The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) released a new study that caught our attention:  They looked at the use of online town-hall meetings by Members of Congress, and found overwhelmingly positive results in terms of constituents’ opinions of their Members, issue knowledge, and overall political participation.

Some of the study's key findings offer very encouraging news for organizations using or considering similar techniques for their advocacy efforts.  For example, the report finds that:

• “The town halls increased engagement in politics.”
• “The discussions in the town halls were of high quality.”
• “The sessions were extremely popular with constituents.”
• “The positive results were seen even in a larger session.”

Remember, these same constituents are also potential advocates on your issues.  Indeed, online town-hall meetings offer a wealth of possibilities for advocacy efforts.  For example, we’ve found them to be very useful for educating and energizing stakeholders, or for providing a thank-you or member “benefit” for grassroots advocates.  In addition, by enabling live Q&A with someone like a corporate executive or friendly Member of Congress, these events can really help hammer home the credibility and urgency of your message.

Of course, we here at DDC Advocacy are no strangers to the value of online or “virtual” town-hall meetings.  We offer this type of service to our clients because we know from experience that these events are a very good tool to help get the most mileage out of your advocacy program.

You can access the full CMF report on online town-hall meetings here. 

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