Select a result to preview

Effective Communication With Political Staffers- A Framework For Animal Advocates (Faunalytics)

This Faunalytics study identifies best practices for engaging with political staffers to strengthen legislative advocacy efforts to advance animal protection.

Key Findings

  1. Understanding legislative processes and the specific context of a given legislative body is crucial to advocacy success. Advocates don’t necessarily need to be experts, but having a clear understanding of the legislative process, the role of legislators and their staff, and the unique aspects of a given legislature can go a long way in strengthening legislative advocacy efforts. It is particularly beneficial to understand how staff support legislators, as they often serve as gatekeepers and policy advisors.
  2. Personalized communications are best. While form emails and calls may, in the aggregate, have some level of impact, personalized communications have a far greater chance of capturing the attention of policymakers. Politicians may be most impacted by personal stories, one-on-one meetings, or otherwise individualized communications, not fill-in-the-blank formulaic emails.
  3. Having a clear legislative “ask” is fundamental to effective communication. Participants emphasized that communications to legislators lacking a clearly articulated request are far less likely to lead to legislative action, especially given the limited time and capacity of legislators and their staff. While personalized messages can capture legislators’ interest, clearly specifying a desired legislative action is essential to motivate a meaningful response.
  4. Building relationships with legislators and their staff is an important step toward building the political capital of the animal protection movement more broadly. Participants consistently highlighted the value of building rapport with legislators and their staff toward achieving legislative goals, suggesting that animal advocates should not underestimate the benefit of taking the time to build relationships and trust within the legislature.
  5. Building a diverse coalition of advocates is essential. Aligning animal protection policies with other issue areas can create opportunities for collaboration across advocacy groups, amplifying efforts and increasing the likelihood of success. Examples of prospective collaborators include climate groups, alternative protein companies, human and labor rights organizations, and even local animal farmers who are motivated to fight back against industrial farms.
  6. Maintaining flexibility and being willing to accept compromise may lead to long-term success. As participants shared, compromise is inherent to the legislative process, and windows of opportunity are always shifting. Legislative staffers expressed that animal advocates can compromise on their strategy without compromising on their ultimate goal of ending animal suffering and should be both flexible and persistent in their approach.
  7. How an issue is framed can have a significant impact on buy-in. Although the ultimate goal of advocating for a policy is to protect animals, framing the issue around priorities and interests that tend to have more bipartisan support, such as economic benefits or impacts to human well-being, can go a long way in generating the kind of broad support that is often needed to propel legislation forward.

AI suggested related articles