How Action Strategies builds relationships with legislators & prepares associations for meetings with MPs

From the Canadian Construction Association, Canadian Hydropower Association and even the National Trade Contractors Coalition of Canada, we have followed a number of tried strategies to build our relationships in government and prepare association professionals for meetings with policy makers. If you have minimal knowledge of government affairs or the people in it, you can be left feeling helpless--relying almost blindly on your contractors to guide you through a labyrinth of protocol, rules, precedence, unique customs, and complex interrelationships to achieve their goals. With the stakes for your association high--such as passage or defeat of an important piece of legislation--skillful management of your contract lobbying resources is critically important. Even more so, is understanding the processes and strategies in building a network in government.

In government relations, meaningful influence and relationships depends on trust, and it has to be earned with all those involved in the government’s policies and decisions from both the political and bureaucratic sides of government. We throughly research all of the contacts and influencers along the way to success. As such, we make certain not to avoid even the slightest contact we may not be certain directly impacts on our client's issue. Along the way, by even making good with lower level staff, we show respect and as a result, have continued to manage our contact base. Some of those whom we met years back as junior staffers are now in very high level positions!

Finally, by engaging the broadest possible group – your Board, the wider membership, the client groups of your organization, the media, the members of other political parties, the community at large and your own family and friends – in a shared effort to make things better; we have continued to build bases of support that have made the difference for legislative success.

We engage also a number of other strategies, including online outreach. What strategies have you found successful?


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Mark Buzan is Principal of Action Strategies, a GR Consultancy for non-profits. If you have questions on how you feel your organization could benefit from legislative monitoring services or even undertaking a grassroots advocacy initiative. Subscribe now to his Lobbying tips newsletter at www.actionstrategies.ca

With the budget coming, new Ministers & parliament prorogued, where does your agenda stand?

After 3 months of Parliament out of session and a state where bills need to be re-introduced, organizations need to review where they stand with the government. 70 pieces of legislation will need to be re-introduced this Spring. The coming budget will also make a time for association executives to be more vigilant than ever. Contract lobbyists can be a great benefit to any government affairs program. Larger associations can use them to handle big projects and even mentor staff. Smaller associations may find that they can gain instant access and quickly match the clout of political adversaries. To that effect, the value of legislative monitoring comes to point.

The measure of success for many association executives, like it or not, has gradually become increased member services and stronger finances. This is especially true for small associations; although their resources may be strapped, they still carry the burden of members with high expectations. Since they can't be at the legislature or on Parliament Hill and managing member services simultaneously, keeping on track of developments is a tall order. Sometimes, even one small or undetected aspect of a piece of legislation otherwise unnoticed can make a difference.

When Parliament was prorogued in late December and new Ministers were nominated thereafter, the hard work your association may have undertaken in the past may need to be repeated. The situation however may even mean that legislative monitoring will be required to take a double take on where your organization finds itself. When Parliament returns on March 3 the Harper government could introduce a motion to restart its legislative agenda right where it left off, but the Liberals say they won't necessarily support it. If this occurs, the possibility of your association going before parliament again is very high and identifying once again before legislators and their staff will require a ramp up strategy.

Start by asking yourself a simple question: What are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to pass legislation, which is often a demanding job, or defeat legislation, which is typically easier? Many associations face obstacles as they seek to affect the actions of government, particularly rulemaking or administrative actions. Both the legislature and the civil service will follow specific but often very different rules.

Your success will depend largely on how relationships are managed and nurtured. Small lobbying firms such as Action Strategies should never be discounted. Our solitude often makes us nimble enough to keep up with big firms and we have usually, out of necessity, developed excellent information networks. We can also nicely round off a team of lobbyists that an issue may require and quickly become part of your team.


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Mark Buzan is Principal of Action Strategies, a GR Consultancy for non-profits. If you have questions on how you feel your organization could benefit from legislative monitoring services or even undertaking a grassroots advocacy initiative. Subscribe now to his Lobbying tips newsletter at www.actionstrategies.ca

Counseling Associations on Better Governance in a Social Media Age

Working with non-profits, I hear the continuing comment from association execs: "I like the idea of social media or a blog but what if someone says something negative about us?" In my last posting, I touched on the point that in all honesty, your bigger risks are not participating or having a social network presence devoid of participation.

That said, association executives and board members would be wise to consider strategic planning that reflects upon the following:

Avoid anonymous postings on other blogs or social networking sites: In the world of social media, commonsense rules still apply. It’s not wise to make hidden or anonymous attempts to influence the public perception in any forum.

Have a clear participation policy: Let your staff know the rules of when and if they are speaking on behalf of your organization. By like turn, be certain to explain to them that whether they like it or not, they should be mindful of what they place in social networking spheres in their personal lives can be cross referenced easily on the net and as a result, it can reflect on the organization that employs them! As a basic rule, don't post what one would not want neighbours to know about in one's personal life.

Decide on who speaks for the organization: Good social media communication and good governance protocols call for identifying who in your organization will speak. Depending on your audience and with whom they most regularly interact, this might vary from case to case.

Be flexible: I encourage experimentation and testing of new social media tools. Social media tools are new and developing rapidly. However, if no policies cover future technologies, organizations will need to be practical and flexible in dealing with them using what ever resources available. However, organizations should only adopt only those tools and platforms that will help them advance their mission, and not because they are trendy or cool.

