Writing a Government Engagement Plan

Step 1: Identify your burning issues

Are there specific initiatives, projects or policies you want the government to fund or support? How do these relate to the broader goals of the organisation? It's a good idea to find time with your senior leadership team (SLT) or other leaders to align on what's actually important to the organisation, and link your campaign objectives directly to that. This will make it easier to articulate your ask to external stakeholders, and later, help internal stakeholders understand how your efforts have positively impacted the business.

Remember however that what might be critical to you, may not be critical to your stakeholders, so pick your priorities wisely.

Step 2: Articulate your goals and KPIs

What's your goal? Once you are clear on the objective, you can set incremental targets that will get you one step closer to meeting it. For example, if it's more favourable coverage or discussion about an issue or your organisation, you can set a metric around positive media mentions.

Alternatively, if it's simply to raise awareness, it may be a goal of having a certain number of positive meetings with target stakeholders (mindful that in the current climate you'll want to be engaging both sides of the political divide).

Step 3: Map your stakeholders

Ruthlessly identify your priority stakeholders. As all politics are local make sure to scan Hansard, socials and media releases to see what's front of mind for key stakeholders (or use Pulse to monitor sources and set up alerts in the one place). You can also identify stakeholders based on geography and whether your organisation has a presence in their electorate (which Advoc8 can help with as well).

If it's an election year, Government and Opposition MPs will start to clear the decks of anything non-election critical, and as suggested above, what is and isn't 'critical' will depend on the MP. And don't forget to reach out to candidates as they are often actively looking for allies and opportunities to connect with voters. Even if they don't get up, you'll often see them reappear in the future as advisers, MPs and Ministers.