4 Ways for Local Chambers to Engage in Advocacy

There are many ways to engage in the advocacy arena.

It's important that you make the distinction between legislative activity and political activity.

The following 4 things are key in having a full on government affairs program for your chamber.

The first two fall under the legislative activity category and the last two are clearly political activities.

1.    Lobbying

2.    Grassroots

3.    PAC's

4.    Endorsements

Lobbying

I've talked about this before HERE and in a nutshell this is where you and your members are having direct contact with your legislative leaders. Preferrably a one-on-one meeting with the member or his or her staff.

Grassroots

This is where you may engage your entire membership in a letter writing campaign or a phone call campaign.  Don’t forget the letter-to-the-editor grassroots tactic.  It can be very productive.

PAC's

This is a separate entity and designated fund that your members can contribute personal money to, which in turn, allows you to can make direct contributions to candidates.

Endorsements

This is where you go on record and endorse a specific candidate for elected office.  While you may not make everybody happy when you make endorsements it's an effective tool in your government affairs toolbox.  It's important that you use a clear set of criteria to measure candidates so you can decide on endorsing pro-business candidates or incumbents in an open and transparent way.

Remember, the key to making the above four activities successful is having a strong government affairs committee that can vet the above and make recommendations to your full chamber board for consideration and action.

Good luck!

3 Tips for Creating an Online Content Plan

If you're like most chamber's you may have had a few sleepiness nights thinking about creating your chamber’s online content plan.

Not a problem!

I suggest if you focus on the following 3 tips you'll be well on your way to creating great content for your members and community.

1.    Strategy

2.    Discipline

3.    Adaptability

Strategy

Ask.  Listen.  Plan.  Don't jump without asking your members what they want, listen to their comments and plan accordingly.

Discipline

Stick to your strategy and don't get caught up in chasing the next big gadget or new platform.  Think members.  You don't want them having to learn a new way of communicating with you (platform) since most people don't like change.

Adaptability

It's imperative that you continue to review your strategy and be able to change as needed.  Let's face it, in the online space it seems like things are changing every other week or month.  Don't chase the beast!

Now once you've thought about the above 3 tips it's now time to spend the next 6-12 months in executing your plan and then take a step back and measure your efforts.

There are many measuring tools out there but many chambers are using Google Analytics and for good reason.

It's free and a very robust tool that will tell you much about your efforts over a period of time you choose to measure.  The new dashboard is very user friendly and you can find more info on the program at this BLOG.

The only mistake you can make in creating an online content plan is to do nothing.

Get started today in creating great content for your members!

Likability and Leadership

I remember reading Tim Sanders' book The Likability Factor many years ago and was reminded of it when I recently attended an educational session led by Bill Graham on The Power of Likability Leadership.

Bill talks about "open face" and how the simple fact of raising the eyebrows allows those people you're communicating with into your circle.

The other points he makes is that "communicating is not an activity but a result."  He went on to say "it's all about what I leave in your head."

Tim talks about how people want to do business with people they like.  In my opinion, that's no different than what Bill's talking about with his "open face" communication concept.

At the end of the day, we should make sure we're imploring both in our communications with members and potential members.

I agree with Bill when he suggests practicing the "open face" technique, you instantly become likable and people will react to what you're saying.

That's an effective two-punch communication strategy.

For more information on Tim Sanders go HERE and for more information on Bill Graham go HERE.

Being likable is being a winner!

3 Tips for Creating a Stronger Organizational Culture

Culture eats strategy for lunch!  I forgot where I heard that but think about it.

I believe it!  Do you?

If we create the right culture in our organizations, the sky is the limit as to what you can do for your members.

Now more than ever since we have up to four generations in our workforce, it important to create this culture that everyone can embrace.

For me the following three are key to building a culture that you can build on:

1. Trust
2. Open Communication
3. Empowerment

Trust - you must be able to trust your employees and for that matter your volunteers too.  It's a working partnership that needs to be constantly worked on and improved.

Open Communication - every employee and volunteer deserves to know what is expected of them in their respective roles as it relates to the organization.  Secrecy and side bar conversations is a huge negative.  If you don't communicate, in my opinion, you'll never create a culture that your staff and volunteers can get behind.

Empowerment - don't you like to be empowered to make a difference? News flash, your staff and volunteers feel the same way.  Set the vision, give them the resources and let them loose.

The results might just surprise you!

For a great resource on culture in the association space go HERE.

What's The Chamber's Role in the Community?

Have you had this discussion with your board lately?

It's a great place to start the next time you conduct that strategic planning session.

I'm not here to tell you what that role is, your members should decide.

There are studies out there that could help you decide or give you some direction on what areas to focus on.

In a recent study by the Western Association of Chamber Executives (WACE) they identified the following four areas based on their 2012 study of 15 western states.

• Advocacy
• Economic Development
• Networking
• Community

I am a firm believer that you can't be all things to all people.  So don't try and do it, you're just setting yourself up for failure.  Just from life's experiences you know you can't make all people happy all the time.

In fact I wrote about it HERE before.

Focus on what your members want from their chamber and be the best at it!

Killing Sacred Cows - Just do it!

How many of you are still doing the same programs, year after year, and you don't know why or you've been told we've always done them?

Are they well attended?

Are you making money?

If not, let's kick those programs to the curb. For a blog post talking about program based budgeting go HERE.

Are you loading all costs towards your program? In other words are you counting the:

• Staff costs;
• Marketing costs (printing, postage); and
• Food and beverage costs or meeting space fees in your final calculation?

...or are you just comparing the receipts at the door (registration fees) vs. food and beverage and room rental at the venue?

Do the full arithmetic and if it's not making money -- kick it to the curb!

Remember, we can't be running chambers that lose money.

We need to run our chambers like a business and run it in the black. Identify your core programs and make them better.

For a blog post on the Hedgehog Theory go HERE.

The theory suggests you should focus on:

• What you have passion for;
• What you do best or can be the best in; and
• Where you make money.

Where those three meet are the programs you should be doing.

Now that's a recipe for success!

Communications: Set Your Chamber Apart

After being in the non-profit business for more than 20 years, if there's one thing that sets one chamber or association above the other is the way they are communicating their story.

I can't emphasize enough the importance of having a great communications team on your staff.

A consistent message on the activities of your chamber is critical to position you as the leader in the community.

You've all heard the phrase: "if a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it, does it make a noise?"

Well, the same is true for your chamber.  If you're not promoting what you're doing on behalf of your members they will not, nor will the community, have any idea the role your chamber is playing in the success of the community.

Remember, if it's true, it's not bragging!

Focus on what your chamber stands for (advocacy, economic development, community) and communicate that to your members and non-members alike through all of your communication vehicles.

Or as Tony Rubleski would say, use the COPE method – “create once publish everywhere!”

If that's not enough, how about Bill Graham's comment at a recent educational session I attended:

"Communication is not an activity, it's a result." It's about "what I leave in your head."

Everyone wants to be associated with a winner!  There are 7,000 chambers out there.  Don't you want to stand above the rest?

Communicate.  Communicate.  Communicate.

Communicate the winning programs of your chamber and how you're serving your members better than anyone else.

Something to think/talk about!