Let’s work together to make 2022 a great year for your organization!
1) Do your homework:
The more you know about your priority issues, the more value you can offer to potential funders. You also need to become an expert on your potential or current government partners: what policies and priorities are shaping their work? How can you create a compelling case that supporting your organization will help them further these priorities? The more prepared you are for each call and conservation, the more effective you will be. Want help getting prepared? Book a meeting with me.
2) Relationships and empathy matter:
Every single government official, staffer and politician you are working with are people first and foremost. Get to know them as people (within professional boundaries!) and find out what excites them, motivates them, and stresses them out. Then figure out how your organization’s partnership and work can help them be more motivated and reduce their stress! Want to dig deeper into how creative empathy can help drive your government relations? Book a meeting with me.
3) Develop strong messaging and stick to it.
Each interaction you have with a government official you should have your goal in mind, and have some strong messaging that helps you achieve that. Be clear and consistent in your messaging, whether that’s via email, in person, or over Zoom. You want to make sure that you know what you are offering to government partners and can articulate it in a way that is appropriate for your format, audience, sector and context. Want to work on messaging? Book a meeting with me.
4) But don’t be afraid to be flexible.
As much as you want to stick to your message, you also need to be nimble—you may learn new information about your government partner’s priorities during your conversations. These days, we are all more familiar than ever with the need to be flexible and quickly shift priorities, and it’s important to be aware of how your government partners are impacted. How can your organization’s innovation and creativity help the government respond to new challenges and opportunities? If I can support you in answering this question, feel free to book a meeting.
5) Find your “good company”
Working with trusted partner organizations that share your agenda and values can be one of the most effective ways of influencing government policy. If your organization has strong support from partners, it increases your credibility. If you show government partners that you can play well with other organizations, it will give them confidence that you can work well with government. Do you need to help identifying your good company and developing a partnership strategy? Book a meeting with me.