Loading Events

« All Events

  • This event has passed.

Deep Dive Breakout 2: Dial Your Budgets up to 11: Optimizing Every Dollar

July 31, 2024 @ 11:30 am - 12:30 pm

What are some creative budget hacks and tips of the trade that can help you create a big bang for your buck? Share your nifty tools that help you work smarter and cheaper. What are the paid budget items that are actually worth every penny?

Notes:

  • Introductions
    • Jennifer McGarry, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
    • Colleen Terry, Distilled Spirits Council
    • Craig Plazure, Beekeeper Group (Moderator) 
  • Stay Organized and Get Bang for your buck!
    • SparkInfluence is a great tool to keep everything in one place (website, grassroots CRM, etc. and can collaborate and share information across the organization 
    • It also helps them work with external groups on their advocacy efforts and increases the transparency across teams and members working on projects
    • This one document is their go-to for training, communicating, and contributions across the organization
    • They are able to manage separate budgets and campaigns or projects
  • Budget Tools
    • Spreadsheets, spreadsheets, spreadsheets!
      • Excel and SmartSheet allow you to track multiple budgets, across multiple projects and identify ways to maximize your dollars from each project
      • Especially in the non-profit world, this will keep a record of how money has been used in the past and can be used when applying for new grants or additional budget 
    • Time tracking is of the utmost importance! It’s the best way to see how time is budgeted across the organization, and time is money. 
      • Some time tracking features can help pull you out of the spreadsheets 
      • Link your systems to minimize the effort but maximize your budgeted dollars 
  • How do you keep track of and plan ahead for utilizing your budget?
    • Having continual conversations about what you would do if you HAD the budget in advance, and then prioritizing accordingly as you obtain the budget to take on new ventures
  • Creative ideas and thrifty ways to execute them
    • Collaboration offers opportunity!
      • Working alongside other, like-minded organizations can bring new resources, expertise, and energy to an advocacy campaign
      • Example: using some budget to go to a conference in your industry and meeting with people who would be willing to work with you – in-person connections lead to new ideas, discoveries, and easy-to-implement solutions
        • At a conference, you can meet multiple people with similar stories to share and can gather patient/advocacy stories that you can use as collateral without having to have multiple-day video shoots 
      • Cross-industry collaboration can also be extremely valuable – you may make a connection with an organization that is focused on the same issue and wants to add budget to the cause 
        • You have many more opportunities to tap into if you’re all working together (ex. A cross-industry team may have a high focus on lobbying, whereas another has great communication teams
    • Invest in your volunteers
      • The virtual world allows you to reach anyone interested in advocating on behalf of your cause, and training your advocates has never been easier
        • The money you spend tapping into your volunteers and training will multiply your efforts 
      • Getting them together in a social situation is a great way to maintain your volunteers and keep them connected with their networks and community
      • Continue investing in volunteers to keep them engaged and develop them at a high level so you have great volunteers who can go out and do the work that your team doesn’t have the bandwidth for and can represent your organization 
        • Especially in niche issues, advocates can be ignited by connecting with their community and supporting their peers by advocating and meeting with legislators
        • Identify interesting advocates who have a diverse, unique perspective and story to share 
      • Find key and high-level volunteers
  • Capitalize on existing opportunities 
    • The presidential election is upcoming and was a great way for the Distilled Spirits Council to capitalize on 
      • Their project was The Cocktail Party 
      • Here is the campaign video: Introducing The Cocktail Party 
        • THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE in the room 
        • This video was filmed in one afternoon 
        • They made a cost-effective video that they could use to campaign and execute throughout the year 
        • All of their footage fell into their annual conference which was already planned, already budgeted for, and was able to be stretched throughout the year by developing this content – they essentially solidified their content strategy by maximizing a separate budget 
      • Find low-cost items/swag like buttons or other printed materials 
        • Make them evergreen so that you can continue to use them year after year 
      • Prioritization of resources can help you strategically plan for and get creative with the cost will enable you to take every dollar that extra mile 
    • Take a beat to think about what you really need, what the goal is, and then work really really hard to get as much as you can out of each budget you already have set aside – build on existing plans and really stretch your money 
      • When people see value they will pay it forward for you to use as well 
  • Having honest discussions with vendors when you have a specific budget 
    • Be realistic – set the right expectations and communicate the pain points 
    • Be welcoming – this is a partnership and you should be able to get creative and collaborate together  
    • Be proactive as well as reactive – plan so well that when something comes up you’re ready to act on it and you can mobilize your team, your vendor, and your constituents in a short time frame 
    • Build relationships – get to know each other and be forthcoming about your goals, your organization, etc. 
      • Make introductions to internal and external stakeholders
    • Be transparent – if you get a lower price, let them know, and don’t be afraid to ask – most vendors are willing to reevaluate and help you identify new ways to maximize your budget dollars – it also opens the door for future relationships and connections
    • There may be opportunities between state and federal campaigns as well – POLITICO is expensive, but if you have a local issue, a local outlet may be a more affordable option for you 
  • Creating realistic internal and external expectations around output and budget
    • Celebrate your wins! 
      • Both internally and externally – you move forward and bring people on board the more you celebrate the wins and the highlights 
      • Celebrate the wins of your advocates/constituents – people want to win together and celebrate each other 
    • Identify future opportunities and be honest about it
      • “If we had a little more money, we could have done x” 
      • Share what your potential wins could be if you got more volunteers, more money, more support 
      • Grow your footprint and keep taking advantage of opportunities as they present themselves
      • This also helps you prepare for future budgets – analyze what you’ve done and make minor adjustments to keep getting more bang for your buck 
    • Cover all of your bases and be transparent from the very beginning 
      • How much money do we have to work with and what resources do we have at our disposal 
        • How we can replicate other campaigns across states or projects 
    • Align on goals
      • Picture yourself if the campaign is successful and if the budget has been used successfully – make sure their SMART goals and can be measured and enhanced over time 
    • You control the narrative
      • Frame your wins – “We had 70 more signups” vs. “we increased sign-ups by 250%” 
    • You are the expert
      • You know your material better than anyone else, so tell your story to generate excitement from new and potential members 
  • Questions:
    • We do really well with very little money, so that means we tend to get very little money – how do you showcase the potential opportunities to get more money from the start?
      • It goes back to prioritizing – come up with as many ideas as you can and then prioritize your budget accordingly
      • Setting goals for your ideas helps you benchmark and say “If we had this much $, and we would get x return” 
      • Make partnerships with people to help utilize separate budgets than your own
    • How did the Cocktail Party help your PAC?
      • The team kept both of these very separate so that it was fun and inclusive, without mocking the reality of the current legislative landscape 
    • Investing in volunteers can be hard to gauge – what have you seen volunteers connecting with?
      • In-person opportunities and one-on-one time – make connections and encourage volunteers to make connections together 

Details

Date:
July 31, 2024
Time:
11:30 am - 12:30 pm
Event Category:
Event Tags:

Venue

2024 Buzz Advocacy Summit

Organizer

Beekeeper Group
Phone
212-381-6868
Email
ops@beekeepergroup.com
View Organizer Website