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Month: February 2024

CiviClick and Its One-of-a-Kind Services

Posted on by civiclick_admin

At the risk of sounding immodest, when we launched CiviClick this past year, it signaled a new era in advocacy and public affairs. Our aim was, and still is, to disrupt traditional, and often ineffective, advocacy methods by leveraging revolutionary, AI-powered technological tools. What may have seemed like a lark is now a revolutionary way to conduct business, as many of our clients will attest.

There are a few reasons for our success. First, we have an incredibly talented and creative team—former political consultants, campaign veterans and public affairs practitioners with decades of first-hand experience in technology, politics and government relations.

Second, we continually develop our technological tools with input and feedback from our frontline partners, people working in both the public and private sectors: CEOs, executive directors, Hill staffers, campaign operatives, lobbyists and grassroots advocates.

Third, we operate a platform featuring state-of-the-art technology. No more useless form letters, bad legislative data, confusing analytics or slow customer service. We’ve helped clients connect with decision-makers, influence policy and improve their communities faster and more effectively than ever.

And we’re just getting started. With that mind, we’d like to share with anyone not acquainted with CiviClick information on the many services we offer.

Advocacy Software

Our AI-powered advocacy software is ground-breaking. It allows us to deliver forward-thinking, easy-to-use technology to a wide variety of clients, among them companies, digital advocates, government relations professionals, nonprofits and trade associations. With CiviClick’s tech tools, which include gamification modules, clients create customized advocacy that perpetually ramps up engagement and rewards participation.

We also help them optimize their messaging, by pinpointing only relevant supporters and decision-makers. But the devil, as they say, is in the details. So here’s what else CiviClick’s AI-powered advocacy software is capable of:

  • Omni-channel engagement with all levels of lawmakers and regulators—local, state, federal and international.
  • Reports on advocate activities using advanced filtering options, including policy interests, custom tags, past engagement and advocate scoring.
  • Segmenting lawmakers into customized audiences for thank-and-spank campaigns and targeting by party affiliation or voting history.
  • A/B testing of machine learning modules and survey tools to accurately identify a client’s best messaging strategy.
  • Connecting clients with lawmakers and regulators via phone calls, emails, texts, videos, photos and social media.

Pay-for-Performance Marketing

Our clients are passionate about their causes. But if their messaging isn’t reaching the right people—be it advocates, tree-shakers, lawmakers or all three—few, if any, will hear what they have to say. Which is why CiviClick offers “pay-for-performance” data and advertising solutions, to help clients expand their reach by attracting the right advocates to generate momentum for their campaigns.

One big arrow in our quiver is an owned audience of more than 85 million activists in both the United States and Canada. This gives us the ability to advertise any grassroots advocacy campaign to a vast pool of potential advocates focused on 40-plus policy issues.

CiviClick’s pay-for-performance program also enables clients to customize and target their audiences through emails, text messages, phone calls, direct mail, social media ads, display ads, and hundreds of web properties in our partner network. It’s a service that benefits the client in many ways, ranging from email list acquisition to ballot initiatives to regulatory advocacy campaigns.

And what we call our Guaranteed Response Program, ensures the following:

  • A locked-in price on a “cost per conversion” basis. Clients only pay for the people who convert.
  • The modality of channel conversion, such as a phone call or an email from a constituent to an elected official, is selected by the client.
  • Conversions occur within a predetermined time frame during a campaign’s scheduled flight dates.
  • Secure tracking of the timestamp, physical address and IP address of each action-taker to prove the conversion is real and valid.
  • Each person who converts resides in a geographic region and matches a demographic profile chosen by the client.

Campaign Management

When a campaign is up and running, there’s no time to worry about whether you have all your ducks in a row. Which is why CiviClick offers a tailored service that helps clients manage their campaign and methodically, not haphazardly, execute the tasks critical to success.

Our talented team of campaign veterans knows from experience that you need quite a few crucial items to win a legislative advocacy campaign: data, planning, strong messaging and omni-channel engagement, covering the grassroots and the grasstops. Those same vets guide clients through the whole process, from budgeting to hiring vendors to deploying data solutions.

They’re the campaign operatives you want on your side to build an audience and execute integrated public affairs campaigns. And they handle it all: copywriting, messaging, strategy, audience segmentation, campaign planning, legislative research and more. They really are a dream team: seasoned advocacy professionals who are also digital advocacy practitioners.

State & Local Lobbyist Referrals

There’s one other service not everyone needs, but it’s certainly advisable in some cases—lobbyists. And if a client isn’t sure who’s the best to hire for local, state or federal policy issues, CiviClick can help, from coast to coast.

We have extensive relationships with lobbying firms in all 50 states, and can make recommendations based on political connections, policy issue areas, region of influence, retainer fee costs, roster of past/present customers and size/reach of the firm.

Here’s what clients receive as part of the service:

  • A database of the most trusted and successful local, state, and federal lobbyists in the United States and Canada.
  • Unique survey tools to match organizations with the best lobbyist for specific policy issues.
  • Testimonials, biographies, client registrations and “top lobbyist” badges—reserved for the top 10% in our database.
  • A call with the lobbyist of the client’s choice to discuss policy issues.

Conclusion

While we’ve presented you with an overview of the services CiviClick offers, we’d like to add that, as a disruptor in the public affairs and advocacy space, we tailor those services to the needs of each client. And in every case, we leverage ground-breaking AI and gamification technology to modernize the ways in which advocates communicate with lawmakers. 

As effective as that advocacy is, we also ensure that it’s fun, engaging and highly interactive. Plus, we enable our clients to grow their advocate communities via technology, surveys, social listening, community-building activities and access to our vast database of online activists.

