Facts About PACs Podcast
The Facts About PACs Podcast is the #1 PAC podcast in America. The show is produced especially for the members of the National Association of Business Political Action Committees (NABPAC). Each weekly episode includes a recap of the association's latest activities, actionable intelligence for the employee-funded and business trade association PAC community, and an interview with a featured guest. Show host Micaela Isler is the President and CEO of NAPBAC.
Facts About PACs Podcast
Ep 55 with Lauren Newhouse of Dogwood Public Affairs
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Many firms are suddenly asking if now is the time to start a PAC? Or reinvigorate the PAC they already have? Micaela Isler and Adam Belmar are joined by Lauren Newhouse of Dogwood Public Affairs - a leading expert when it comes to doing both of those things. Lauren shares the considerations that must be made before you get started.
SHOW NOTES:
Business of Politics Show Ep 3: Inside Business PACs: A Critical Source of Direct Campaign Funding with Micaela Isler, NABPAC
Lauren Newhouse, Owner, Dogwood Public Affairs
You can join the fight to defend employee funded and association PACs by texting NABPAC to 52886. Message and data rates may apply.
SPEAKER_01Welcome back to the Facts About PACs podcast. I'm Michaela Isler, NAPPAX Executive Director, and I'm joined as always by my co-host Adam Bellmar.
SPEAKER_00By my summer, Michaela, it's back to school, back to work. And I don't know if you've noticed, but if rushed hour traffic is any gauge, it's game on here in Washington once again.
SPEAKER_01Oh yes, no kidding. It is back. And I guess we have to be careful what we wish for, right? But certainly it is invigorating to be back in the swing of things and you know really reconnected with everyone in our community.
SPEAKER_00Indeed. I mean, whether you're back in the office or working remotely, the energy and urgency of meeting priorities is starting to bring clarity back to the employee-funded and business trade association PAC space. For example, worst fears about the January 6th attack on the Capitol have not been realized. While some rightly paused, precious few PACs have shuttered their operations. And believe it or not, many firms are suddenly asking themselves this question: should we start a PAC? Or the parallel question, is now the time to reinvigorate our PAC?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Adam, for many, the answer to those questions is yes. And today we're joined by a leading expert when it comes to doing both of those things. You know, Adam, I have long counseled that in this arena, success starts with working backwards from clearly defined goals, and you've got to know your why.
SPEAKER_00Coming up, the considerations that must be made before you start or even reinvigorate an employee funded or business trade association PAC. Our conversation with Lauren Newhouse of Dogwood Public Affairs, straight ahead. The Facts About PACs podcast is produced especially for the members of the National Association of Business Political Action Committees. In every episode, we recap this week's NABPAC activities, share actionable intelligence and best practices, all while connecting the PAC community.
SPEAKER_01Joining us now is Lauren Newhouse, owner of Dogwood Public Affairs. Lauren is an industry expert in advancing political programs. She has over a decade of experience administering PACs, advocacy programs, and executive level engagement strategies for corporations, coalitions, and associations. Lauren, welcome to the podcast. Thank you guys for having me. Well, Lauren, many, as you know, expected after January 6th that business PACs would be shutting down, but our data does not show that. Actually, many are considering starting new packs. You and I both know we get a lot of calls about organizations either wanting to start a PAC or really picking up and reinvigorating their PACs. So share with our listeners what your professional experience has been so far in 2021 on this front.
SPEAKER_02Well, I think you're spot on, Michaela, as you know, we've received a lot of membership inquiries this year, which has been fantastic. A lot of companies and associations are inquiring about starting a PAC, what needs to get done to do so. And of course, any programs that may or may not have been dormant, they're looking to reinvigorate. I think that the term that we've all heard used many times in the past, elections have consequences, that really mattered in 2021, and it does still matter. January 6th, obviously, has left a lasting impact in DC and in the PAC community. If you couple that along with the narrow margins that Democrats are operating with in the House and the Senate, it's just been a very dynamic year, and companies are eager to play in the political field. Interestingly enough, our NAPAC members, they just received the Edelman Trust Barometer Survey. And the top most trusted institutions that folks recognize are my employer and business, both scoring significantly higher trust ratings than government, NGOs, the media. All of that is to say is that I think employees are looking to their employers to fill a leadership void. In the wake of January 6th, I think we all kind of sat back and waited with consternation to see how many PACs would be shutting their doors. And that truly has not happened. That has not been the case. A number of companies have really determined that instead of turning their backs on an institution, they want to embrace the opportunity to get in the game. Existing PACs, maybe they've been dormant, otherwise, maybe they've been on life support. They've really taken the opportunity to evaluate internally their programs. And a lot of them have actually decided now is the time to get back in the game.
