Assessing your interaction with the policy environment
The policy environment is ever-changing. It requires regular fine-tuning of strategies and relationships to enable you and your Action Team to continually: 1) access key information about fiscal and legislative occurrences in the present and on the horizon, 2) assess the impact of the information you are providing to policymakers, and 3) gather feedback from these constituencies.
- What reliable mechanism have you established for measuring which legislative, funding, and regulatory proposals and enacted changes affect your initiative? What mechanism do you have for adjusting your approach when the policy environment shifts?
- How are you communicating policy developments on a regular basis within the Action Team and to any other partnerships or stakeholders you are collaborating with? What is your feedback protocol?
- Have you established a regular process for communicating with key decision-makers, such as mobilizing partners to testify during budget hearings or conducting regular visits to elected officials? How are you measuring the impact of your communication process or whether your actions have an impact?
- Do you have a process or mechanism for dealing with those elected officials and appointed policymakers where high turnover occurs (e.g., state or district superintendents)?
- What feedback loops have you established for changing tactics when your data tells you that an action is not effective?
- How well did you garner broader public/stakeholder support for your initiative and would increased inclusion of public opinion give you a stronger “voice” to influence policymakers?
Updated January 2018