Anyone working with CiviClick not only possesses the best technological tools available; they’re backed by in-depth expertise and an army’s worth of advocates. Working with CiviClick is like tapping a bottomless well of water that will help grow and sustain your organization for however long it takes to realize your goals. 

Making the Most of State Legislative Sessions

Posted on by civiclick_admin

While the origin of the term “all politics is local” is up for debate, it was the late Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill — first a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and later Speaker of the House in the U.S. Congress — who turned it into a household phrase decades ago. He even included it as part of the title of a memoir he co-authored. Why? Because he knew, probably more than anyone, the difference between legislating at the state and federal levels.

At the state level, legislation has more of a direct impact on people. And, accordingly, their legislatures are far more productive than the one in the U.S. Capitol. On average, they introduce roughly 20 times the amount of bills proposed by Congress during a legislative session and, in turn, pass many more laws.

Once again, we ask, “Why?” Well, for one, state legislators are never far, literally, from their constituents, and their relatively narrow focus allows them to tackle multiple local issues, resulting in more bills. They also grapple with far less partisan gridlock and because of the immediate—and, in some cases, basic—needs of their constituents, place a premium on efficiency.  

For these reasons and more, it’s important for all of CiviClick’s clients—businesses, trade associations, nonprofits and advocacy groups—to know what’s cooking at the state level, where, as 2024 gets underway, legislative sessions are kicking into gear. In fact, you can check your state’s schedule here as we share, below, the best ways to ensure your voice is heard in state legislative halls.

Prepping for State Sessions: The Basics

While most legislative sessions have already begun, it doesn’t hurt to know how to prepare for them—so that either this time around or during the next session your organization’s efforts can help influence how policies and laws are shaped.

First, a primer. Bills are introduced between January and October, depending on the state. Usually, pre-filed bills are introduced earliest. These are bills from previous sessions that haven’t yet been voted through, and they reflect what’s top of mind among the political parties and leading legislators. Which means you should keep an eye on them.

After a bill is introduced, it’s time for committee assignments, which are related to the bills’ topics of focus as well as the approvals required for each. The committee’s chair decides whether a bill will be heard and debated, a process that can include public testimony for and against the bill. If a bill doesn’t make it out of committee, it won’t be voted on. Otherwise, it heads to the floor for debate and voting.

There are two key aspects to preparing for state sessions: knowing your state’s policy trends and putting together a bill-tracking process. CiviClick helps its clients with the latter, but you can also invest in bill-tracking software or keep tabs via the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Included in the tracking process is the monitoring of bills, press releases and social media posts relevant to your organization’s interests. It’s also important to be aware of the discussions taking place between legislators and others at official meetings and events. This is why it’s important, if possible, to have a solid government relations strategy, which also helps with following what’s become increasingly important during legislative sessions: online discussions.

The point is, the more prepared you are going into a state legislative session, the better your chances of knowing when and where to speak up.

The Arrows in Your Quiver

Once a session is underway, and if you know how you’re going to approach it — via a campaign, advocacy, lobbying or maybe all three — it’s wise to be prepared in other ways.  

Craft a mission statement. The statement should share the following: why your organization is advocating for specific legislation and why it matters; the policy objectives you’re hoping to achieve; and how you plan to achieve your goals.

Whip up a foolproof communications plan. Maybe your business or organization has a communications director or just a one-person staff who might need help from CiviClick. Whatever your situation, you’ll need to know how you’ll communicate with your employees, members, supporters and fellow advocates during a legislative session.

Ensure that your digital presence reflects your mission. Update your social media profiles—on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and LinkedIn—regularly. Use video and other visuals to continually engage and educate supporters before and during sessions. And update your website, so that it, too, reflects your policy goals for the session.

Set a legislative timeline. If you know which bill or bills your organization is focused on, find out when they’ll be discussed, debated and/or testified about in committee and, if they go this far, on the floor. A timeline will help ensure that your people are prepared when policy issues officially pop up for discussion.

Arrange a lobby day. Lobby days are an essential part of any organization’s advocacy efforts. It provides you and your supporters with face-to-face time with legislators, so that you can share well-rehearsed, poignant stories and talking points with them as they prepare to discuss a bill in committee or on the floor. There is no substitute for a human connection.  

During the Sessions

If you’ve put most, if not all, of the pieces mentioned above into place, you should be as prepared as possible for your state’s legislative session. You should also be thinking about a few other things.

The news cycle is 24/7, which means responses to legislative maneuvers need to be perfectly timed. In this context, researching, focusing on constituent concerns and setting legislative goals is crucial. So it behooves any business or organization to connect with key legislators and their staff to advocate for your concerns ahead of the news cycle. That way, when an issue arises publicly, you can elevate your position to the forefront of the conversation.

Hearings are also essential. They can be informal, a meeting between interested constituents and elected officials, or formal—e.g., committee hearings. Whatever the format, hearings allow for experts in your corner to provide legislators, their staff and the public with essential information. And they examine the legislation’s positive and negative impacts.

For these reasons, it’s absolutely crucial to pay attention to legislator and staff data while planning for and participating in a legislative session. Because the session is the busiest time of year for legislators, staff may be the main point of contact. And staffers provide legislators with information, research and news on the bills at hand.

Conclusion

Now that state legislative sessions are well underway, it’s best to be mindful of the many ways your business or organization can prepare itself to have a say on which way votes for laws you either favor or dislike go. Know which bills are up for debate, where legislators stand on them and your best opportunities for sharing your expertise and/or opinion.

And marshal your own forces to help them exert pressure. At the state level especially, lawmakers are virtually face-to-face with their constituents, so your organization’s communications plan, which should include a healthy digital component, is crucial both before and during sessions. Ours is, after all, a participatory democracy, and the best, most effective way to participate is to remember what Tip O’Neill once preached: “All politics is local.”