As a lobbyist, if you find yourself intimidated by the endless tasks at hand in trying to push your cause and give hearty voice to the most pressing issues, you may be saying to yourself: “I wish there was an app for this.” Well, free applications from your store of choice may not be an option just yet, but there are developers providing Grassroots software aimed at making your presence more distinct and your efforts more efficient. In this article, we wanted to explore Government relations software as it relates to nonprofits.
What can GrassRoots Government Relations Software do for you?
As with most software tools today, there are many software companies who work tirelessly to develop innovative applications designed to help government relations professionals in nonprofits. Whether it’s a means of narrowing down constituents and legislative representatives to connect with, collecting data from your local advocates and supporters, recruiting volunteers, or sending out updates to your lobbying staff, specialized software can help expedite the work load and ensure your agenda is on track. Here are several key areas:
Legislator Database
With Government relationship software you may have an up to date database of all Members of Congress, congressional office staff, congressional committee staff, congressional leadership staff, state legislators and state executives. With these tools they will provide an intuitive interface for using this extensive database to your advantage. Because it’s in a database, you can have filtering tools to generate reports, exports, labels and emails tailored to your needs.
Grass Roots
Managing your Grass Roots contacts can be tough without the right software program. With many government relations software, relevant contacts can be imported with address information and automatically matched to their legislators. Filters allow you to organize, report on, export and email your contacts as needed. Stop spending so much time on the menial, repetitive functions and let automation do the work for you. With Government relations software you simplify processes, utilize your staff to a fuller potential, and focus on what really matters: connecting and communicating.
Social Media and The Web
Having the information is one thing, but making it available to the right people is another all together. Find advocates through networking sites like Facebook or by managing your own webpage and making your content reachable and relatable. Connect with legislators in your community who can put more power behind your voice. Customize e-mails to reach your target audience– let them know who you are and what you stand for and why you’re more important than the other 300 messages waiting to be read.
With a few simple steps you can easily add information to your organization’s Facebook page. Once integrated into your page, there are several features designed to encourage not only your Facebook advocates to take action but their friends as well, increasing your advocacy campaign’s impact.
Congress Information going Mobile
Can you imagine obtaining information on the house floor via a mobile device? With many Government relations software you can do just that today. Many systems allow you to access and update all of your legislative information in the database. For example, you may obtain your directory of congress, congressional staff, and state legislators, vote history, find the bills with recent changes to bill status or cosponsors, track all your hill contacts and expenses, & congressional staff locator.
These are just several ways government relations software is impacting legislative lobbying today. If these components sound appealing to you, but you’re simply not quite sure where to begin, contact us . We can help you find the right solution you need to succeed. Until then, keep SmartThoughts in mind.