If your historic preservation group wants to do a targeted advocacy campaign on a particular issue, it might benefit from hiring a professional lobbyist or lobbying firm. Even those nonprofit organizations that have public policy staffs or advocacy departments will hire professional help when a matter is complex or especially time consuming. In the field of historic preservation, professional lobbyists are often hired to work on tax credit bills due to the complexity of tax laws.

Benefits of Hiring a Professional Lobbyist

When you hire a professional lobbyist, you are also buying that person's (or firm's) connections to the elected officials who can help your group achieve its goals. If this concept is off-putting for you, remember that government is a system made up of people — and relationships among people facilitate decision-making in every aspect of life. In addition to offering political connections, a professional lobbyist can provide your group with valuable insights from the inside.

A professional lobbyist will coordinate his or her work with your grassroots efforts by doing the following:

• Help your group strategize about your advocacy campaign
• Keep your grassroots message current during quickly shifting internal priorities
• Identify when your message and strategies are, or are not, working
• Notify you when and why a grassroots issue might be temporarily delayed, which can be extremely valuable since timing is essential to advocacy campaigns

Three Reasons to Hire a Professional Lobbyist

Here are three reasons why your preservation group might want to hire a professional lobbyist:

• Your group is new to government relations. If your group's leaders have no experience with law, policy or government relations, consider working with a lobbyist for a limited time as you chart your advocacy plan. A good lobbyist will help you identify problems and opportunities. You may be able to get this kind of lobbying help for free while you search for a more permanent lobbyist who will suit your needs.
• You don't have time to focus on a policy issue. If your group is distracted by a competing issue, you may want to pay a professional to focus on your policy matter and keep your advocacy effort going. Even if your issue seems to be stalled or if your elected officials are on recess, work needs to be done to move your issue along. This work includes paying attention to competing concerns that distract elected officials from your issue. Effective policy-based advocacy actions require constant attention.
• You don't know what you don't know. A paid lobbyist will know how to spend time wisely and how to make the most of slower legislative periods. For instance, recesses often coincide with local fundraisers or events. Your paid lobbyist would know about these and help you figure out how to get invited (if you even need an invitation).

Three Things to Look for in a Professional Lobbyist

Here are three things that your preservation group should look for when you hire a professional lobbyist:

Previous success. The professional you hire should have proven success shepherding other matters through the legislative committee or committees that make decisions about your preservation policy. Scrutinize the resume of a lobbyist like you would for any potential consultant. Government relations is based on individual relationships, so be wary of cheap help from a person who has weak relationships with government officials. It is not enough for a lobbyist to have a good education and knowledge of the way things work. Less-experienced government relations professionals will be more eager to work with you for little to no money than ideal candidates. Those just starting out in government relations want to build their resume and client list.

A collaborative track record with other nonprofit organizations. As you are choosing among lobbyist candidates, select an individual who has worked well with other nonprofits. Lobbyists who work with nonprofit organizations should be strong collaborators. A lobbyist who is paid to help a nonprofit should be a good representative of that nonprofit. Contact the organizations on a candidate's resume. Did the candidate listen well and make decisions inclusively? Or did the candidate bulldoze over the organization's concerns and do it his or her own way? Be wary of lobbyists who work this way. If they work with their clients this way, they will likely turn off the people who can help you.

Effective methods. When you are interviewing potential lobbyists, ask about their methods. Look for someone who feels like a natural extension of your group — not a shark. Some lobbyists may talk about the large number of meetings they have with elected officials over the quality of their meetings. Others may focus on creating expensive glossy handouts that they drop off at legislative offices without a meeting at all. You should avoid any potential lobbyist who uses these methods. When you interview candidates, ask these questions:

• How does the candidate plan to incorporate your group into meetings?
• How will the materials you jointly create get in the hands of the right people?
• How does the candidate plan to use his or her inside efforts to support your grassroots work, and vice versa?

Ways to Pay for a Professional Lobbyist

Although some professional lobbyists will work on a sliding scale for nonprofit clients, it is unlikely that your preservation group will find a good professional lobbyist for free. Therefore, your group will need to raise funds to pay for these services.

Your group might consider partnering with another group to double your fundraising efforts. This approach will also help you strengthen your alliances prior to a grassroots campaign. Also, since 100 percent of the money you are raising will be spent on lobbying, you could consider creating a separate 501c4 non-tax deductible organization to raise funds for lobbying services.

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