Advocacy
Advocacy Days: Planning, Participating, and Following Up By: Owen Kavanagh, BOMA Georgia
Advocacy days are key events that allow individuals and shared interest groups to lobby legislators directly. Associations, nonprofits, businesses, and concerned citizens use them to let their representatives hear their voice and learn their constituents’ positions. Advocacy days involve careful planning, patient execution, and an attentive follow up.
Setting Up an Event Space Before your advocacy/lobby day can begin, it must be planned. You cannot arrive at your local legislature with a large group and demand a meeting. The process is different state by state, but all of them involve research, communication, and patience. Check your local legislature’s website to find any information on hosting events at the capitol building. Some states have this information available online, such as Ohio, Texas, and Georgia, who have event information available through their building administration websites. Arizona goes a step further. They use a web-form to screen prospective events, and this process can be expedited depending on the event’s needs. Some states have different requirements for hosting events, such as California, which requires a legislative member to sponsor your event before it is approved. Setting up an event at your state legislature may require nominal fees in renting the event space, AV equipment, tables, podiums, and other associated materials. These events may also require security, such as state troopers or local police officers, whose fees are based on group size. Make sure to find all rules and regulations regarding events and consider calling the Clerk of the House for your state legislature to
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CRE Insight Journal • Special Issue • 2021
find more information and resources.
Preparing Your Advocates Bringing and preparing a group to speak to legislators is a great way to get your issues at the forefront of an elected official’s mind. Preparing your advocates on what to speak about, and how, can be the difference between the success and failure of your lobby day. Ready talking points for your advocates. Make sure your group knows them well. Too much information can muddle an issue and keeping a tight focus will help get your point across and advocate to legislators. Be sure to explain the typical environment at the capitol to participants. Many of them may be nervous, and this can be mitigated by communicating how the legislature works and your group’s role in it to participants. Talking points and fact sheets will enable your advocates to speak with the backing of strong statistics and information. If you are a trade organization, these could be the economic impact of your members. If you are a business, this could be the impact you have on the local economy, your environmental savings, or even what you are doing to help the legislators constituency. Have everything your participants will need to engage with their legislators. This will help participants feel prepared and ready to speak with their elected officials and give them the tools to advocate not only for themselves, but for your organization as well.
