Grassroots and grasstops
IT was the first time that my organization, the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE), the “association of associations,” has delved into the subject of public policy advocacy. It is not that we’re not interested in the topic; it is just that we do not have a body of knowledge on it yet.
So when an opportunity came to invite the public policy advocacy officers of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), we enthusiastically organized right away a webinar entitled, “Advancing Public Policy Advocacy: The ASAE Experience.” Mary Kate Cunningham, CAE, senior vice president for public policy, and Nate Fisher, manager of the public policy and political action committee of ASAE, shared their expertise and experience on the subject.
Public policy advocacy by associations in the United States is commonplace and well-known. Many associations, in fact, are based in Washington, DC, USA and surrounding areas so they can be close to legislators and policymakers.
Public policy advocacy covers a wide range of activities that can influence decision-makers, e.g., litigation, lobbying, and public education. It also includes capacity and relationship building, networking and leadership development.
Associations play an important role in the development of public policy to promote an informed, healthy and strong democratic society. Whether they concern at-risk children, individuals and families experiencing homelessness or small businesses struggling during the pandemic, there are only few institutions closer to the real problems of people and society than associations. They can also be an essential bridge between their members and policymakers such as in the case of ASAE.
Mary Kate and Nate presented several tools to advance public policy advocacy and among them are “grassroots and grasstops” campaigns.
According to Call Hub, an international telephony provider, grassroots advocacy involves getting ordinary citizens (or members, in the case of associations) to start powerful conversations around the issues they care about with their elected officials. By combining and channelling many voices around a single issue, there is a better chance of getting leaders to sit up and listen. These efforts often come in the form of rallies, patch-through calls and e-mails.
Grasstops advocacy involves enlisting the help of individuals with personal connections with the decision makers your association is targeting, e.g., political donors, current and former leaders of the decision makers’ political party, or other inf luential people. Grasstops advocates reach out to the targeted decision makers in a number of ways: in-person meetings, e-mails/ letters and patch-through calls.
Combining grassroots and grasstops advocacy make sense when approaching an issue on as many fronts as possible. And while both advocacy campaign quality and quantity certainly have their advantages, the greatest impact can be achieved when grassroots and grasstops advocacy strategies are combined.
Postcript: The US government has recently enacted the $1.9-trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a grand stimulus package to further provide support to individuals, families, nonprofits and businesses to help mitigate COVID19’S devastating impact. ASAE participated on behalf of its members in the advocacy campaign for this landmark legislation.