Tip #6: Who is the decider?

I’m the decider, and I decide what is best.

George W. Bush
“President Bush Announces Appointment of New Budget Director”. www.washingtonpost.com. April 18, 2006. 

Before you start recruiting new advocates to your team, it pays to spend a little time on research. As an issue advocate you know A LOT about your issue. Let’s apply your fantastic research skills to learning more about the people who will make a decision on the issue.

In your planning document (see tip #2!!) write down the name of the person or people who will make the decision on your issue. Here are some questions to ask:

• Which legislative committees, government boards, and/or agencies will make decisions on your issues?
• Who in those bodies can be your issue’s champion?
• Who is opposed to your issue position?
• Who is neutral?

Tool Time: Free Tools to Research Your Decision Makers

Whether friend or foe or neutral on your issue, it helps to know as much as possible about the people making a decision. Here are some great (and FREE) tools to research decision makers:

• Ballotpedia: Find legislators bios, election stats and more.
• Followthemoney.org: Find campaign donors to federal, state and some local officials. This is a data rich site. You can spend lots of time here, so budget wisely!
• Look ’em up in your favorite search engine. See what kind of news hits, quotes and social media posts show up.

Need some help?

Need help thinking through the right decision makers to work with on your issue? Want a little assistance in the research department? That’s what we do! Let’s set up a time to talk.