SPEAKER_00Well, I love the construct that we sort of put up at the beginning of this show, Lauren. New versus reinvigorating. So with that in mind, help everybody who's listening get to first base on the most important things that any firm needs to consider before they put their political action plans into gear.
SPEAKER_02First and foremost, you need to know your why. Are you creating a PAC to educate and motivate your employees to be involved in the political process for them to have a voice? Is it to support your business champions that advocate and are really champions of your issues on the hill? Maybe it's all of these things and more. But regardless, I think what is absolutely critical is having a clear mission and mission statement and require the support of your internal leadership. All too often, we've been in a situation where the GR shop or there's only one or two champions who might not be at the executive level kind of carrying the water. But in order to be successful, you have to have a very clear mission and mission statement and have the support of your leadership who want to be involved and want to engage Congress. The goalpost is constantly moving for business packs. The gold standard used to be achieving high ratings from the Zichlid index, maybe looking to do a 50-50 R versus D split in your PAC disbursement strategy. And unfortunately, that is just not enough in the eyes of many in the media. Despite being one of the most transparent, ethical, legal vehicles for political involvement, tax and corporations are not necessarily publicly popular and they seemingly can do nothing right. For example, most recently in Texas and Georgia and what's been going on there, companies are kind of being taken out to the shed, being lambasted for some contributions that they have made from two cycles ago, where they made contributions to legislators and they were not intended to be on the basis of support for voting rights legislation or pro-life voting records or other issues. And the main problem with this is that having a set mission statement will keep you on track and on focus for your organization's main issues. Otherwise, what will happen is you'll slowly morph into this social issue pack where you're trying to do everything for everybody. By having a mission statement and clearly defined contributions criteria, you really direct and have a clear advocacy goal in mind for your organization.
SPEAKER_01You know, Lauren, that is such a great point. You know, I think as you're talking, I'm just thinking the stakes really couldn't be higher right now for organizations, not only in the media, social media, but the issues that are being debated in Washington are big issues that we're contemplating. And it really does take the right person, the right team to run these PACs, to get the messages out, to get your employees engaged. And so maybe we can just switch gears a little bit here and talk about that a little bit.
SPEAKER_02You're spot on, Michaela. Having the right person or the right team running the PAC is incredibly important. The PAC tends to be a distraction for lobbyists. They need to be the ones that are focused on advocating for the business goals and legislative priorities of their organizations. Unfortunately, they sometimes fall into that voluntole category where they're the ones running it and they frankly just don't have the time. And fundraising is a different skill set than lobbying. Also, what we see a lot of the time are the internal promotion of administrative professionals. And in today's climate, PACs, unfortunately, are not a strictly administrative function. Again, fundraising is its own profession and needs that needs resources dedicated just to that. But the other thing I'll say is a lot of the times we find that organizations will hire someone with hill experience, which is fantastic for this role. But I would encourage folks to look to hire someone with political or campaign experience. So interactions on the hill are very different than the slog of a campaign. Knowing how to navigate and negotiate with campaign fundraisers, articulating messaging. And I think what's most important is being nimble and being resourceful. Those are all traits of political operatives. So hire them. They're probably looking for work anyway at the end of an election cycle. And that also means that you have to budget for non-admin, whether it's an employee or a contractor. Bottom line, I think that what we have seen over the years is that by filling these positions with people who were previously in administrative functions, there's been a bit of an atrophy in the professionalization of our discipline. It's not to say that that's a bad, uh, a bad thing short term, but we can absolutely grow. And I think it means budgeting accordingly and hiring the right people.
