Government Access Is No Longer Enough for Associations to Make an Impact

For years, the playbook for association government affairs teams was short. Hire people with relationships. Get your members in front of the right offices. Make the case and make it often. For a long stretch, that was enough: Access plus patience produced outcomes.

That equation is holding up less well than it used to. Relationships still matter, and they still open doors. But an open door is now the starting line, not the finish.

A member of Congress who likes you and agrees with you can still vote against your priority if the politics around it are not built to hold. Access gets you heard. Getting a result is a separate job, and it has gotten harder in today's political climate.

Please select this link to read the complete article from ASAE's Center for Association Leadership.