From Cold Call to Key Contact
For many business and organizational leaders, the first step into advocacy is often the most intimidating: reaching out to a...
Building a Narrative that Serves Multiple Agendas
Coalitions are powerful because they amplify voices. Very few major pieces of legislation pass without a significant coalition behind them....
Be a Constant Voice for Good
The recent assassination of Charlie Kirk is a sobering reminder of how quickly political rhetoric can spiral into violence. In...
Stop the Anger
I first wrote this for the June 23, 2017 edition of the Greenville Journal. In the wake of the assassination...
Before the Headlines: Read the Early Signals
By the time a policy makes headlines, the real decisions have already been made*. The votes are counted, the amendments...
When to Hire vs. When to Build
As we hit September, it’s budget season for most businesses and it’s 2026 agenda season for policy groups. If you’re...
Selling the Value of Lobbying to Your Leadership Team
Many leadership teams dismiss lobbying outright because they don’t see where it fits. They’re busy running operations, hitting targets, managing...
Political Winds: Spot the Shift Before It Happens
Everyone sees the big stuff. When there’s a new House Speaker, a governor’s race turns, or national headlines dominate the...
Staffers: The Most Underrated Power Brokers
When most people think about influencing policy, they picture the elected officials — the ones whose names are on the...
Get a Legislator’s Attention Without a Lobbyist
We too July off to rest and refresh for the fall. But today, we’ll tackle something we hear from frustrated...
Breaking Through: First Impressions in Advocacy
You care about an issue. That’s what matters. You don’t need to be a policy expert or memorize bill numbers...
How to Manage Ideological Tension in a Coalition (Part 2)
Coalitions are messy. We talked a little about that on Monday. You get people from different sectors, with different politics...