Develop an Infrastructure
Plan Your Constituency Contact
Just as the campaign had a plan, complete with specific assigned tasks, there must also be a plan once elected for constituent contact and ongoing relationships with the community. Within this plan there will be distinct jobs or roles for staff and volunteers to play, as well as specific tasks to accomplish in the different media of constituent engagement. Elected officials should take time at the front-end after election to think through what they want to accomplish, what the timeline is, and who will get the work done. A template to get your planning process started can be found in step 2.
Maintain your Database
One of the most basic tasks of any elected official is to create and maintain an effective database of constituents. This means ensuring that the names you collected while running for office are continually updated and enhanced with the issues of concern to them as individuals and groups. Never underestimate the power of a clean, well maintained list of names. As you serve your constituents, these people become part of your ongoing database. Take the time to set up your database right from the beginning and commit your staff to maintaining it well.
Map your relationships
Chances are as a candidate you developed many relationships with community leaders and concerned citizens during your campaign. These key relationships are the foundation for your infrastructure of constituent contact and engagement. However, now that you are an elected official, many more people will be willing to engage with you.
Begin by thinking about specific individuals or organizations that are influential in the following communities and whether or not you already have a relationship with them. We offer the following list to help you think about who should be in your universe of contacts:
- Cultural, religious, or ethnic affinity groups
- Professional associations
- Organized labor
- Life stage groups such as seniors, students, parent associations
- Issue leaders
- Neighborhood/ block club leaders
Once you know which individuals and organizations might be important to help you move a progressive legislative agenda, you might also think about their capacity to be of assistance.
We offer a tool to help you chart the capacity of various organizations. This tool can help you gauge organizational affinity with your issues, as well as the capacity for effective action. Organizational strength or capacity might be measured by several things: membership, volunteer base, ability to recruit and train, financial resources, buildings, technology, lists and more. See charts A through C.
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