Ten Steps to an Effective Chapter Legislative Network

Establish a Chapter e-mail listserve and use it to disseminate legislative alerts and information.
E-mail has revolutionized the distribution of legislative information and action alerts. Automated e-mail lists provide an efficient vehicle for activating and informing your members. A recent survey of chapters revealed that many have now begun chapterwide e-mail lists. If your chapter has this listserve capability, make sure that you have the ability to post information or can provide content to the person responsible for posting information. Use the listserve to redistribute legislative alerts provided to you from APA and post your own alerts on state legislative activity. If your chapter does not yet have a list, start one. Lists can be set up for free through a number of websites, such as Yahoo. You can also contact APA for information on establishing a listserve for your chapter.

Reprint APA legislative content in Chapter resources, such as the newsletter and/or website.
APA's policy office regularly produces legislative content, ranging from the biweekly electronic newsletter to periodic action alerts. Chapters are strongly encouraged to repackage and reproduce this information in other formats. Many chapters post portions of this content on their website or reprint it in newsletters. As noted above, liaisons are strongly encouraged to post APA alerts to e-mail lists or the chapter website. Reproduction of APA material is an effective means of broadly disseminating important information and an effective way to provide your members with a value-added service from the chapter.

Conduct an annual state lobby day, legislator breakfast / luncheon or legislative conference.
An important part of building a chapter legislative advocacy program is increasing the profile and visibility of APA and the Chapter in your state. Legislative events are among the best ways to attract attention and build valuable relationships. These events also provide your members with valuable information and networking opportunities. Events can take a variety of forms, including a lobby day focused on promoting a legislative agenda at the state legislature, a breakfast or lunch program with a presentation from a legislator, or an entire conference devoted to legislative issues. A key to successful legislative events is establishing an overarching message for the event and integrating it throughout the activity — know what you want to communicate or request. When conducting legislative events, be sure to create a media / public relations component and consider inviting allied organizations to participate in some portion of the program, such as a reception. Involve your members and provide them with the resources and training to make them effective participants. APA's government affairs staff can help you develop and implement these events.

Use Chapter and regional conferences to provide state and federal legislative information and advocacy training.
APA has launched a new effort to provide greater resources for your chapter and regional conferences. Packets of information on the latest legislative activities, policy guides and reports, and advocacy training materials can be provided to for your attendees at no cost by contacting APA's policy department. Chapters are strongly encouraged to hold a session on legislative and policy issues as part of your conference. This session can focus on a specific state issue, provide an overview of state / regional activity, and/or detail federal initiatives. APA can provide staff to make presentations or conduct training at your conference. Or, APA can work with other identified speakers, such as APA Board members, to assist them with presentations.

Cultivate relationships with elected officials.
Today's mayors, city council members, and state legislators are tomorrow's governors and members of Congress. A key to building influence is establishing relationships early. Make relationship building with elected officials at all levels part of your chapter's advocacy activities. Useful ways to cultivate these relationships include offering speaking / networking opportunities, providing information and raising their public profile through recognition. Make use of your membership by understanding the web of community relationships that may already exist with officials. Consider conducting a political participation survey of your members or chapter leadership to gain a better understanding of relationships and opportunities to make stronger connections. APA can provide sample surveys for your use.

Recruit a coordinator or key contact for every congressional district in the state.
Legislative Liaisons manage and build APA's grassroots network at the state level. In order to better access and active constituents in legislative advocacy, the state network needs a coordinator focused on individual congressional districts. These coordinators would work with liaisons and have direct communication with national staff. The prime responsibility would be to respond to action alerts when direct constituent contact is needed for a targeted Member of Congress. District coordinators would also assist liaisons with information dissemination and provide information and insight to liaisons and staff. Adding district coordinators to your grassroots network will help build your state advocacy capacity and provide new opportunities for chapter members to get involved. APA's goal is to identify a specific coordinator in 50 percent of congressional districts nationwide by November 2002.

Build a relationship with district congressional staff and use congressional recess periods as an opportunity to meet with legislators.
Congressional advocacy is not always focused on Washington. District congressional staff and offices are an often overlooked opportunity. Make contact with district staff through meetings and regularly provide these staff members with information (add them to the mailing list for your newsletter). When appropriate, consider inviting district staff to attend events or make presentations. At least once a year, use a congressional recess period as an opportunity to meet with your legislator. APA will alert you to these opportunities, provide you with contact information and help prepare you for meetings. Make sure that your congressional district coordinator gets to know district staff and makes your chapter a resource.

Integrate public relations into your legislative program.
The media can be a useful means of spreading your message and enhancing the image of your organization. When planning a legislative advocacy campaign, be sure to include a media / PR component in your plan. Look for opportunities to hold a press conference, issue a press release, draft an op/ed piece, or act as a resource to members of the press. Research reports offer an especially good opportunity for involving the media in spreading your message. Also, evaluate your website for its usefulness to both the public and the press. APA has PR training materials for your use and can provide direct technical assistance for designing and implementing public relations activities.

Build coalitions and partnerships with other state organizations.
Coalition building is central to achieving the political results you want. Recognize that there are already a number of players on any given issue. Begin by identifying potential allies and opponents. Open lines of communication and, when appropriate, involve other groups in your activities. By establishing partnerships you can both raise your credibility and use another group's network to communicate your message. At the national level, APA maintains a wide array of partnerships and relationships that can sometimes be used to create state level coalitions.

Access APA staff resources and expertise.
APA provides assistance and resources with each of the nine steps listed above. Contact the Government Affairs staff for consultation and help with building your network!