Are you interested in formally engaging with your politicians on matters pertaining to legislation (the law)? That is called political lobbying.
DAM members are successful political lobbyists and you can find some tips, straight from the DAM team, below.
*A hypothetical campaign regarding the rights of girls and women in prison is being used as an example.
Getting started
Talk to friends and trusted acquaintances to see who else is concerned about the same issue(s) and want to take action. Bring everyone together onto the same platform (i.e.: Facebook messenger chat, in person meeting, Zoom meeting) to discuss concerns, initial information and thoughts. See who can commit to taking action on this issue and on what level (time commitment, role, skills).
Facilitating meetings
Online or in person, here are some tips on facilitating meetings:
https://www.thedirectactionmovement.com/meetings
Zoom and jitsi are good platforms for video meetings.
During your meetings, here are some matters to discuss/actions to take when your group begins:
· Brainstorm – you will come up with a lot of ideas and questions initially. Many of your ideas will end not being used and that is normal. The questions you all have should be noted and looked in to.
· Think of everyone that is impacted by the issue you are campaigning about, on all ends of the spectrum (i.e.: campaign re: incarcerated girls and women stakeholders could be Prison Officers Union/current penal system employees, advocacy groups, ex-incarcerated women, retired prison board/staff members, women’s advocacy groups etc.). Consider them stakeholders for this campaign. Keep track of them and other relevant information.
· Assign/volunteer for roles (social media, writer/editor, media contact, meeting facilitator, admin/campaign director, researcher(s) etc.). Ask what skills members have and what they are comfortable doing and go from there.
· Make initial agreements (process of adding new members & vouching, ethics/Code of Conduct, goals etc.).
· Decide on things like logo/design, group name etc. if necessary.
Tips on group decision-making (1st link) and vouching (2nd link):
https://www.thedirectactionmovement.com/consensus-decision-making
https://www.thedirectactionmovement.com/vouching
Research
Conducting research is one of the most important parts of a political campaign and it may take a good amount of effort and time depending on the issue(s) at hand and how many people are contributing.
1. You may need multiple people to conduct research depending on the extent that is necessary.
2. Document your research, your findings, references etc. in a ‘master document’ (Google Drive is handy for this) and use that to form more coherent, digestible documents, statements, letters, social media posts etc. Always keep track of where you find information. Keep reference lists and make sure statements, posts, and other forms of content are well referenced.
3. Find out what the media has said about this issue in the past and which journalists and companies covered the issue.
4. Get as much official data as possible from government websites and well-known organisations.
5. Track changes to relevant laws and policies, which politicians made changes and which ones opposed the changes etc. and use state, federal and international law to suit your needs.
6. Find out which politicians you need to lobby. Look on government websites at lists of members of Parliament to see which Minister portfolios are relevant enough to lobby and to get their contact information.
7. What other people and groups are working on this issue or have worked on it in the past? What did they do and was it successful? What can you/your group learn from that?
8. Is anyone else currently working on the same issue? Can you work together (stakeholders)?
Research tips
When searching online for information, here are some tips to refine your searches and find the info you need:
1. Using AND, OR & NOT (all caps) in combination with keywords refines searches. (i.e.: prisons AND women AND policies OR laws NOT men)
2. Use “ “ (quotation marks) for strings of words that you want found together in search results (i.e.: “female prisoners in Western Australia”)
3. site:URL (no www., no http/, no spaces) does a search on a specified website (i.e.: www.correctiveservices.wa.gov.au becomes site:correctiveservices.wa.gov.au AND prisoners 2021 in search bar)
4. If you are getting a pattern of results that you do not want, you can add -word at the end of your search text. For example, if my search for prisoners in 2021 in Western Australia was giving results for male prisoners, I would add -male at the end of my search to remove those specific results. There is no space between the – and the word.
5. Hitting ‘control + F’ on your keyboard should make a search bar pop up on any page you are on (website, social media page, document etc.) so that you can do a keyword search.
More information here - Boolean search tips
Action
Contact stakeholders and get further information and insight from them, and, if groups are keen, extend an invitation to stakeholders to join a temporary alliance (or another term) for the campaign or to be involved on some level (make public statement, recurring media releases/social media posts, support campaign in other ways etc.).
Raise awareness through online platforms - social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, etc.), email campaigns (newsletters) and other platforms like news forums, blogs etc.
Raise awareness in community through stickering, placards, flyers, petition and other actions (depending on level of action agreed upon).
Once enough information is gathered and research has been conducted (sure of facts etc.) start lobbying politicians via letters, emails, calls, social media posts (tag them, post to their walls, reply to comments) and do ‘call-outs’ on all online platforms for others to do the same. Providing generic templates for people to use is a great idea, and so is setting up an (automatic) email campaign to lobby politicians. Do Gooder is a great platform that is used frequently by groups - https://dogooder.co/. Having a mix of automated responses (high volume) and personalised responses (usually lower volume) is preferable.
Plan rallies, forums, protests, meetings with stakeholders/politicians/media as needed & necessary and as possible.
Contact media & release media statements. Keep track of contact information, text for media releases etc.
Other tips
Messaging is very important. Having clear, cohesive messaging is imperative. Doing research on any opposition messaging to dispel myths/answer questions and counter arguments is very beneficial to campaigns (stick to the facts!). Have a platform to store all of your information and to discuss and sort out messaging as a group. Trello and Asana are examples of platforms for collaborative projects.
Do not be intimidated by politicians. When corresponding, remain professional/civil, but be firm with boundaries, expectations, questions etc. They work for us.
Do not be intimidated by journalists. They are just people, like us. Most groups will designate one or two members to be media contacts, which means they are the group members that will go on camera or do any other type of interview, sign media statements etc. When communicating with journalists be crystal clear what information is ok to be used publicly and what information is not. It is always best to correspond in writing with media, and it is strongly recommended to ask for questions ahead of an interview, and to confirm they are set questions so you are not surprised at any point during an interview. Write an informal script to rehearse before your interview and practice with another group member as much as possible beforehand. Dress cleanly and professionally and speak slower than you would in an average conversation.
Creating a new email address, google drive and social media accounts etc. may be necessary and is usually beneficial for political lobbying/campaigning purposes. It may not always be necessary or preferred, but is always worth considering.
Good luck with your campaign(s)!!
Additional Information
More information about starting groups/campaigns, tactics, and tips etc. can be found here:
If you/your group would like to learn to use Trello for organising your political campaign, check out DAM’s handy guide:
Using Trello to Organise Your Political Campaign
Visit DAM’s Campaign page to see examples of ongoing and/or successful past campaigns and make sure to check out our Political Lobbying gallery.