Government Relations – Positioning, Coalitions and Measuring
Success
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It is rare to find an association that is not involved
in some form of government relations (advocacy) activity. When
setting strategic direction, an association examines trends and
issues in the external environment to consider potential impacts.
One key external environment area reviewed is the political sector.
Political trends and issues can affect the way an association
and its members do business, practice, and/or provide valuable
services to communities, organizations and individuals.
Most associations are involved with one or more levels of government
beyond statutory reporting. Associations are involved in partnerships,
obtaining financial support and influencing the public policy
debate on a variety of issues. Being a tax preference organization
with provincial and federal governments is reason enough to be
involved and monitor government activity.
Some associations have formal government relations activities
identified in their Communication Plan and allocate significant
resources to achieve their government relations goals. Others
approach government relations efforts on an infrequent basis and
may allocate limited financial support due to scarce resources,
lack of training, and being unaware of the issues. They prefer
to follow the leaders or will not act unless a clear and imminent
threat is evident. Which scenario applies to your organization?
Some government relations activities are sensitive and there
may be a wide split in membership opinion on some issues. Member
surveys help Boards understand the importance of government relations
activity as a member benefit and determine which issues, if any,
need to be addressed.
For some associations government relations activity can be an
endless pit. There are no limits as to the amount of money that
can be spent on activities. Before you start throwing money in
the pit, it is critical to identify the issues your members want
you to go after, set priorities, develop desired positioning,
determine available resources, establish a basis for measuring
success and evaluation, and develop an action plan. This approach
may prevent an association from spreading itself too thinly and
help focus on one or two issues where its position is taken seriously.
This type of thinking leads to pro-active government relations
activity.
Positioning and Partnership Coalitions
Most associations are in a position to develop their desired
positioning with government and support it with a plan. They then
become one of many associations lined up to engage in government
relations activity. Results are not usually achieved in the next
quarter – depending on the issue it could take years of
effort, and in many cases, the ultimate goal is not achieved.
I have been told by senior bureaucrats on more than one occasion
that associations are too fragmented. Government prefers to deal
with a lesser number of groups. As a result, the group representing
many associations moves to the head of the list. What does this
mean? It means that your positioning and efforts to be taken seriously
advance when you engage in partnership coalitions. Coalitions
work. They respond to governments desire for consensus. They make
better use of human and fiscal resources, benefit from economies
of scale, and increase the chances for success.
Partnership coalitions are not easy to establish and maintain.
Key questions to ask to ensure partnerships get off the ground
and operate successfully include:
- Do we not only understand the values, goals and constraints
of the partnership itself but also the values, goals and constraints
of the other partners?
- Do we have a shared vision and clear expectations of what
will constitute success?
- Do we have policies that will deal with use of staff resources,
funding, publicity, general communications, conflict on issues,
clearly defined roles and responsibilities and reporting?
- Do we have a supportive operational plan and enough human
and financial resources?
A health association executive recently suggested that once you
have been involved in one or two partnership coalitions, they
become easier to administer. While you do give up some measure
of control, this is offset by increased influence and a better
use of resources.
Measurement
How is the success of government relations activity measured?
How will you know today and in the future that you accomplished
what you set out to accomplish? The answer is to include performance
indicators in the early stages of planning. Performance indicators
may relate to new or amended legislation, approval for financial
support or whatever the association wants to do, such as being
consulted on issues that relate to members' activity. Timelines
should be attached to the performance indicators. Reports indicating
progress toward the performance indicators within the desired
timelines should be provided on a regular basis. This reporting
allows the Board to consider corrective action or cease activities
due to other priorities.
Associations need to eliminate as much risk as possible in government
relations activity.
- Do not take too much information to the meeting.
- Do not fail to provide advance copies of any position paper,
and provide an executive summary.
- Do not book an appointment for yourself and show up with
three others.
- Do not call only when there is something you need.
- Do not fail to acknowledge efforts and action by the government
that have been beneficial to the association's members;
- Read the plans and reports of the department to understand
what they are involved in.
- Do not use acronyms in reports and presentations.
- Use the government's own language.
- Focus on what unites rather than what divides; and be seen
as a constructive source.
Students in CSAE's Association Management Education Program (AME)
often discuss how difficult it is to measure government relations
success, as efforts can be spread over many years. Surveys are
a good indicator of public or membership perceptions in terms
of success. Other methods involve the use of report card type
activity where success can be measured by legislative changes,
contracts or funds received, completion of process steps such
as meetings, and media coverage. One association likes to look
at the efforts of other similar associations to measure its success.
An association can reduce mistakes and increase its effectiveness
by seeking out government relations best practices. An example
of a best practice follows:
Board, staff and outside consultants usually take the lead role
in government relations and sometimes members do not understand
why the association cannot have government put in place or revise
some policy in three months. To increase understanding and the
number of participants to support and expand the scope of government
relations efforts, an association can provide government relations
training opportunities for members.
You can find practices like these in the Best Practices section
at www.csae.com.
This column features innovation and practical solutions applied
to challenges, trends, issue and opportunities for the association
community. Column editor Jim Pealow, MBA, CMA, CAE is a consultant
and the Association Management Education Program Lead Instructor/Coach
for CSAE. He can be reached at jim@amces.com.
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