1. Section Title Slide
Building an Effective
Mobilization Program

2. Experience
Eckel & Vaughan has a great deal of experience building
and managing advocacy programs in North Carolina and in
other states. Sample organizations we have conducted
campaigns for include the following:
 American Chemistry Council
 American Plastics Council
 North Carolina Dental Society
 American Petroleum Institute (Six States)
 Royal Dutch Shell (Ten States)
 Corning Incorporated (Five States)

3. Key Points of Building an Effective Program
 Build from the “Inside” and then work “Outside”
 Educate – Most programs fail because adequate education and training is
not made part of the program
 Identify and develop key “Third Party” advocates for your issue or
organization
 Structure the program as if it were a campaign:
– Mobilization programs that work do not allow their program to atrophy
– “It never stops”
 Link Mobilization to your legislative and communications program:
– It can’t live in a “Silo”
– Lobbyists are an important component to the success of the program
 Utilize social media to assist with building a “Larger” Network

4. Key Mobilization Elements
Assign Recruit Train Deploy Manage

5. “Grass Tops” Mobilization
Step One: Assign
 Purpose: To align politically astute and dependable
members to key lawmakers
 Process: Leadership and lobbying team identifies key
lawmakers and assigns members to each
 Materials Required:
– List of key lawmakers
– List of assigned members

6. “Grass Tops” Mobilization
Step Two: Recruit
 Purpose: To increase the likelihood of effective
engagement in the mobilization program
 Process:
– Write each identified member to formally invite them to
participate
– Contact each member to confirm participation and review
game plan
– “Make them understand what they are becoming part of”

7. “Grass Tops” Mobilization
Step Two: Recruit
 Timing: Define a timeline and launch
 Materials Required
– Recruitment letter
– Call schedule
– Game plan

8. “Grass Tops” Mobilization
Step Three: Train
 Purpose: To provide a contextual understanding of the
issue, program and expectations and the tools to
effectively participate.
 Process:
– Host a series of training webinars
– “In person” education training
– Conference Calls

9. “Grass Tops” Mobilization
Step Three: Train
 Develop timeline
 Materials Required
– Webinar presentation
– Issue overview
– Organization’s position
– Opposition overview
– Game plan
– Goals and expectations
– Message matrix
– Sample letters
– Sample letters to the editor
– Sample emails

10. “Grass Tops” Mobilization
Step Four: Deploy
 Purpose: Mobilize Grasstops Team to deliver messages and
gather intelligence
 Process:
– Schedule in-district meetings between members and targets,
conduct meetings and report intelligence
– Schedule outreach or intercepts during session, conduct
outreach and report intelligence
– Coordinate with lobbying team: Intelligence and feedback is
critical for those working “In the building”
– Focus on reporting

11. “Grass Tops” Mobilization
Step Five: Manage
 Purpose: Ensure member engagement, participation and
reporting and to deliver information in a timely manner.
 Process:
– Track participation through reporting and team
communications
– Provide daily, weekly and monthly reports to advocacy
team

12. Section Title Slide