Advocacy update: how to be a Little Giant: making personal relationships goes a long way in advocacy efforts.

When 6-year-old Carl Albert heard a member of Congress speak at his one-room school in 1914, he knew he was destined for public service. Years later, a 20-year-old Albert arrived in Washington, D.C., as a National Oration contestant--as a farm boy, he had refined his speaking skills through years of telling stories as he picked cotton in Oklahoma.

As his train pulled into Union Station, Sen. Elmer Thomas was personally waiting to welcome Albert to the nation's capital. The senator then escorted Albert to his lodging and introduced him to President Calvin Coolidge. Though he only squeaked out "nice to meet you" to Coolidge, Albert's relationship with Thomas blossomed into a friendship that paid dividends to his future. He became a congressman, then House Majority Leader and Speaker of the House. In these positions, he came to be known as "The Little Giant."

Many attributed his nickname to his small stature, but it was actually because of his strong relationships with other legislators. These relationships enabled him to work out differences among Congressional members and move giant pieces of legislation into law. Civil rights reform and President Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" were successfully navigated through the House and into public law during Albert's tenure. And it was this "Little Giant" who was in leadership when Congress passed the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act.

Albert may have put his hometown of Bug Tussle, Okla., on the map, but the constituents who actually visited Washington, D.C., were few and far between. Communication with legislators in the 1960s and 1970s was in the form of letters, meet-and-greet events and celebrations, occasional long distance phone calls, and newspaper editorials. Throughout the Little Giant's life and tenure, Congressional offices assumed that for every thoughtful letter from back home, 300 others had the same opinion. Legislators today still have that opinion of a thoughtful letter; however, there are new channels and other media that have changed the way constituents access information.

As we fast forward to the present, the information superhighway has now been paved and repaved. Fewer folks in Bug Tussle spend their days picking cotton pods and blackberries, and more are listening to Podcasts and sending e-mails through Blackberrys. While public opinion and advocacy shapes public policy, technology also has its limits in delivering constituents' messages to their legislators. It is not as simple as clicking a button--new rules for effective advocacy are taking shape.

During the August 2006 recess, a congressional staffer admitted that the general inbox and constituent response portfolio in her office was filled with thousands of messages. Because of the workload involved and so little staff to handle so many messages, very little of the correspondence could be given consideration. This is not the situation in every office, but it does indicate the stresses of life on Capitol Hill.

So if we have become masters of information-sharing and can send it at lightning speed, are we getting a return on our investment? Is this information making an emotional connection as it was intended to spark action by a legislator, or is it sitting on a server somewhere on Capitol Hill? While constituents today cannot possibly get the royal treatment that young Carl Albert received from his senator, there are ways to send effective e-mails to Congress and feel confident that their stances are being considered.

Traveling to Washington, D.C., is an effective way to advocate, but as the world grows smaller the city begins to burst at the seams with advocates every spring, proclaiming diverse agendas and "taking their messages to the Hill." An advocate's meeting is many times one out of 200 that one single staff person will have in a three-month period. Though advocates may think that their message is heard, sometimes, no action is taken, and in reality, their impact is much less than they imagine.

It is easy to see that some advocates forget the human connection. Advocates must remember that every communication with legislators and staff is part of a larger relationship that they must nurture through time.

NRPA is not the biggest organization out there--it does not have monetary connections to legislators' campaigns, but the association remains effective because our advocates have relationships with legislators and staff, using the appropriate personal channels of communication, direct phone calls, personal e-mails and substantive meetings that request a reasonable action.

NRPA's advocacy focuses on quality and every member is encouraged to take that next step in consistently contacting legislators on behalf of parks and recreation. The association's successes have created eye-opening responses by other organizations in Washington. They are impressed by how an organization of NRPA's size can be doing so much. Hopefully, as this momentum continues, NRPA can be another "Little Giant" on Capitol Hill, with its advocates having strong relationships with legislators, and the ability to work out differences to advance parks and recreation nationally.

ACTION ALERT

NRPA provides tools on the Web site for advocates to develop these strong relationships. In addition, the NRPA legislative platform is tiered to emphasize priorities. When advocates arrive in Washington, D.C., for the NRPA Legislative Forum on Parks and Recreation, they will receive background information of what issues are important to parks and recreation, and why. In spite of the hustle and bustle of Capitol Hill, they will learn an issue's current status in the policy process and lessons on how to convey the correct substance of information to a legislator and staff.

All these tools should be viewed as instruments to guide members in quality advocacy. Additionally, NRPA Public Policy staff is ready to assist any park and recreation advocate with their communication to Capitol Hill in accordance with NRPA's legislative agenda.

Michael Phillips is the policy and advocacy specialist for NRPA. He can be reached at [phone] or [e-mail].