HOW TO INCREASE MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT IN PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY ?

When to it comes to public policy advocacy, associations often have a difficult time to keep members actively involved in important day-to-day issues. They struggle to activate busy professionals who can be difficult to motivate without a timely issue or crisis at hand. In order to be successful in their advocacy efforts, associations need to reach a critical mass of members.  

Increasing membership engagement

Establishing an advocacy nurture campaign is extremely valuable to effectively build and strengthen rapport and relationship with your members. Nurturing begins at the onset of the relationship, and the most efficient strategy is to start with an automated campaign for new members. When crafting the campaign,  it is important to identify what your members need and what you need from them.  It’s important to lay a solid foundation with your members, and it’s especially important to have a plan for engagement during the “quiet times” when issues are not looming. The key messaging during this time needs to speak to the heart of your members and the importance of the critical work they do. Here are some suggested themes to build into your campaign.

• Affirm and Appreciate:  Express how great the need is for their continued support. Your organization could never accomplish all it does without their help. Saying thank you is often overlooked in our business, but it is still one of the most important two words for advocacy partners to hear.
• Celebrate the Wins : Share real stories of the short-term and long-term impact your association has had on public policy. Your members can be change leaders that use their voice and influence to help shape the future. You can energize them by reflecting on the amount of positive change that has already taken place. Consider creating an accomplishment timeline or infographic to promote and recognize your accomplishments.
• Solicit and promote testimonials as a means to putting a face on the issues. There’s no motivation as powerful as knowing that you have made a difference.
• Expand the circle of Influence:  Build a sense of community. Provide opportunities for your members to give feedback, share experiences and communicate on social networks. Make sure your members are aware of and taking full advantage of the networking opportunities available to them. Equip them with pertinent information and promotional content to enable them to promote the growth of your organization.
• Developing a one-to-one communication style with your members. This can be accomplished by knowing your members well, including their motivations, challenges and expectations. With that knowledge you will be able to build rapport and develop strong and impactful relationships that result is increased engagement.

There are also those who argue that the key to increasing engagement is to make it a top priority in your organization, woven into the fabric of what you do. But that’s not always easy. The key is to relate your association’s advocacy work directly to the goals and interests of the membership and to make it relevant to them: Relevant, accessible, exciting and interesting. There are a lot of ways to do that. You can show how this improves their business. Being responsive to members and explaining the value in advocacy often in one-on-one conversations can have an impact over time. You can also figure out who your champions are and then work with other colleagues to find the next level of champions. Indeed, many organizations have found ways to underline the importance of advocacy in ways that resonate with their members e.g. creating an award that recognizes members engaged in advocacy. Highlighting members who get active can also help a great deal. Giving members who have done something some type of visibility really encourages others to do the same thing, too. How you discuss advocacy with members is also key. Being transparent about the length of the process and the need to see it as a long series of steps can also increase engagement. Members who completely understand the journey they are undertaking are far more likely to complete it, even if it goes on for years. Last but not least your members should appreciate that any advocacy takes a considerable amount of time and effort and there will be things out of your control.