Printable Version Email to a Friend Pro-Choice Lobby Day Useful Links State and Local Government Information American Planning Association's Tips on Developing State Lobby Day Events This is how the American Medical Student Association organizes state lobby days. These tips can be useful for any group.

State and federal lobby days are great ways for organizations to promote their issues. They can also help organizations increase funding, maintain relationships, and provide time for participants to advocate for certain legislation. Lobby days are an effective way to bring participants together from a range of different communities.

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia

Background

A state lobby day is one way to impact legislators on a local level. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia's (PPAV) Feb. 3 lobby day brought the highest attendance in PPAV's history. Also known as Pro-Choice Lobby Day, sponsored by the Virginia Pro-Choice coalition, they were able to organize groups from across the state to attend the event.

Ben Greenberg, director of government relations at PPAV, helped plan the annual event. A unique event at this year's Lobby Day was a breakfast for both participants and legislators in a VA General Assembly conference room. The breakfast allowed participants to meet legislators while picking up their lobbying materials and preparing for the day. Participants were then encouraged to attend the Senate Education and Health Committee meeting, a lunch-time rally, and afternoon meetings with legislators.

Success Stories

Greenberg stressed the importance of timing for their lobby day. Scheduled for the week before the Virginia "cross over", when passed bills switch to opposite chambers, the group was able to attend a final Senate Education and Health committee meeting which addressed HB 2347, the Trap Bill. The Trap Bill would "impose burdensome and unnecessary regulatory requirements for outpatient surgical hospitals upon physicians who perform first trimester abortions," according to Greenberg. With over 300 pro-choice advocates filling up the room, legislatures listened to their constituents' concerns and did not pass the bill.

The large attendance numbers were partially due to two new outreach coordinators Becky Reid and Mira Signer, based out of Charlottesville and Richmond, respectively. Reid and Signer used new and effective modes of outreach including email messaging through the Planned Parenthood Action Network (PPAN), sign on letters, monthly meetings with local chapters, and phone banks. They even set up PayPal links on their site for participants to purchase bus tickets for the event with a credit card. By using these effectual methods of outreach, PPAV was able to reach out to additional communities while continually providing support to current advocates.

Reid also noted a tremendous youth turnout. The diverse and dynamic crowd increased the excitement of those who had attended Lobby Days in the past, which resulted in an enthusiastic and energetic Lobby Day. Reid and Signer increased youth attendance by developing their campus outreach, with the Vox: Voices for Planned Parenthood campaign. Additionally, student groups such as the Virginia Young Liberals conducted outreach, while others offered incentive by suggesting attainable school credit for the civic engagement.

Lessons for the future

Greenberg recommended promoting lobby day events to local press. By sending out press releases beforehand as well as hand delivering them on the day of the event, media stationed at the Capitol were well prepared for the day's proceedings and locations. The lobby day events were located either at the VA General Assembly or close by, making them accessible to all types of participants including media. Greenberg also noted that in the past the lunch rally was located right across the street from the General Assembly and, as a result, garnered increased media attention.

Greenberg had many recommendations for preparing participants for lobby visits. Because many who attended had never lobbied before, the Planned Parenthood staff made sure to prepare them with sufficient materials, including fact sheets, talking points, and action letters they could sign and leave at a legislator's office. He noted that it is important to avoid overwhelming participants during a lobbying event. Since there were many participants who had never lobbied before, PPAV felt that too much information would confuse them. PPAV avoided this by providing short and concise fact sheets, mostly one page in length, and focusing on a few main issues.

Coordinating transportation was also important to the success of the event. Planned Parenthood arranged for buses to pick up groups from distant locations and take them to the General Assembly. Some groups traveled further distances and the time on the bus allowed organizers to prepare participants for the day's activities.

Greenberg's last tip was be heard, be seen. Planned Parenthood encouraged its over 400 participants to wear stickers or carry signs with pro-choice messages throughout the day. For participants who did not have enough time to meet with all the legislators they had planned, the stickers and signs carried their messages throughout the entire General Assembly.