SPEAKER_00All of this is exactly what you need to be thinking about. And you've got to be intentional and really build this program either back up or from scratch with the right direction and leadership. But Lauren, I think one thing people would love to hear from you is your sense of the state of political fundraising today. 2021, 2020 changed everything. We're getting back to in-person, but there's so many other things that are a part of this process: digital activations and outreach. Give us a sense of where money and fundraising in politics is today and where we're headed.
SPEAKER_02I think personally there's not enough money in politics. I might have some people coming at me for this statement, but I got the data to back it up. So interestingly enough, 2020 election raised and spent $14 billion. That's crazy. That beats 2016, 2018 numbers by a long shot. But interestingly enough, only 1.8% of American adults contributed over $200 to political campaigns in 2020. 1.8%. Let me dig into that a little bit deeper and say when you look at the breakdown of R verse D giving, 10% of likely Democratic voters contributed to political campaigns in 2020. Republicans, only 3% of likely Republican voters gave in 2020. So importantly enough, if you compare that to the actual voter turnout of 2020, where six and 10 Americans showed up to the polls, we need to be introspective and really do some digging here and figure out what do campaigns, what do corporate PACs, what do we need to do to convert these voters into donors? Spend some time, I think, to assessing what is the motivating factor, what is the conversion rate. And I think corporations are in a position to fill that void based on the things that we've just talked about. Looking at filling that leadership void based on that data that we assessed from the Edelman Trust Barometer. And then you're also in a position when you're starting a PAC to educate your employees and set expectations internally. So I think that being said, there's not enough money in politics.
SPEAKER_01Laura, I think those stats are really important. I think a lot of leaders around corporations, business trade associations would find those statistics very, very interesting and compelling. I think as we talk about fundraising, you know, timing really is everything. And from your perspective, is there such a thing as a bad time to fundraise and get to these folks? Absolutely not.
SPEAKER_02If you're not asking, somebody else is. Fundraising is really hard work. And from my perspective, getting a know from someone is so much better than having your email unopened, getting ignored. At least you know where you're stand. Pivot, move on, go to the next prospect, look at the next business unit. Figure out maybe there's a cohort of younger generation employees that you can message to. If anything, if you're getting pressure internally, being told, hey, you know, we just can't fundraise right now. That's okay. Pivot. Educate your employees. The last thing you need to be doing right now is radio silent, going silent. I think post January 6th, I spent more time on my phone than I ever have, even in college, right? So I called PAC fundraisers. I called our PAC members with my clients. I called eligible employees who are upset and frustrated. People just want to be heard. You need to make yourself visible and available and heck, just sit back and listen. And not only will you get more information from that, but you'll also make people feel good and they'll want to give long-term. Because at the end of the day, it's about long-term strategic growth. And PACs are corporate PACs, business PACs are certainly in a position to do that.
SPEAKER_01Lauren, I think there's been a lot to glean from our conversation today. And I think whether you're starting a PAC or reinvigorating a PAC, this, as we've talked about so much at NAPPEC Events and here on the Facts About PACs podcast, is you've got to start with that education piece. And so always taking the time to reach out and communicate before you even start fundraising is so important. Lauren Newhouse, owner of Dogwood Public Affairs, thank you for being such a great guest on the Facts About PAX podcast. Thanks so much, Michaela. It was great to be on today. And if you'd like to contact Lauren and learn more about her firm, check out dogwoodpa.com.
SPEAKER_00And here's one more thing you all really need to check out. Our very own Michaela Isler is the featured guest on a great new podcast that I know will be of interest to everyone in this audience, the Business of Politics podcast, hosted by Eric Wilson over at Startup Caucus. Check it out on Apple Podcasts or find a link in our show notes. Michaela, I loved that conversation. Nice work.
SPEAKER_01Thanks, Adam. The Business of Politics is really a great new show. Kudos to Eric Wilson for getting that off the ground. And thanks to everyone, as always, for downloading and sharing the Facts About PACs podcast. As ever, employee funded and business trade association PACs, the most transparent and regulated form of political giving. And NABAC is dedicated to defending that record and championing the amazing PAC professionals who lead vital teams. Subscribe and meet us right back here on the Facts About PACs podcast.
