Political Advocacy Case Studies


Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC)     

The energy industry has recognized the power of grassroots advocacy  in the last decade, and has put it to work for their policy priorities.  In partnership with Executive Communications (ECI), industry leaders created Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC), a membership organization dedicated to informing and mobilizing constituents around energy issues nationwide. 

ABEC provides the energy industry with a pool of interested and credible advocates across the country who speak in favor of industry positions on energy policy.  With more than 100,000 members nationwide, ABEC is a model of member and advocate identification and education, alongside management of all aspects of member communications by Executive Communications, Inc.

ABEC’s list of members was built by Executive Communication’s advocacy staff through systematic, strategic investments in voter and business leader outreach, with powerful results.   

Key Contacts or “influentials” comprise approximately 26,000 of the politically active voters who are now engaged as members of ABEC.  These include more than 20,000 business leaders from communities nationwide and over 6,000 local elected officials: mayors, city and county council members and other electeds – anyone who could be identified as having a higher impact through their contact with decision makers.  Key Contacts groups serve as some of ABEC’s most potent advocates and are developed through individual outreach by ECI’s associates, in conjunction with comprehensive mail and online cultivation programs. 

The product of significant investment in these two levels of grassroots political power, ABEC has successfully supported initiatives such as the Clear Skies Act of 2005 and the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and opposed measures like Senator Leahy’s Mercury amendment of 2005 and state level caps on Mercury emissions.  

With a phone staff capable of high level outreach and political consulting expertise developed over decades, Executive Communications has built a powerful grassroots advocacy tool for its clients and delivered constituent communications that have consistently achieved policy goals.

With over 100,000 members throughout 38 states in the nation, ABEC has mobilized constituents on more than 20 different state and national legislative initiatives.                                                                                                                                           

·         83,000 contacts to Congress on energy and environmental issues since 2001.

·         ABEC members, supplied with fact sheets and contacts from ECI, have submitted 152 letters to the editor and Op-Ed pieces to national and local papers since 2005 on ABEC’s positions.

·         More than 2115 ABEC members contacted Ohio Gov. Taft in 2006 regarding Clean Air Mercury Rules

·         Over 9,100 phone calls, emails and faxes convinced the US Senate not to vote on greenhouse gas emission curbs in 2004.

American Council of Life Insurers, HR 10

The key points to this telephone campaign are as follows: 

The program consisted of five telephone components:

1.       Live Operator Inbound Calls generated by The American Council of Life Insurance member companies and their employees

2.       Automated Inbound Calls generated by The American Council of Life Insurance member companies and their employees

3.       Outbound Calls to the Members of the National Association of Life Underwriters

4.       Outbound Calls to the Members of the Independent Insurance Agents of America

5.       A passive automated inbound “thank you message” at the conclusion of the program

·         The program recruited patch through telephone calls to the United States House of Representatives in nearly every Congressional District in the United States

·         The program recruited telegrams to Members of the House of Representatives in nearly every Congressional District in the United States

·         The program was set up and executed within 24 hours of the initial client request

·         The program resulted in a victory for our client.  

On Wednesday, May 13,  the US House of Representatives passed HR 10 on a cliffhanger vote of 214 to 213.  One month prior, it appeared unlikely that HR 10 would be considered – not to mention passed – by the House.  But what a difference a month can make, particularly if that month consists of a barrage of telephone calls, letters and telegrams to Members of Congress from thousands of concerned constituents.

For over two years, the life insurance industry had negotiated intensely with other financial services providers and Congress to craft a bill that fairly resolves the most critical issues associated with financial services modernization.  HR 10 was the result.  It was May 1, 1998.  The House was expected to vote on the bill within a week.

While HR 10 provided a sound regulatory framework that assures the life insurance industry’s ability to compete fairly with other financial services providers, and was strongly supported by the securities industry, the nation’s leading banks and the insurance industry, the bill was opposed by independent and community bankers who were overwhelming their Representatives with personal telephone calls and visits, urging them to vote against HR 10.

Executive Communications’ client, The American Council of Life Insurance, a national association for the life insurance industry, produced an action alert that went to the CEO’s of their Member Companies.  The Action Alert called for the employees of the Member Companies to respond by dialing a toll free number in order to communicate with their Member of the House of Representatives.

With only 24 hours notice, Executive Communications set up a toll free number and began to field incoming calls.  Operators captured the name and address of each caller.  While each caller was matched with his or her member of the House by address and zip code, each was given an educational pitch on the importance of the issue, and was offered the opportunity to 1) be connected directly to their Member’s office where they could leave a message urging support of HR 10, and 2) to send a telegram to their member urging support of the bill.

Telegram stationery was developed which displayed a bright red banner across the front of each envelope and the top of each gram that read, “Another Constituent for HR10”. 

Over the course of the next week, Executive Communications managed over 50,000 calls, connecting insurance industry employees to their Members of the House, and producing follow up telegrams reinforcing these telephone calls.

In conjunction with this effort, Executive Communications outbound called members of two other participating life insurance associations, the National Association of Life Underwriters and the Independent Insurance Agents of America within specific targeted districts, offering agents the opportunity to participate in the program by being connected to their Member of Congress and by sending a follow up telegram.  This resulted in an additional 6,000 constituent communications to specifically targeted Members of the House.

As the day of the vote approached, calls were still coming in to the toll free lines and telegrams were still being prepared.  The vote was pushed to the next day’s agenda.  Executive Communications continued to field telephone calls and prepare telegrams through the morning of the day the vote was to take place.  One of our associates caught the last possible flight to DC from our Louisville, KY office and hand delivered the last batch of several thousand grams just prior to the vote taking place.

The end result of this effort was an historic endorsement of balanced and equitable financial services modernization by the House.  This hard fought victory had been years in the making, and would not have been possible without the active support of thousands of concerned constituents, industry agents and employees.

Personalized thank you letters on specially designed stationery were prepared and delivered to each and every participant in this historical and successful grassroots effort.

Executive Communications - making a difference.