Power Building

Powerful organizations accomplish more. They are more capable of achieving policy goals, strengthening their member base, and increasing their fundraising. The State Environmental Leadership Program provides its members the opportunity to build their power through grasstops development, power assessment and power mapping.

What is grasstops development?

Grasstops are influential people who your organization can count on to weigh in on important environmental issues. Most advocacy organizations involve grasstops in their work already. Grasstops often author letters to the editor, act as spokespeople for a cause, or contact decision makers directly at key moments. However, few organizations have methods of strategically identifying areas where they need to build grasstops relationships, finding new grasstops leaders, and sustaining engagement with grasstops.SELP’s grasstops program helps organizations develop systems to address these needs and build a systematic, sustainable, and strategic grasstops network. By consistently growing its grasstops base in these ways, an organization builds its power.

What is power assessment?

Power assessment is a data driven analysis of how much power or influence an organization has. It also analyzes the characteristics of that power. An assessment can help an organization choose campaigns and target power building efforts. Because the process is data driven, it can make an organization aware of important shifts and trends that may have not been previously perceived. It gives an organization a chance to step away from campaign-level thinking and critically look at the organization as a whole. Though this exercise is similar to those done by many electoral groups, it is actually a c3 activity used by many grassroots organizations to strategically decide how to increase their organization’s power.

What is power mapping?

Power mapping is a strategic exercise aimed at a particular campaign. By assessing how much power or influence an organization has over the target of a campaign and identifying where that power comes from, the organization can more strategically plan the campaign. The process can identify where the organization can spend its efforts to be most successful and efficient. By viewing campaign planning through a power mapping lens, an organization can be sure that it will be more powerful at the end of a campaign, regardless of whether the campaign was won or lost.

What is strategic communications?

Effective communications, speaking to your audience in a way they will hear and understand, is crucial both to advancing progressive environmental policy and to growing organizations. It is important that all areas (program, membership, organizing, etc.) of an organization understand and utilize strategic communication concepts so that all the organization’s messages are consistent and coordinated. The goal of SELP’s strategic communications program is to assist our members in improving their communication capabilities by building off of and adding to their existing communications efforts. 

How can an organization benefit from power building trainings?

• Better ability to prioritize programmatic and power building goals
• Ability to create more targeted campaigns
• Increased fundraising potential through grasstops networks
• Greater effectiveness in campaign goals due to increased organizational power
• More efficient use of time and financial resources use because of strategically allocated efforts
• Stronger organization after each campaign regardless of winning or losing
• Better poised to cope with economic or programmatic challenges

For more information about increasing your organization’s power through these trainings, please contact Marissa Degroot, mdegroot at selp.org