Recognizing Effective Grassroots Efforts
When your grassroots efforts are successful, there are many ways to recognize and reward those efforts.
photo credit: moonlightbulb- Give out annual awards for outstanding citizen efforts. Host a major event and present the awards during the event or cover it in a publication.
- Provide an opportunity for citizens to share their success stories with their peers by holding informal sharing sessions at receptions during legislative conferences.
- Profile grassroot advocates and their success stories in your publications. This is a great way to recognize individuals and educate others about your organization’s grassroots program.
- Make a point of publicly recognizing successful advocates during meeting or speeches.
- Create video or slide shows of advocates testifying before state legislatures or Congress.
- If a constituent’s letter is used in a congressional newsletter, provide a copy of that publication to the constituent.
- Whenever grassroots members are able to effectively recruit peers, make a point of recognizing those efforts. There are many creative ways in which you can do so. Appropriate gifts can be provided for specific efforts or contributions.
- Provide access to premium opportunities, such as invitations to important conference calls, meetings or including members in the advisory council of your organization.
Taking the time and the effort to recognize the efforts and 
successes of your members can help build loyalty while at the same time energizing the entire organization. It does not much time to recognize outstanding efforts by your grassroot advocates, but the impact can be tremendous. Technology now makes it possible to automatically generate thank-you notes to grassroots communicators.
Remember, people enjoy hearing updates regarding their efforts and they always enjoy the opportunity to win prizes and have their efforts recognized. Calling attention to outstanding examples of communication not only recognizes your members, but also helps to motivate others as well. Such rewards can also prove to be effective recruitment tools, helping expand your network.
To learn more about grassroots campaigns and networks, consider these Capitol Learning Audio Courses: Building and Nurturing Your Grassroots Campaign, How to Organize a Capitol Hill Day, and Visiting Capitol Hill for First-Time Grassroots Advocates: An Introductory Course.
Reference: Lobbying and Advocacy, by Deanna Gelak, Section 7.13 Components for Building and Maintaining an Effective Grassroots Network
For more information about grassroots advocacy in Washington, also see
- Pocket Guide to Advocacy on Capitol Hill
- Persuading Congress, by Joseph Gibson
- Congressional Deskbook: The Practical and Comprehensive Guide to Congress, by Michael L. Koempel and Judy Schneider
- Live and custom training courses from TheCapitol.Net:
- Capitol Learning Audio Courses:
Tags: advocacy day, Deanna Gelak, grassroot advocates, grassroots, Grassroots Campaign, Grassroots Network, legislative conferences, lobbying and advocacy, outstanding citizen, recognizing grassroots
