Kickstart a Grasstops Approach
Perhaps thanks to the Obama campaign’s standout successes with grassroots tactics, organizations large and small have drunk the “grassroots” kool aid. Building and mobilizing a mass movement has become the go-to idea. As a long-time grassroots devotee (like so many people involved in politics and policy, I got my start knocking on doors, calling through phone trees and stuffing envelopes) I’m thrilled to see this small-d democratic approach get its day.
But (you knew there was a but…), as much as I love grassroots I think there are times, places, and issues for which a genuine grassroots approach probably isn’t the right strategy. Sometimes a grasstops strategy is the most efficient way to secure a win. I’ll be writing more on the times and contexts grassroots might not be the best bet next week, but for this week: Three Things ideas to kick start your grass tops approach.
1. Cultivate a few targeted campaign leaders. Grassroots is about quantity; grasstops is about quality. Identify the few most important grasstops influencers on your issue, and make it your mission to get them on board and engaged in putting their influence to work. Maybe it’s your Congressional target’s top donors, the owners of the largest local businesses, the local Labor reps or the director of a specific state commission. If you don’t have relationships with those targets, spend the time to build them and be prepared to ask for just a very small number of very highly important actions from them.
2. Hire in-state policy experts or lobbyists to open doors. Many organizations start building in-state capacity by hiring organizers. I love orgnizers, but they’re not likely to be best situated to open doors to the most high-impact grasstops leaders. Consider looking to non-traditional experts: every state capital has lobbyists and public affairs professionals who make their living forging relationships with state- and local- grasstops. Moreover, they’re likely to have the experience to know which grasstops folks will deliver for you.
3. Host an an ad hoc, unexpected, narrowly focused coalition of leaders. Bring together unlikely allies and leaders that will appreciate an opportunity to be in a room together without making a long-term or permanent commitment to a standing coalition or campaign. Built it around some narrowly focused element of your issue – HR directors, IT managers, and Labor reps discussing technology education as a subset of higher education, for example – and begin by offering an opportunity of value in exchange for a small amount of time and attention. Focus around a question critical to your issue and your would-be campaign leaders to begin to build relationships and identify your strongest likely allies.
Genuine and effective grassroots can grow from a focused grasstops strategy, but sometimes grasstops is all you need to succeed.