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DLCC
Legislative Landscape Winning With Constituent Outreach by Legislators who are responsive to constituent needs are more likely to win reelection because they are in touch with their district. But just having a good constituent service program is not enough anymore, as most voters never hear how helpful their legislator is to the community. This is especially true now because reapportionment is bringing new constituents to most legislative districts. The solution is to bring constituent service to the entire district. CapAd Communications has developed an inexpensive phone outreach program for incumbent legislators to effectively promote their constituent service programs. Voters find it refreshing to hear what their elected officials are doing for them without being asked for money or their vote. The message
can be on any number of issues including:
One of our most successful programs was to inform property owners in targeted House districts that they were entitled to a state tax rebate. The state had done a poor job of advertising the rebate; so publicizing its existence was very helpful. It did not seem to matter that some homeowners had already received their rebate; they were appreciative that someone was looking out for their best interests. Every first-term state representative who participated in the program won reelection. In addition to imparting valuable information, the program can be adapted to identify constituents who qualify for state programs but are unaware of their opportunities. Identifying and communicating to a constituent is the start of a dialogue that can lead to a long-term relationship, with benefits going both ways. Constituent outreach messages do not have to be blockbusters to be effective. Announcing the opening of a district office or telling constituents about ways their legislative representatives can help them are calls that are appreciated and remembered. The effort being made is as important as the message itself. Making the effort to contact constituents is especially important where the redrawn legislative districts include new communities. Redistricting offers a wonderful opportunity to reach out and make a lasting impression on voters who know nothing about their new state legislator. To make each call more memorable, we prefer a blended call approach. If a person answers, one of our call center representatives delivers the message. If an answering machine picks up, a prerecorded message is left in our client's voice. We schedule the call program during the day to get more answering machines so constituents can connect a voice with their legislator. Unlike telemarketing calls, constituents are interested to know why their elected representative is calling and are more likely to listen to the complete message. When a phone number is left as part of the message, a significant percentage of the people contacted ask for the phone number to be repeated. We know those are high impact calls! To underscore the impact of the constituent outreach phone call, we recommend following it up with a letter or postcard from our client to drive the message home. Then get ready for total strangers to come up to you on the street and apologize for not being at home when you called. Welcome to constituency service in the modern era. Constituent outreach calls work best when they are not expected. Avoid calling too close to Election Day or boasting of legislative accomplishments as they can readily be dismissed as politically motivated. This program works because the outreach is a genuine offer to help. If representation of new districts occurs immediately upon approval of the redistricting plan, focus on constituent outreach as soon as possible. Take the opportunity to make a memorable and lasting impact on new voters by inviting them into your constituent service program. Even if the new lines do not take effect until after the election this fall, consider doing a constituent outreach program into the area that is retaining in the new district. Your efforts now will pay off in November. Most states allow constituent service calls to be paid for with funds set aside for constituent communications. Any legitimate form of communication is generally covered for use of such funds. The real issue with state funding is whether there are sufficient funds for large-scale constituent calling programs. Where state funding is not practical, we suggest using campaign contributions, but still keeping the message non-political. The calls are short, so the program is still inexpensive for the level of impact it generates. This concept can work using a volunteer phone bank if the target audience for the calls is small enough to be called efficiently. Totally automated calls are also an option, but less effective since a goal of the calling program is to create a closer bond between legislator and constituent.
The strength of a constituent service outreach program is that it can
run the entire legislative term until the reelection campaign gets going.
The results have proven its success…no campaign losses for any of
our clients in the three years we have offered the outreach program. |