for program management, technology platforms ($5,000-$50,000 annually depending on size), training materials and events, travel costs for fly-ins and meetings, and communication tools. Allocate resources for initial advocate identification surveys, ongoing education programs, and recognition events. Consider hiring a dedicated program manager for organizations with 50+ advocates. Factor in costs for professional development, advocacy coaching, and program evaluation. Start small with pilot programs to demonstrate value before scaling.