The Relational Nature of Policy Work

Much has been written about the revolution in electronic communications and its effect of “annihilating distance.” Supposedly email will shortly replace letters, and teleconferencing will make travel superfluous. This may be true in some contexts, but it is not the case in policy work. Tip O'Neill rightly remarked that “all politics is local,” and by the same token, all policy work is personal. It is necessary to form a relationship with a policymaker before one can realistically hope to garner his or her support. Such relationships must be built face-to-face; the policymaker will not return e-mails. In fact, on Capitol Hill, e-mails are the lowest-valued form of communication, on the theory that they are easy to write and cheap to send. The much-reviled “snail mail,” in contrast, is highly valued, on the theory that if someone goes to the expense and trouble of writing a letter, he or she must care deeply about an issue.

Some facets of relational policy work can be counterintuitive. For example, it is sometimes sensible to call upon your representative and ask for nothing. It might be useful to consider some rules to follow while actually engaged in these activities. Although these rules are specifically tailored toward working with members of Congress, they can be easily modified for meetings with other types of policymakers.

1.  Use the power of constituency. Although you can visit with any of the 535 members of Congress, it makes sense to concentrate on the member of the House in whose district the foundation resides and on the senators from the foundation's home state. Members of Congress always pay most attention to people who can vote for (or against) them. A secondary priority is to meet with congress-people from districts and states where the foundation does significant programming. Although the foundation is not a constituent of these individuals, it does make grants to their constituents and thus has some clout.

2.  Visit before asking for something. The best time to ask for support is not two minutes after first having met someone. Yet that is exactly what will be necessary if you wait until there is a crisis to go and meet members of Congress. It is far better to start building a relationship with a congressperson before you have anything in particular to support or oppose. You can use these initial visits to educate the congressperson about the good that philanthropy in general and that your foundation in particular has done for his or her constituents. Then, when you must request support, you will be doing so in the context of a relationship rather than that of a cold call.

3.  Try to meet the congressperson's key staffers. Meeting with the congressperson is important, but not enough. Members of Congress are extremely busy, and it is usually their key staffers who do the research that will largely determine the way they vote. Even if you have secured a meeting with a congressperson, therefore, it is sensible to try to meet with his or her chief of staff or with other key aides. If, as frequently happens, the congressperson cannot be seen or needs to cancel, all is not lost. In fact, it is often just as valuable to meet with the staffer as with the congressperson, as the staffer has fewer distractions and will probably be able to devote more time and attention to the subject of the meeting.

4.  Take no more than five minutes. Members of Congress must often attend literally a dozen meetings or more daily, some of them rather lengthy. They can probably spare you about fifteen minutes at the most. Therefore, presentations, complete with any action to be requested, should be completed within no more than five minutes. If the congressperson has questions, this allows time for him or her to ask them. If not, you score points by concluding the meeting ahead of schedule.

5.  Bring along “leave behind” materials. It is a mistake to have a meeting with a member of Congress without leaving behind something on paper to remind him or her of the meeting and of the concerns discussed in it. It is also a mistake, however, to leave too many tree carcasses in your wake. Ideally, you should prepare, for every major subject you will discuss, a one-page summary to be left with the congressperson or his or her staffers. One-pagers often are read, whereas tomes almost never are. If, however, the foundation has published a lengthy but well-illustrated annual report or “coffee table” book about its grantmaking, you should offer a copy, for it makes excellent display material in the reception areas of the congressperson's office and educates visitors about your foundation.

6.  Follow up the visit with a letter. The visit is not complete until you send a follow-up letter thanking the congressperson and staffers for their hospitality and reiterating the points covered during the meeting. As previously mentioned, this should be an honest-to-goodness letter, not an e-mail, and it should be personalized, not a form letter.

7.  Write and visit often. The best advice for continuing contact is to make sure that contact continues. Write and visit often; whenever possible, you should be in contact without a favor to ask of a congressperson. These contacts build the relationship and make it easier to ask for help on those occasions when it is really needed.

8.  Be for something. Some program officers make the error of visiting the congresspeople who represent them only when they are attempting to head off ill-conceived ideas. After a while, such a program officer begins to look negative, a veritable Dr. No of the foundation world. Whenever you must oppose pending ideas, it is good to be able to offer a positive alternative. To the congressperson, it is always more congenial to work with people who are for good things than with those who are against bad things.

9.  Be a resource. Program officers are often expert on a number of subjects of interest to the congressperson. Instead of asking for something, you can actually offer something: access to your expertise. Congressional staffs frequently have “knowledge gaps,” just as do foundation staffs, and you can appropriately serve in the place of a consultant. You must take care, of course, to avoid becoming an unpaid staffer for the congressperson on a full-time basis, but helping out on occasion is beneficial both to the congressperson and to the foundation. Such assistance is also handy in fending off inappropriate requests the congressperson might make. You must recognize that it is likely that the congressperson, sooner or later in the relationship, will ask the foundation for something. As sages have noted, “When you get into bed with the government, you've got to expect more than a good night's sleep.” Providing expertise to a member of Congress from time to time is certainly a more acceptable quid pro quo than to make grants to his or her pet charities. And, of course, it helps build and maintain the relationship so that it will be strong when really needed.