Grassroots Tips

How to Create a Political Elevator Pitch

November 12, 2025 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | Leave a comment

political elevator pitchJust as every business needs to “sell” something, politics and public policy is about sales too. And people respond (or not) to political messages in pretty much the same way that they do to any other sales pitch.

Good messages that are relevant are more likely to cut through the clutter. Bad messages get tuned out.

When it comes to effectively communicating a message, there are a lot of great lessons from the business world that we can apply to politics. One of them is known as the “elevator pitch”. It’s a condensed way to get a clear and convincing idea or proposal across to someone else in about the time that it takes to ride in an elevator. A quick and succinct summary of what you’re doing, why, and what you want people to do.

What’s the thumbnail version? Why is it important? Can you bottom-line it in thirty seconds or less? In a way that defines a problem to fit your solution, and describes how your solution will fix it? Or, in a way that matters to your target audience?

Outline of a Political Elevator Pitch:

  • Describe your idea, what you’re trying to do or the result that you want
  • Why is it important? Make it relevant to people and their values.
  • Describe the key benefits of your “solution”. What’s in it for them?
  • Clearly state what they need to do. Make it easy and actionable.

Be sure to frame the problem in a way that fits your solution. Be passionate and use “benefit” focused terms. Be concise and clear. Write it down. Read it. Then delete anything that’s not critical.

Remember, the trick is to get all of this across in a few sentences, or about thirty seconds.

Making yourself go through the process of creating a good elevator pitch can help you clarify what you’re “selling” in your own mind, and get a better understanding of the point of view of your target audience.

If you’re going to go to the trouble of speaking out for a policy or proposal that you believe in, (or even run a campaign), then you may as well go to the (slightly more) trouble of crafting a clear and concise message that can help you be more successful.

Otherwise, what’s the point?

Don’t Quit

November 5, 2025 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

What happens when you quit?  Nothing.  Or at least not anything that you’d want to happen.

It’s one of the few guarantees that we have in politics: if you quit, you’re usually guaranteed not to like the results.

When you’re not involved, it’s more likely that things will not go your way.  You’re giving up your seat at the table to someone who probably doesn’t think like you do, or who doesn’t have the same priorities as you.

The Law of the Jungle says that, if you sit still long enough, something’s going to eat you.  Others will take advantage and gain ground against what you believe, or possibly even undo something that you’ve been able to accomplish.

We quit too easy

The problem is that too many conservatives have a lot of “quit” in them.  We get upset, get involved, ramp up, make a difference, then quit and go home and leave things up to someone else.  Or maybe we lose, get mad, then quit and go home.  Neither is a recipe for long-term political success.

Quitting leads to the additional problem of having to spend too much time ramping-up, rather than staying engaged and being ready for the next battle.  It wastes time, resources, opportunities and potentially any previously hard-won gains.

Ramping-up is expensive.  Staying engaged is cheaper and more productive in the long-run.

The question is, do we want to make a difference and have an impact, or just complain?

Proverbs 12:24

Years ago I adopted Proverbs 12:24 as a political motto.  It tells us that “The hand of the diligent shall bear rule; but the slothful shall be under tribute”.  If we feel like we’re “under tribute” politically – and there are a LOT of reasons to feel that way – it tells us why.  Someone, at some point, got lazy and quit.  Maybe that was us or someone else, but that’s spilled milk at this point.

One of the great things about scripture is that it not only diagnoses our problems, but it also tells us how to fix them.  To make a difference, we have to be diligent.

So don’t quit!

Get Leverage with Grasstops Lobbying

October 16, 2025 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | Leave a comment

It’s one thing to have organized pressure coming from “real” people and having them relay their real concerns and real stories to elected officials. That the essence of “grassroots” lobbying. But it’s even better to pair that with community leaders who matter to the elected officials or other politicos that you’re trying to influence.

That’s where the grasstops lobbying comes in.

It’s lobbying by people who matter to other people who matter, and it can be a force multiplier and add a new dimension to your efforts. It’s not that grassroots pressure doesn’t matter. It does because numbers matter. But if you can match a local organization’s grassroots with a similar network of grasstops leaders, you will see a tremendous leap in the ability to influence legislators.

Grasstops lobbying is effective for many reasons.

It Promotes Accountability

While many legislators may deceive themselves into thinking that they can ignore or fool the average constituent, they don’t usually feel the same about “Mr. Big” – and they don’t want to get on his (or her) bad side. These are people who are thought of as pillars of the local community, organizational leaders or opinion leaders, and they influence other people – which is why politicians usually like to keep happy. They are people who can make life easier for them if they stay on their good side.

It Breaks Through Barriers

Sometimes elected officials can become insulated from grassroots pressure. While many legislators don’t like being bombarded by letters from constituents, they may choose not to read them. But they can’t afford not to take a phone call from the president of the largest employer in the district or the pastor of the largest church.

Similarly, the number of phone calls coming into a legislator’s office eventually becomes irrelevant. All that registers in their mind is that they got a lot of phone calls. However, several calls from key community leaders or even a personal visit will stick out in their minds.

Examples of Potential “Grasstops” Community Leaders:

  • Pastors
  • Large employers
  • Other elected officials
  • Political party leaders
  • Former staffers to other elected officials
  • Major contributors to the elected officials you’re targeting
  • Civic or other advocacy organization leaders
  • Newspaper publishers
  • Opinion leaders
  • People who have credibility with the media
  • Neighbors, relatives or friends (of the elected official)

Think through the list of names that come to mind. Who has the most influence with the officials that you’re trying to influence? Who represent a constituency that your targeted officials can’t afford to ignore? Whose phone calls have to get returned?

The rule of thumb is to identify those who can get directly to your targets, and not just to their staff. Identify those people and approach them about joining your efforts. Some of them might even be classified as “strange bedfellows” politically speaking, but that’s even better as it makes your effort look more diverse.

Keep a running list of the people that you identify, what they care about and who they can potentially influence. It will be a good reference for you when the next issue campaign comes up.

When you get your new contacts involved, make sure that they are informed. They’re probably busy people, so the more that you lay things out and make it simple, the more likely they will be to help. Then incorporate them into your overall lobbying plan.

Grasstops lobbying can be just the leverage you need to make your grassroots efforts pay off.

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