Home / Government Relations / Advocacy Leadership Program

Advocacy Leadership Program

With Advocacy Leaders at each company, we can streamline our communications and make sure that you have up-to-date information on how your companies can engage to make a meaningful difference in the political process.

Advocacy Leaders Program Overview

An Advocacy Leader can be an internal lobbyist or any employee who is interested in advocacy and can communicate with your executive leadership team regarding the need for assistance or input on grassroots and advocacy.

What Do Advocacy Leaders Do?

Provide company locations to the Auto Care government affairs team.

This allows the association to map the industry’s footprint across the nation and to connect your company with the lawmakers who represent you.

Receive calls to action on legislative issues from the Auto Care government affairs team and share these calls to action within your organization.

In less than five minutes, you can make your voice heard and show your lawmakers what matters to our industry.

Participate in calls hosted by the Auto Care government affairs team.

Receive up-to-date information on the legislative issues affecting our industry.

Serve as the point of contact at your company for the Auto Care government affairs team.

Receive advocacy materials to share with your company.

Why Get Involved

  • This program is key to ensuring that the Auto Care Association can effectively advocate on behalf of our members at all levels of government.
  • We will also help your company build relationships directly with lawmakers, helping them to understand our businesses, the issues that impact our industry and the importance of the essential services that we provide.
  • The government affairs team will make advocacy as simple and easy as possible. We will help you to create and run your own advocacy programs by mapping your footprint, developing an engagement strategy and connecting you with your lawmakers. We will also flag any issues that may impact your business and discuss how you can take action. Take advantage of this opportunity to tell your unique story and to make your voice heard.

How to become an effective advocate

Grassroots advocacy is using your influence as an industry professional and constituent to educate and engage with lawmakers. Influence comes in a variety of forms, but it all starts with a commitment to become an advocate on behalf of you, your business and your industry.

Why should you become an advocate?

A popular phrase within the advocacy community is "If you are not helping to dictate the terms, the terms will be dictated to you."

Businesses that stay informed about public policy and work to shape it rather than just react to it get a real say in decisions that affect their bottom line. Getting involved in advocacy is a direct way to influence the future of your business and your industry.

The People in Politics

Legislator

  • Cares about constituents.
  • Attends fundraisers with lobbyists.
  • Exposed to MANY issues and is mostly big picture focused.
  • Sets policy priorities for their office.
  • Constituent face time is reserved mostly for fundraisers, tours, CEO meet-and-greets and some legislative fly-ins.
  • Gets guidance from their staff.

D.C. Staff

  • Subject matter experts.
  • Holds most constituent and lobbyist meetings.
  • Flags very hot issues for the legislator.
  • Gets details on legislator’s priority issues from lobbyists.

District Staff

  • Organizes constituent facility tours.
  • Handles constituent services for the legislator (e.g. COVID-19 loan assistance).

Constituent

  • Contacts D.C. staff and district staff to flag their presence in the district and define their priorities.
  • Offers to set up tours for the legislator.
  • Attends political fundraisers, or, if desired, helps with the legislator’s political campaign.
  • Coordinates with Auto Care lobbyists to learn about emerging legislation that could impact their business.
  • Arranges for their CEO to meet with the legislator.
  • Supports ACPAC to ensure Auto Care can support more key legislators.

Auto Care Lobbyist

  • Attends fundraisers with legislators and presents our industry and our policy priorities.
  • Communicates emerging issues to constituents.
  • Meets with D.C. staff to discuss the details on our Auto Care issues and how they align with the legislator’s policy priorities.
  • Meets with constituents to learn about issues that impact their business.
  • Coordinates meetings between constituents and D.C. staff or legislators.

Strength of a Relationship with a Legislator

  • ACPAC or Campaign Support
  • Constituent Outreach
  • Lobbyist Outreach
  1. Non-existent
  2. Fair
  3. Good
  4. Excellent

Each action taken helps strengthen a relationship with a legislator. An excellent relationship is comprised of many, frequent actions.