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Looking beyond, how Grassroots Software can clarify Advocacy

In this article, we wanted to discuss how Grassroots Software (Government Relations Software) can be used to clarify your view in Government relations activities for Associations and Nonprofits today.

Frankly, we visit with quite a few Executive Directors and Nonprofit Executives who are looking for methods to improve their business activities by automating their processes and service delivery mechanisms. And,  whether you’re a  small, medium, or large nonprofit association you likely participate in the political process in some way.

Think about it? Whether it is through direct lobbying for specific legislation, financial support of candidates or political action committees (PACs), or even candidate endorsements, associations and nonprofits are usually thick in the political process.

Right? Well, the old school way of doing business in lobbying and government relations has changed due in part by technology. There is no reason to be completely overwhelmed by the idea of maintaining connections with the many senators, tracking specific legislation, knowing who represents which one of your members or donor, or even how to quickly communicate directly with them.

Oh sure, the mere fact of the challenges sounds daunting at first, but aided with Grassroots software for government relations from the various vendors today, this problem seems a bit less trying. In fact, there are many features to advocacy software that can give any lobbyist who does state or federal lobbying an edge which they need to succeed. Here a few business benefits you should expect from the tools today: Mobility

Isn’t it soothing to know that today, there are fully integrated Grassroots software and Government relations software , compatible for both iOS and Android devices?  Yep, with Government Relations Grassroots software you are able to efficiently manage your schedule by adding committee hearings directly to your mobile calendar and remain informed with real-time push notifications. You may even review bill summaries, full texts, sponsors and more in the palm of your hand. Further, you may with some software, you may find a directory of Congress, Congressional Staff, and State Legislators all at your finger tips on your mobile device. Awesome! Communication

Communication is essential between candidate and constituent, advocacy software opens up these lines of communication by opening multiple forms of communication such as phone, fax, texts and your website to advocacy efforts. Grassroots software is also efficient in providing quality information to turn strangers into advocates. This software also creates a trusting bond where your constituents can easily read about the issues and respond to them directly to you or their respective legislature. Fundraising

Grassroots advocacy software is also very efficient in creating new ways to receive funds to run your campaign from your loyal constituents. A few of the ways the software optimizes fundraising is personalization and segmentation of your constituents to make emails more personal and of interest to each constituent. Another feature is automatic E-mail follow-ups so you don’t have to constantly send out fundraising opportunities to your constituents on your own time. Further, you may be able to create unlimited online forms, take pledges and recurring gifts, track soft credits, donor relationships, and major donor portfolio management. Enjoy full integration of online and offline giving. 

Social Call to Votes 

A simple way to many of these tools help advocacy efforts, is through their integration with social media into your grassroots advocacy efforts in regular email communications. Further, With a few simple steps you can easily add integration to your organization’s Facebook page. Once integrated into your page, applications may encourage not only your Facebook advocates to take action but their friends as well, increasing your advocacy campaign’s impact. Legislative Tracking

There are excellent ways to track legislation. And, there are some bad ones of yesteryear. Today, we have at our disposal solid automated solutions which provide a fast and low-cost solution to stay informed on legislation. With these tools, you may even search for bills by number or keyword, then track them through the legislative process with real-time alerts. Winning the Vote

Today, your Constituent database and  legislative data can work in concert with one another. With integration, it will allow you to know all you need to about your constituent’s needs, and also to keep tabs on other representatives and PACs.  With reporting, you will always have a better view of what’s ahead, with knowledge such as the total number of constituents taking action, total number of emails , fax and printed letters sent, number of new constituents added, calls logged, and much much more.

Certainly, there is not one size fits all solutions here. In some cases, an integrated solution tied to your donor or member database makes sense. In some cases, a point solution to add in the mix for legislative tracking is the right scenario for your organization. Whatever your needs, questions, or concerns regarding grassroots software and government relations, Contact Us.

Until then, keep SmartThoughts in mind.

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