ORGANIZING THE GGAC AT THE LOCAL LEVEL ASHRAE’S GRASSROOTS GOVERNMENT ADVOCACY COMMITTEE

Define the Issue – Questions to Ask What is the issue? Is this issue one of direct importance to ASHRAE? (i.e.: does ASHRAE have an official position on the issue or a Public Policy Brief?) Is it a local, state, provincial or national issue? combination? Is this a legislative issue? a regulatory issue? both? What are your goals? what do you want to accomplish?

Decide what public official(s) need to be contacted Are elected officials to a legislative body to be approached? (this could be Congress, Parliament, County Commissioners, etc.) Are other elected officials to be approached? (i.e.: Governor, Mayor, Prime Minister, etc.) Are local regulatory officials to be approached? (i.e.: code officials) Obtain contact information for all public officials to be contacted (name, mailing address, business phone, business fax, business email)

Identify the group of volunteers Start with your local Chapter(s) members Consider members of allied organizations Look to local industry if the scope of the project is large (such as a legislative “Day On The Hill” or a letter-writing campaign) Consider which members have a special interest in the issue Involve members who know officials that will be contacted

Choose a Chapter “Coordinator” Consider who has an interest in the issue and the time to coordinate this effort It may or may not be the GGAC Chair Does the Coordinator have previous grassroots organizing experience? Several Chapters might wish to unite for maximum effectiveness

Schedule a meeting with the volunteers Explain the issue Remind everyone this is a volunteer advocacy effort, not paid lobbying Clarify the differences between advocacy and lobbying Provide assignments Answer questions

Do your homework – Goals, Strategy and Planning Identify your supporters, opponents, “fence-sitters” Define simple, minimal and understandable goals Decide your strategy Make a plan that evaluates

Identify your… Supporters? Who are our supporters? (supporters can be industry, organizations, members of the public or elected/appointed officials) Why are they supporting our position?

Identify your… Opponents?   Who are our opponents? (opponents can be industry, organizations, members of the public or elected/appointed officials) What is the basis of their opposition? What arguments do we have to soften their opposition/resolve or counter their reasons for opposition?

Identify your… People/organizations who may be “on the fence” that could be influenced? Who are the fence sitters? What would it take to at least keep them “on the fence” if we cannot get them to support our position?

Define simple, minimal and understandable goals Are they… Quantifiable Realistic Specific Pertinent Timely Clear and Concise

Decide your strategy Does it … Help achieve goals? Use allies? Minimize opposition? Stick to the issue? Have an assessment tool to measure success?

Make a plan that evaluates … Volunteer strength Who is/are the target(s) Approaches (i.e.: direct contact, letter writing, social media, etc.) Action steps

Go into action using the plan, strategy and goals identified above Engage in Advocacy GO OUT AND DO IT!  Go into action using the plan, strategy and goals identified above

Evaluate your activity when completed For Short-Term Advocacy How are we doing? Did we stick to the goals? Did the volunteers achieve their individual goals? What worked? What didn’t work? What can be done next time to improve effectiveness?

Evaluate your activity when completed For Long-term or Ongoing Advocacy How are we doing? Are we sticking to the goals? Are the volunteers achieving their individual goals? How can/should we be more effective? How can we monitor our progress to make sure we are sticking to our goals/message? How can we adjust or adapt our strategies to changing ground conditions?

Thank the official(s) you contacted afterwards Follow up with a thank you letter – this should be mailed rather than emailed Make sure the thank you letter is positive even if the official did not help us achieve our goal(s) – keeping it civil improves chances of gaining a favorable audience on future issues

Resources Regional Vice Chairs Other Chapter GGAC Chairs Society Staff Liaisons (Alice Yates and Jim Scarborough [DC Office], ayates@ashrae.org and jscarborough@ashrae.org) ASHRAE Government Affairs website (http://www.ashrae.org/government-affairs)

Current Society GGAC Leadership GGAC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Chair First Vice Chair Second Vice Chair Communications Coordinator Consultant Representative from Members Council Representative from Tech Council Representative from PubEd Council Society Treasurer Board Ex Officio Board Coordinating Officer