GRASSROOTS ROUNDTABLE
AGENDA
8:30 a.m.
Breakfast
9 a.m.
Grassroots in Today’s Political Environment
How has the new political reality changed grassroots? Constituents play a critical role in your overall advocacy strategy. How can you align your goals, mission, vision and values with current business objectives? We’ll review and discuss program structures and the benefits of broad-based, key contact or grasstops programs for the short and long term.
10:15 a.m.
Break
10:30 a.m.
Recruiting Activists in an Election Year
We’re seeing heightened interest from constituents who want to become involved in politics. Hear how your peers are blending traditional recruitment strategies, such as opt-in/opt-out programs and recruitment events, with new ways to recruit from key constituencies using social media. We’ll also discuss the importance of education as a recruitment tool and how grassroots programs are creating distance learning programs.
Noon
Lunch
1 p.m.
Communication Strategies in a Social Media World
The forums for communicating about grassroots are evolving. Requests for political transparency demand that you develop a political communications strategy. You must also develop a compelling message and become a trusted resource to advocates. Hear how leading grassroots programs are disclosing activities and making effective use of newsletters, brochures, websites and evolving social media tools.
2 p.m.
Mobilizing for Elections
What creative ideas can you use in your GOTV programs this year? We’ll discuss ways to get your advocates to the polls and how your peers are using candidate forums and other local events to inform and mobilize employees, customers and other key stakeholders.
2:30 p.m.
Organizing Advocates for Policy Issues
What works and what doesn’t work from the legislator’s perspective? Relationship building today requires creativity. Hear how organizations are changing their approach to fly-ins and lobby days, site visits and calls to action.
3 p.m.
Adjourn