What challenges is your organization confronting and how do you expect to face the needed paradigm shift?


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Mark Buzan is principal and chief magnifier in Action Strategies, a full service strategic communications, public relations and public affairs consultancy for nonprofits and associations. He is currently collaborating on a new book for the American Society of Association Executives called "The Will to Govern Well" where he will be providing advice on how associations can better adjust their governance structures in a Web 2.0 world. You can view his website at www.actionstrategies.ca.

Social Media changes control over your brand!

How is your association's governance structure adapting?

Social media offers important opportunities to connect with your supporters. However, you must be willing to let conversations about your organization occur - even if you are not driving the message! Time and time again, I hear the continuing comment from association execs to the effect of: "I like the idea of social media or a blog but what if someone says something negative about us?"

What are the risks vs. opportunities to an association's brand when your audiences control the message?

Many organizations think the biggest risk of social media is that people will use it to say negative things about them. That's certainly worth addressing, but the biggest risk is actually the opposite: that your organization will create a social media presence, and nobody will participate. There's no shortage of deserted online communities out there, some of them beautifully designed and clearly very expensive. Others garner participation... but the conversations quickly veer off-topic or into belligerent shouting matches. And still others start off well, but can't sustain their momentum; some aren't ready to scale up, some encounter embarrassing technical failures, and some just peter out and fade away.

So how do you avoid their fate? A compelling reason to participate... thinking about your audience before you think about anything else... staffing up to encourage participation and put out fires... and both knowing and pushing the limits of your organizational... these can all help. But nothing works quite as well as knowing social media in your bones, and that means diving in yourself and understanding exactly where your supporters can be found with the topics that will motivate them to participate.

Web 2.0 makes it easy to reach a worldwide audience, but the heady possibilities come with potential liabilities. Any errors in communication will be amplified. This is why many organizations find the concept of social media pretty scary. Allowing employees to blog, tweet or post Facebook updates is obviously more risky than not permitting anything outside the standard channels. Especially if those employees are executives or at the board level where devolving information or opinions could impact on the whole of a cause or industry.

As a communications guy that believes in associations being willing to expose even the ugly side of things from time to time (provided there are communications plans in place to respond and counter), social media really is going to change some aspects of how associations even govern themselves. For example, who will speak for the organization? Who owns the association's brand? In essence, social media will need to reposition may of the protocols in place in the strategic business plans of associations.

While all of these issues may seem scary, properly prepared communications protocols, social media policy, and a communications plan tied to solid governance principles in a non-profit's by-laws can effectively mitigate the risks. What concerns do you have about social media?


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Mark Buzan is principal and chief magnifier in Action Strategies, a full service strategic communications, public relations and public affairs consultancy for nonprofits and associations. Contact him for advice on reaching audiences you may or may not have yet considered in your marketing communications and PR campaigns. You can view his website at www.actionstrategies.ca.

The age of Cloud Computing & Online Membership Management

Two opportunities have come my way for interesting discussion which I feel enters at least on the peripheries of social media and online public relations for associations and non-profits. Recently, I was made aware of a possibility of speaking at the Trillium Chapter of CSAE's annual Tech Conference. The subject? Cloud Computing and Social Media. What is cloud computing? Basically, this new development allows organizations to store information on online sources instead of on individual hard drives. Myself, being an active Mac user subscribe to a similar service with Apple's Me.com. This new development provides some interesting opportunities in that from a social media perspective, groups and in particular, associations can share information amongst colleagues, members and supporters. Security protocols can limit access where needed and allow groups of stakeholders to contribute online to documents, for example.

With memberships being the lifeblood of many associations, keeping track of them all can be a challenge - especially in a social media age where everyone on the net expects content to be personalized. As a result, I am firm believer that for associations and NGOs to stay ahead of the curve and communicate regularly (and in a personalized manner) with their supporters. For that to occur, associations need to develop robust CRM (Customer Relationship Management Software) databases. Smart organizations also develop means of allowing this information to be shared over distances, safely stored at a remote location, and preferably allow their supporters to contribute to the database online.

As recently as a few years ago, an organization who wanted to do even mildly sophisticated things online needed to hire web designers and programmers to create a custom member database, to design their website, or to customize existing software to their needs. The process was expensive and laborious. Often these projects would require elaborate and expensive IT infrastructure. And, all too often, the end result was just a temporary fix — a site unable to accommodate the growing organization or, even worse, failing to meet its goals in the first place.

This leads me to the second opportunity which has had me thinking of social media, cloud computing and membership management - all of which are essential to successful membership retention and recruitment. I stumbled upon a newly released white paper "Membership Management Software Selection Guide: For non-profit organizations". While it is produced by my friends at Wild Apricot, it does present a number of important points in how you would consider managing your membership from a cloud computing perspective.

So, how is your NGO or association considering cloud computing, online membership management or even the sharing of documents online?


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Mark Buzan is principal and chief magnifier in Action Strategies, a full service strategic communications, public relations and public affairs consultancy for nonprofits and associations. Contact him for advice on reaching audiences you may or may not have yet considered in your marketing communications and PR campaigns. You can view his website at www.actionstrategies.ca.