: Targeting Decision Makers

Primary Targets
It’s important that the decision makers are people such as school board members, principals, and lawmakers who have the power to deliver your goals. Most of your persuasion efforts should be focused on them. When planning, ask yourself:

• Who has the power to make your solution a reality? Is the issue something a principal can change or is it a district-wide policy?
• Personalize your target, making it a single individual as opposed to a whole group. This helps make your goal seem more attainable. It may seem much easier to influence your school principal, a city council member, or member of Congress than taking on the school district, city hall, or Washington.

Whenever possible, focus your efforts on more than one target. This is especially important when you are trying to persuade lawmakers, because power is generally split amongst many branches of government, and to be effective and spark change, pressure must come from a variety of places.

Secondary Targets
This group is the prominent members of the community, such as business leaders, activists,
clergy, community groups, civic organizations, and the members of the media who can help you
influence your primary targets.

Ongoing Targets
Who are your most likely supporters among the public at large? These will be the people whom
the PTA needs to inform or target for “Get Out the Vote” drives for ballot initiatives. Think in
terms of counties, precincts, neighborhoods, school districts, and other ways to break up large
targets into manageable segments.

State and Local Legislative Targets
Lobbying legislators is about persuading them to do what you believe is right. There are five main categories of legislators, each requiring its own special strategy:

1. Champions - Each issue needs a group of lawmakers dedicated to being tireless, committed advocates for the cause. They can make the case to their colleagues, help develop a strong “inside” strategy, and be visible public spokespeople. However, they need good information and visible support outside the Capitol, which is where you come in.

2. Allies - This group will be on your side and can be pushed to do more—to speak up in party caucuses or on the floor or to meet with undecided lawmakers on your behalf.

3. Fence Sitters - Some legislators will be uncommitted on the issues, open to being swayed to vote either way. These are your key targets; an effective lobbying strategy is creating the right mix of “inside” persuasion and “outside” pressure to sway them your way.

4. Mellow Opponents - Another group of legislators will vote against you, but are not inclined to be active on the issue. It is key to keep them from becoming more active, by lobbying just enough to give them pause about taking a more active role, but not too much to make them angry.

5. Hard-Core Opponents - Finally, there are those lawmakers who are leading your opposition. It is important to isolate them by highlighting the extremes of their positions, rhetoric, and alliances, and giving other lawmakers pause about joining with them.

Adapted with permission from the Connecticut Association of Nonprofits Advocacy/Lobbying Toolkit, available at
www.ctnonprofits.org/pages/NonprofitResources/Advocacy_Lobbying_Toolkit.asp.

For more information on targets and tactics for influencing them, download the Grassroots Advocacy Toolkit under Additional Resources.

Additional Resources

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