Working with local organizations
If you are a staffer in a city council or state legislature, you’re likely to work with community organizations. It may be that your boss has an initiative that requires participation from the nonprofit sector or that you’re planning an event that would benefit from others’ participation.
Cultivating relationships with these groups is a crucial part to working in politics but can seem difficult if you’ve spoken with them before. We discussed how to best approach and work with a local organization with Kristen Halbert, political consultant and previously Civic Engagement Director for Boston City Councilor (and now Mayor) Michelle Wu.
Here’s Kristen’s advice, adapted from our conversation.
Assess the problem
“What’s the issue I’m coming to this organization this and what is the actual solution I need from them. Is this a solution they’re known for or is this something I’m going to have to make a case for.”
If you’re asking a group to participate in something that they do all the time, like organizing an annual awards night with a group that has attended every previous event, it’ll be an easy lift. You can treat it as a straightforward matter for coordination.
But if it’s even slightly out of their usual pattern of work, it’ll be a matter of sales. You’ll need to research the issue, what they’re known for, and how the two intersect. Treat the organization with the same care and respect as an elected official whose vote you need.
Get background on the organization
If you are trying to impress upon the organization about the importance of your issue, it helps to impress them first with your knowledge of their issues. What’s their mission statement? What are some of their projects in the community? What are some successes they’ve had that you can mention?
Most importantly, dive deeper than what’s on the front page of their website. People can usually tell if you simply googled them on the drive to their office and skimmed what was easily accessible. If you talk about a project they worked on and they ask you what was your favorite aspect of it, you need to have an answer. Bringing up a topic only to find your grasp is purely superficial is worse than not mentioning it at all.
“If you don’t know what to say in the second sentence, don’t say the first sentence.”
Start closer to the bottom than the top
Unless your boss has a previous relationship with the organization and has mentioned who specifically to connect with, send your first request to the programming assistant, community coordinator, or someone else closer to your own role in the organization’s hierarchy. Sending an email to a director who may be swamped with fundraising and operational work risks it being missed. Follow ups and persistent calls risk making your boss look weak and wastes time better spent working on the project.
It’s always easy for a public facing staffer to let you know who to escalate the request to. It is also very possible (even probable) that they’ll be doing much of the work anyway, so it makes sense to get started with them as soon as possible.
Perhaps most importantly, starting with the person at the appropriate level is a sign of respect. It can be easy for people working for those with considerable political power to get an inflated sense of ego. You work in a City Hall, State House, or the Capitol; they may work out of a nondescript storefront or a bland coworking space. But ultimately you’re all working together and you want to get started as peers.
“You need to stamp out any mindset that you’re better than the group who's doing the direct services for your constituents.”
No need to give away everything at the start
The initial approach does not need to be too detailed. You can say that you want to talk to them about an opportunity that has come up that your boss thinks would be of interest to them. Let them know the basics but you don’t need to give them everything. If it’s a major partnership or initiative, you should start with an initial conversation to get a sense of what they can offer, so that you can guide follow up conversations more reasonably.
Of course, if what you’re doing is mostly connecting a constituent to them, you should tell them what they need to know right away, since initial calls at that point are unnecessary. It is likely that you only have one conversation so you can be more direct: an email or call to ask if connecting is okay, connecting them, and then checking in and thanking them afterward.
Throughout this process, whether it’s a simple request or a more complex project, you should always treat those with whom you interact as individuals, not simply a faceless functionary of that organization.
“It behooves you to treat each person individually just as every staffer deserves to be treated as a person and not an extension of their elected.”
Relay negative feedback
After you’ve reached out, you will hopefully hear back, have a great first meeting, and a successful project. But there is a chance that you’ll get an off-putting response – one that sounds like they want to stay away from your boss.
There’s always a possibility that something has happened to change the perception of your boss with that organization. Maybe the last time there was a project with this organization your predecessor was unprofessional. Maybe the new director of the organization has a personal grudge. Maybe they confused you with another elected official.
Whatever happens, you have a duty to make sure your conversation ends on the right foot, keep track of this new information, and check with your chief of staff or boss for next steps. If you ever get stuck or are unsure of what to do, don’t guess. “You don’t get a lot of chances for guesses in this job”
By reaching out and reaching up, you will have done your part to address a difficult situation and, hopefully, improved your boss’ reputation in the community while forging a new partnership that can help put your policies into practice.
How does Legislata help
Legislata is productivity software for people in politics. Keep track of your contacts, share information about who said what, and save time getting through your email. Get in touch to inquire about a place in our beta test.