PA Growing Greener Coalition Executive Director Andrew Heath passed along 10 rules for being an effective environmental advocate gleaned from remarks made by Kevin Abbey, ClearWater Conservancy; Oliver Bass, Natural Lands Trust; and Sean Robertson, Land Trust Alliance, during a panel discussion at the PA Land Trust Association annual conference recently.
Those 10 rules are:
1. Cultivate relationships. Don’t be a stranger to elected officials and their staff;
2. Introduce yourself at every opportunity;
3. Always say “thank you” before you say “please;”
4. A well-written brief, thank you note is always appreciated;
5. Always be concise and to the point;
6. Engage the media when appropriate;
7. A face-to-face meeting is the most effective form of communication, followed by phone calls, e-mails, letters and letters to the editor;
8. Don’t burn long-term bridges over a short-term issue;
9. Provide materials such as fact sheets, media clips, endorser letters, petitions, other demonstrations of grassroots support; and
10. Be passionate, but rational. Avoid extremes.
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