3 Steps to Ready Your Co-op for Any Legislative Issue

January 25, 2023 by Julie Elliot, President

It’s that time of year when state legislatures are convening to consider a variety of policy proposals (queue the “I’m Just a Bill” song in your head). Whether or not your cooperative is facing immediate impact from legislation this session, it’s only a matter of time before a state, local or national issue will require action in your area. Good news for cooperative leadership teams – a few simple measures will ensure you’ll be ready next time the gavel falls.

1. Enrich

Step one is to make sure you can access legislative data in your customer information system. With redistricting last year, this is especially important! You can unlock legislative district information through your GIS system or by a simple data append to enhance your file with complete state and federal district details.

2. Analyze

Crunch some numbers. Create a report of how many email addresses you have in each district. The analysis can be used internally or to share with legislators to show them the overlap between your constituencies. The key to using the data is being able to push specific messages by district based on whether you want to thank the legislator for their support or whether you need members to ask them to consider an alternate position.

3. Prepare

Create custom email templates for grassroots messaging. By building a shell which can be updated with specific details when needed, you’ll expedite future messaging.

The better news is that Inside Information can help you complete all three steps in this action plan. We’ve helped cooperatives mobilize members on grassroots initiatives, and we’d love to chat about how we can help you too.