March/April 2008

Message from the Acting Executive Director

E-Advocacy: Where Do We Go from Here?

Nearly every Monday morning, our policy staff gathers to review the work of the week—What developments occurred at the Capitol? What new bills have been introduced? On what issues do child advocates need to be heard. How will we most effectively raise our voice in order to be heard above the cacophony in the halls of government?  We hope that by following some formula combining media coverage, research dissemination, number crunching, visits with policymakers and grassroots mobilization, we will be successful.

We sometimes come to you through your computer and ask for your help. Did you know that there are close to1,500 people signed on to our action network?  That is a lot of potential power! In 2005 we invested in an on-line service called CapWiz to make it easier for you to take action.  If you are on our action alert list, you periodically receive emails inviting you to click the Take Action button and send a pre-addressed email to your legislators.  We provide talking points to help you compose your message.  We can keep track of how many of these messages are sent and who gets them and even how many of you actually choose to open our email.
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 We thought this was pretty cool. 

Be careful what you wish for.  Keeping tabs on the action these e-alerts generate has been eye opening.  We now know, for example, that 61 people responded to our recent alert calling on the Governor and legislators to protect vital programs by reinstating the estate tax and instituting some corporate tax accountability.   Did I tell you we sent the alert to almost 1,500 advocates?

If child advocates are gong to be heard amidst all the competing interests and powerful lobbies, we need the help of everyone on our action network, and then some.  So how can we best get you involved?

Are we clinging to a tired, obsolete tool? Is “e-advocacy” dead? Have we missed some steps that would make you more likely to respond when you see the WCCF Action Alert message in your inbox?  We will spend time over the next few months evaluating our strategies for engaging you in our work.  Thanks to brainstorming by participants in our various advocacy trainings we are coming up with some clever ways to help you raise your voice. So expect more invitations to write letters to your local paper or visit with your legislators. Watch your inbox for our new monthly updates so you can stay informed about the issues we work on.   And because we still believe in the power of e-advocacy, stay tuned for a new look to our e-alerts. 

In the meantime, let me know your ideas. After all, whatever influence we have on public policy comes from you. It is the collective volume of all of our voices that give us power. Help us crank that volume as loud as possible.