The Advocacy Effect: Building and Growing Membership Through Advocacy Engagement

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, I left my teaching job to work at a large lobby firm in Austin. It was intended to be a 10-month gig while pursuing a PhD in School Improvement and a chance to learn how state policies are developed – or, as we say in politics, how the sausage is made. People either love or hate working in politics, and I loved it. Soon, I found myself lobbying for multiple clients and simultaneously serving as the executive director of a small membership association advocating for public schools.

While it’s typical for membership associations to provide a variety of services for their members, including legislative advocacy, most of the heavy lifting in Austin is done by the organization’s government relations staff or consultants. Occasionally, association members are asked to email or call their legislators or to descend on the Texas Capitol for a Lobby Day.

Maybe it’s the educator in me, but I’ve always loved involving my association members in the political process. Yes, please call your legislator! Yes, come to the Capitol and testify! Yes, help me push this important bill over the finish line! Early on, one of my fellow lobbyists called what I did “lobbying lite,” and I was too green to argue with them. Somehow, by asking clients and their association members to help advocate, I wasn’t really lobbying. But I now know that what we were doing was lobbying, plus so much more!

As an executive director, when I engaged my association members in authentic advocacy opportunities, they found greater success with their legislative issues. That much was immediately clear. But even more exciting was the increase in membership, members’ overall participation in the association, and even an increase in corporate partnerships. People wanted to renew their membership with the organization because advocating had become part of their self-identity and an investment of their time and energy.

Fast-forward to the fall of 2024, the Texas Society of Association Executives New Ideas Conference, and Sarah Sladek’s presentation on why members leave and how to get them back. As Sladek discussed members from a generational perspective, I immediately began thinking about advocacy – particularly grassroots or membership advocacy – as a recruitment, engagement, and retention tool. How does a Baby Boomer think about advocacy compared to Gen Z? And how can advocacy draw these subgroups into our associations and keep them engaged?

In her related book, MemberShift: Why Members Leave Associations and the Strategies Proven to Bring Them Back¹, Sladek talks about engaging younger members based on their values, particularly concerning social awareness. She states that young people “are more likely to engage in grassroots advocacy, which is something associations need to consider.” While they don’t necessarily want to engage directly with the government, “These generations expect to be on the front lines. They value being empowered to use their voices and active participation for meaningful change.”

So, what if we thought about membership differently? In addition to opportunities for networking and continuing education, what if we marketed our associations as places to create and use our collective voice? Think of a parent-teacher association’s members advocating for more money for our schools and more support for our educators. A group of realtors advocating for fair housing and tax policies. Nurses advocating for safer staffing levels and better working conditions. Yes, these issues can be addressed by a lobbyist in Austin, but what if we intentionally framed our associations as a place where members learn to advocate, both in their communities, the legislature, and society at large?

Normalizing advocacy for our members can add value to our associations through increased engagement, membership, and even corporate partnerships. The key is to incorporate advocacy thoughtfully and with intention. As such, here are some suggestions for introducing or strengthening your association’s advocacy efforts.

Involve Your Members from the Beginning

Whether your association is stepping into advocacy for the first time or making a strategic tweak, transparency and member input are essential from the very beginning. Grassroots advocacy isn’t the time for a top-down decision from the executive director.

I love watching association boards begin a new conversation with their membership and really seek out people’s opinions about advocacy, some of which may have been lying dormant for years or decades. As you consider making a change regarding advocacy, consider the following:

• Seek out the opinions of long-time members as well as newer voices regarding potential advocacy topic areas and approaches. This could be a formal survey or informal conversations between the organization’s leadership and key stakeholders. By seeking out people’s input upfront, you’ll also gain their confidence and willingness to participate down the road.
• Determine what advocacy means to your organization. Not every effort requires a march on the Capitol! Perhaps it’s a storytelling campaign to heighten awareness about a policy issue or simply informing your target audience about the importance of your members’ profession.
• Be slow and intentional. Even the word “advocacy” can stir up people’s emotions. Overcommunicate with your members about why you’re making a shift while demonstrating excitement about engaging your members in this new way.