National Association of People with AIDS

As one of the largest and oldest AIDS related advocacy organizations in the country, located in Silver Spring, Maryland, the National Association of People with AIDS' (NAPWA-US) annual AIDS Watch event gathered over 600 people from all over the country. Coordinated with the Campaign to End AIDS (C2EA) the five day meeting in Washington D.C. on May 2-5, 2005, provided training for participants and ample opportunities to meet with congressional staff. The week's activities included full day training sessions, full day lobby visits, networking events, and breakfast meetings with different organizers, religious leaders, community members and legislators. The event concluded with a march and rally.

Paul Feldman, public affairs director of NAPWA helped to provide participants with ample information to prepare for the event. Prior to the event, participants could download informational packets which included all the essential materials for the conference. Participants were prepared with background material including, talking points, congressional meeting tips, fact sheets on legislation, HIV/AIDS prevention programs, research, statistics, federal budget spending, and even sample thank you letters. The lengthy duration of AIDS Watch provided NAPWA and C2EA sufficient time to train participants for their lobby visits.

NAPWA also provided participants with information on reduced hotel rates, transportation methods and even promoted caravans from across the country. Also, they provided information to help participants use local resources to raise money for their transportation to Washington D.C. including their guide titled, "Need money to attend a conference? Learn some tools and tips."

Also, in order to provide a variety of participants from every state NAPWA gave funding to those in need. By increasing nationwide representation they were able to have advocates from almost every state all focusing on the same issue. When lobbying Members of Congress it is important to have representation from many different participants who are there to advocate on behalf of different communities throughout the country. There are many people who do not have the resources to travel to Washington D.C. nor have the time to leave work or their family. Diverse representation at the lobby event gave those who were unable attend a voice in Congress. Also diverse national representation showed legislators the broad constituency that is affected by the issue.

Success Stories:

Feldman felt one of the best opportunities of a nationwide gathering is to build new relationships with different organizations and legislators, and promote additional statewide outreach and follow-up. Participants were offered training to increase advocacy in their region, with information about meeting with local legislators to working with media. For example, Feldman recommends setting up additional meetings with legislators while coordinating with other advocacy organizations, and people living with HIV/AIDS. Organizing small meetings with legislators allows constituents more opportunity to raise concern and promote change within their own communities as well as allow further input from groups who could not attend the lobby day. Coordinating with other organizations to set up and attend meetings also helps build and strengthen the coalition at the local level. The coalition, a diverse representation of groups on a specific issue can, can represent the issue at a local level, and provide a perspective unique to the Member's district.

Although good timing is important, sometimes mistakes in timing can be beneficial. NAPWA could not predict that Congress would be out of session when they began to plan their AIDS Watch Lobby Day nine months previously. Some groups may have felt disappointed at first, but NAPWA and participants found staffers to be more available and demonstrated increased attention to their issues. Because Congress was not busy, participants had more time and attention to address their concerns with the staffers, who asked interesting and pertinent questions relevant to the Member's Constituency. Although planning ahead may be difficult, NAPWA was able to make the best of the their situation.

Lessons for the future

Feldman advised seeking more from lobby days besides the day's outcome, such as maintaining relationships and ensuring continued support for the future. Whether it was encouraging Members to make a floor speech about the AIDS epidemic or setting up meetings with constituents during August recess, participants were encouraged to network and educate legislators and their staff.

Along with lobbying informational packets, NAPWA also provided participants with essential information about Washington D.C. including maps of the area, local restaurants and suggested attire for Capitol hill meetings. To see more of their training guide click here. NAPWA utilized online resources to prepare their participants with information for the AIDS Watch event. Furthermore, they were successfully able to organize participants from across the country, by appointing state directors who were in charge of organizing and assisting participants from their state. Because this was a huge collaborative effort NAPWA and partnering organizations were able to impact communities throughout the country.

This was a very effective strategy for participants who had never lobbied before. By providing them with concise and relevant information, participants were more comfortable and prepared for their meetings. Feldman felt it was also important to inform participants about the lobbying process and let them know that they would not be meeting with legislators, but rather staffers. By preparing participants with information about congressional staffer's roles, participants were reassured they were still making an impact.

Many of the participants in AIDS Watch are people living with HIV/AIDS and are very strong advocates for change who are dedicated to improving these issues. Furthermore, they were able to share with others firsthand knowledge they experienced and learned from past AIDS Watch events, impacts of legislation and AIDS/HIV education programs, how their daily lives are impacted by HIV/AIDS, and what they think needs to change.