1. Advocacy/Policy Session Atlantic Chamber of Commerce June 5, 2017

2. Our Committee ANNAPOLIS VALLEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ADVOCACY COMMITTEE:
Duties & Responsibilities
RESPONSIBILITY: Board of Directors
COMPOSITION: Chair and three chamber members (minimum)
Committee members are expected to attend at least 50% of meetings
DUTIES:
1) Encourage economic development in the Annapolis Valley.
2) Identify emerging issues of concern to the business community to the Board of Directors.
3) Survey members for their input on advocacy issues.
4) Liaise with other organizations on issues of common concern.
5) Recommend advocacy actions to be taken on behalf of the Chamber.
6) Recommend advocacy strategies and policies to the Board of Directors.
7) Hold public forums as may be required to raise the profile of appropriate issues.
8) Recommend position statements and policies to the Board of Directors on issues of concern to the business community.
9) Review the Advocacy Policy annually and recommend amendments to the Board of Directors when deemed advisable.
Reference:
Advocacy Issue Evaluation Criteria
Approval Date: April 10, 2002
Revised: September 13, 2006

3. Identifying Issues

4. Criteria 1. Does this issue fall within the mandate of the AVCC?
2. Does the issue affect the wider business community?
3. Does this issue affect a wider population?

5. Write Policy

6. Principles of Sound Lobbying
• Keep it simple and focused (if you have 17 issues, you have 14 too many)
• Even if you have three it's better to focus on ONE!! (may be obvious, but in reality some people don't get it)

7. Principles of Sound Lobbying
Never cry “Wolf”! i.e. “we’re going to have to close…..”

8. Principles of Sound Lobbying
Know your subject including understanding arguments against your own position. Know where your opponents are coming from on issues.
Stick to the facts, lay them out clearly!

9. No exaggerations!
Always tell the truth- “if you’re a lobbyist, you get to lie once”. It’s better to build trust.
Be persistent, not annoying. You may have to work on one issue for a very, very long time!

10. Remember the way things are is always preferable-at first.
Don’t get frustrated that your well thought out position doesn’t prevail. Life’s not fair!

11. It’s easier to make friends when you don’t need a favor!

12. How can we help?
Try to anticipate how you can help your target deal with other, seemingly unrelated issues, particularly if they are hard, difficult or unpleasant ones on which they’d appreciate having a friend.

13. Anticipate and try to neutralize “blocking” points.
Understand and use the “self-interests” of your target.

14. Things you should know about when lobbying
• Personal letters count. Form letters don’t count so much. A personal letter is worth about 100 votes.
• Media clippings are always beneficial
• Polls are important. Use polling results to help influence support when possible.

15. Things to know when lobbying
Money is always tight, but it’s always available
• MLA’s compete with each other. Knowing this may assist you in your efforts
• Solutions are welcome
• Officials try to get re-elected, so they usually do the “tough stuff” early on, but work more on getting re-elected later in the term.

16. Education
Education of your members, interested parties and community members is key.
If an issue is new to an area, i.e Deed Transfer Tax being introduced, much time and effort must be spent on education.

17. Media Releases
Keep everyone informed through the process, regardless how long it goes on.

18. What’s Next?
Know who you need to talk to and call to set up a meeting.
You want the people who will be around for the next years to be your friend. Typically this is not the elected officials.
Start with the civil servant in charge of the issue.
Test your position, perfect it with their input (buy-in) then take it to the next level.

19. Then What?
Don’t give up!
With education, information and effective lobbying, change will come.