Design Advocacy with Intention

We’ve all been there as association executives: your board or a committee has a great idea for an initiative for which there’s excitement but no real long-term plan. Someone in a leadership position wants to take on this new advocacy initiative, and then they come to the end of their term, at which point the project fizzles. Setting specific actions in motion from the beginning will help your organization’s advocacy efforts maintain momentum and continuity over time. These include the following:

• Incorporate advocacy into your organization’s mission/vision statements. If the goal is to attract and retain new association members through advocacy efforts, it’s important for potential members to see those priorities within your mission/vision statements as well as marketing materials and social media.
• Add an advocacy category to your annual budget. This signals an ongoing priority to the board and provides opportunities for the staff to be creative with advocacy efforts through marketing efforts and new political strategies.
• Identify an advocacy chair on the board, a member-led committee, and/or staff position. Advocacy takes time and attention and I’m going to guess your plate is already pretty full. Usually, there are a handful of volunteers within an organization who are naturally excited about advocacy and may have already honed some of those skills elsewhere. Let them focus their energies on behalf of your organization and inspire others to become advocates.

Think of Advocacy as a Journey, Not a Destination

One of the very first things I say to all of my clients is that advocacy is a journey, and it is constantly evolving. In Texas, for example, the legislative process is a two-year cycle, and I rarely have the luxury of starting at the beginning of the cycle with new clients. Start wherever you are, find small wins for your members, celebrate, and add more significant and impactful activities as you start the next cycle. You’ll never be “done” with advocacy, and that’s actually an exciting thought. Also:

• Realize that every advocate has their own starting point and comfort level. There are people in your organization who have never stepped foot in the Texas Capitol. I’ve even had people tell me that they didn’t realize they were allowed inside! For these folks, start with something light and fun. Make sure their initial conversations with legislators and Capitol staff are friendly and low-stress (preferably before the legislative session starts). Meanwhile, think about your most outspoken members who are seasoned advocates and want to hit the ground running. You might as well provide direction for their energy and efforts…because they’re going into the Capitol whether you ask them to or not!
• Advocacy is the perfect place for creativity. Legislative policy discussions can be heavy, as can meetings with your elected officials. Take this opportunity to make grassroots or member advocacy fun and engaging. Consider a lighthearted and positive awareness campaign regarding your members’ professions. Utilize the power of storytelling to raise awareness about your policy issues.
• Frame your policy issues as something to support instead of always being perceived as against everything (even though it’s tempting sometimes!). Your members and elected officials will thank you for being the organization that proposes solutions in addition to pointing out the problems.

Track Your Advocacy Engagement Efforts

Are you one of those leaders who finishes a project and sometimes forgets to celebrate people’s accomplishments? Yep, that’s me! At the end of a significant campaign, it’s tempting to move on to the next thing or simply take a break. But wait! There are multiple reasons to track your advocacy engagement efforts:

• The obvious reason is that your members need to be celebrated for their advocacy efforts. Whether you “won or lost” on a policy or awareness issue, your members need to know that their work matters so they’ll want to do it again next cycle.
• The organization’s advocacy efforts must be tracked so you know where you started, where you finished this cycle, and where you want to go. We can’t improve what we don’t measure.
• Advocacy efforts need to be tracked for your board. Advocacy is just one of many initiatives your board members oversee, and they need to feel confident that your advocacy efforts are making an impact and are worth any financial or political cost.

When thinking about what advocacy efforts should be tracked, consider the following:

• Pre- and post-project perception surveys of your members. Where did they start this advocacy cycle, what were their hopes, and what was accomplished?
• Qualitative interviews with your members and target audience to determine whether your organization’s advocacy campaign gained traction.
• If there were policy objectives, those should be tracked while remembering that some policy issues take multiple sessions to achieve. Small political wins are sometimes just as important as significant wins.
• If appropriate, track advocate calls, texts, and emails sent to your target audience. Are there gaps in your influencer list that can be improved before the next legislative session?
• From a communications perspective, what was your organization’s advocacy reach through traditional and social media, whether paid, owned, or earned?

OK, I know what you’re thinking: this is a lot. And you’re right. However, from a member engagement perspective, advocacy can potentially change how people view your organization. In a time when information and networking can be obtained in a variety of ways other than a formal association, advocacy has the potential to bring people together with a shared voice and a shared mission. I’ve seen firsthand that it’s absolutely worth your organization’s time and effort.

Additionally, grassroots advocacy may just be the push your policy issue needs to get it over the finish line at the Texas Capitol. And in these politically polarized times, wouldn’t it be great for all of us to come together to find a win?

Dr. Michelle Smith is a leading advocacy and legislative expert who has dedicated her career to advancing public policy and empowering communities to engage with their elected officials. Before founding Smith Advocacy in 2024, Dr. Smith served as the executive director of Raise Your Hand Texas, as a contract lobbyist at HillCo Partners, and as the executive director of the Fast Growth School Coalition.

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