Every year, the Congressional Management Foundation trains thousands of citizen-advocates to effectively engage with their Members of Congress both in Washington and back home. Through these efforts, CMF has had opportunities to work with groups who have advanced advocacy programs – the kind designed to cultivate sophisticated advocates, targeted strategies, yielding significant results in the public policy arena.

These programs run the gamut from anti-hunger nonprofits to industry associations. Because CMF works with many of these advanced-advocate programs, we've been able to identify common characteristics nearly all of them possess. For grassroots professionals working for nonprofits, associations, and companies looking to build their programs, these are some traits you should aim to develop.

• Identify Candidates Most Likely to Succeed. Recruiting advanced citizen-advocates should include some kind of vetting process that ensures those participating genuinely want to build relationships with their lawmakers. One patient-advocate group CMF works with requires their volunteers to commit to interacting with their Members of Congress at least five times a year in order to be eligible for their "ambassador" program. Think about that for a second – "We won't consider you as a volunteer for our nonprofit unless you make a commitment of a certain level."
• Identify Candidates in Key States and Districts. Not all Members of Congress are created equal, which means that some citizen-advocates are more valuable and powerful than others. For example, if your group has someone in your network living in Janesville, Wisconsin (home town of the Speaker of the House of Representative), well then, they're pretty powerful this year (until the Speaker retires next year). The best advanced-advocate programs don't rely on random luck to connect their advocates to Congress, they create a recruitment strategy based on key congressional committees and targeted senators they need to influence. One company we worked with identified one constituent from every member of the House Ways and Means Committee and provided them with advanced training.
• Programs Have a "Brand" Name. This may sound hokey, but people like being thought of as special. Give your program and advocates a brand. This not only communicates to your advocates that they are considered the "elite" of your organization's networks, it sends a signal to those others that this is the path to get invited to the cool kids club. And don't skimp on the swag! One group passes out a HUGE pin to advanced advocates that just screams "I'm on the A-Team" at the annual conference.
• Advanced and Diverse Training. Every advanced advocacy program CMF works with incorporates some kind of advanced and diverse training for their advocates. CMF conducts many, but not all, of these advanced trainings that include role playing, legislator research, or developing a grassroots communications strategy. They also offer their supporters multiple learning opportunities, either through webinars, videos, or learning management software. The key component for success is that the advocate is genuinely practicing the material, not just watching a lecture. CMF will run advocates through a six-hour boot camp complete with advocacy scenarios and challenging exercises. It's the difference between watching a baseball game and playing one.

The best way to summarize the common characteristics of advanced advocacy comes from one of America's Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin, who said: "Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn." To move your grassroots program to the next level you need to involve your advocates in the program. When citizens feel as though they have a stake in your organization's issues, they feel they have a stake in the democratic process – and that is the ultimate motivator.

If you'd like more information about CMF's advanced advocacy training, contact Seth Turner, Director of Citizen Engagement at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  or (202) 516-5560.