Why Government Relations Programs Fail

Most organizations don’t fail at government relations because they don’t care about public policy. They fail because they treat government relations as an event instead of a system.

A successful government relations program is built from many interlocking parts. When even one of those pieces is missing or weak, your odds of success drop fast. When several are missing, the program becomes little more than a “feel-good” exercise that doesn’t move the needle at the Capitol.

Below are the most common reasons government relations programs fail – and, just as important, how to start fixing them.

If you ask your leadership, “What are our government relations goals this year?” and you get vague answers like:

· “Protect our interests,”

· “Stop bad bills,” or

· “Have a presence at the Capitol,”

…you don’t have goals. You have wishes.

Without clear, measurable goals (e.g., “Pass X bill,” “Amend Y statute,” “Block Z proposal,” or “Secure $X in funding”), you cannot:

· Build a focused plan,

· Allocate resources, or

· Evaluate whether you’re succeeding.

Fix: Define 3–5 concrete goals for the session. Write them down. Rank them. Make sure everyone understands that these are the targets.

Goals answer “what.” Purpose answers “why.”

If your board, members, and staff can’t clearly explain why your association is engaged in government relations, you’ll constantly fight:

· Confusion (“Is this really our job?”),

· Resistance (“Why are we spending money on this?”), and

· Indifference (“It doesn’t affect me.”).

A clear purpose sounds like:

· “We are in government relations to protect and expand our members’ ability to do business.”

· “We engage in advocacy to safeguard the people we serve.”

Fix: Write a one-sentence purpose statement for your government relations program and share it in every presentation, orientation, and strategic document.

If your CEO, board, or key committee chairs are lukewarm about advocacy, your program is on life support.

You’ll see it in statements like:

· “We’ll try this for a year and see,”

· “Let’s not rock the boat,” or

· “We support it… as long as it doesn’t cost too much.”

When leadership is half in, the legislature can sense it. So can your members, your opponents, and your allies.

Fix: Secure affirmative, explicit buy-in from leadership:

· A board vote adopting the program as a core function.

· Clear public support from the CEO and board chair.

· Regular reports to leadership so they see progress and value.

Until you have that, you don’t have a sustainable program — you have a trial balloon

Government relations is like insurance and infrastructure: you get what you pay for.

Common budget-related failure points include:

· Hiring a lobbyist but funding them only for part of the year.

· No budget for coalition work, communications, or grassroots outreach.

· No funds for bill drafting, research, or legal review.

When the budget is starved, your program becomes reactive, not strategic. You show up late, underprepared, and outgunned.

Fix: Build a budget that matches your goals. If the goals are big and the resources are tiny, you don’t have a strategy – you have a hope.

Good intentions and a day at the Capitol are not a substitute for professional expertise.

Without professional help, organizations often:

· Misjudge the politics of an issue,

· Misread committee dynamics,

· Misunderstand the calendar, and

· Burn bridges instead of building relationships.

A seasoned lobbyist or government affairs professional isn’t just a “door-opener.” They are your strategist, navigator, and early warning system.

Fix: If your issues are significant, get professional help – whether in-house or contract. Then listen to them.

You can’t win a game if you don’t know the rules or the clock.

Programs fail when members or leaders believe:

· “We’ll introduce a bill this session and get it passed,” with no grasp of committee stops, fiscal notes, or stakeholder fights.

· “We’ll just fix it in rulemaking,” without understanding how agencies operate.

In Hardball Advocacy: Secrets of the Lobby, Chapter 9 (“How Long Does It Take to Shape Public Policy”) dives into this very problem: changing public policy is rarely a one-session sprint. It’s usually a multi-year process that requires patience, persistence, and timing.

Fix: Educate your leadership and key members on:

· The full life cycle of public policy,

· The realistic timeframe for change, and

· The difference between legislative and regulatory pathways.

Even a good idea can fail if the timing is wrong.

Programs stumble when they:

· Drop a bill late in the session,

· File without pre-session education of key legislators, or

· Push a proposal in an election year when members are risk-averse.

Timing is strategy. If you ignore it, you’re relying on luck.

Fix: Use a pre-session runway:

· Educate potential sponsors months in advance,

· Socialize the idea with leadership and key committees,

· Line up support before the session starts.

Again, see Chapter 9 for a deeper discussion of how long it really takes to shape policy — and why starting early is non-negotiable.

If your first contact with a legislator is when you ask them to run a bill, you’re already behind.

Programs fail when:

· There are no existing relationships with key committee members,

· No one knows your association’s name or what you do,

· Legislators only hear from you when you “need something.”

Government relations is built on relationships, not transactions.

Fix:

· Build a relationship calendar: interim visits, site tours, district meetings, regular check-ins.

· Encourage members to form and maintain relationships with their own legislators, year-round.

Relationships are your real capital under the dome.

You can have a great idea and a great sponsor — and still fail because the bill is badly drafted.

Common problems:

· Vague language,

· Conflicts with existing law,

· Unintended consequences,

· Fiscal impacts that weren’t anticipated.

In Hardball Advocacy, Chapter 12 (“Blueprint for Legislation”) lays out what a strong bill needs: clarity, internal consistency, alignment with existing statutes, and a narrative that makes sense to staff, stakeholders, and legislators.

Fix:

· Invest in quality bill drafting on the front end.

· Use subject-matter experts, legal review, and your lobbyist to vet the language before introduction.

· Remember: you can’t “message” your way out of a badly written bill

A weak sponsor can kill a good idea.

Programs often fail because they choose sponsors based on:

· Who is “available,”

· Who is a friend of someone on the board, or

· Who says yes first.

Strong sponsors:

· Have credibility on the subject matter or the committee of reference,

· Show up to work the bill,

· Can negotiate and defend the measure.

Fix:

· Be strategic in sponsor selection. Look for influence, credibility, and work ethic, not just availability.

· In many cases, you’ll need a House sponsor, a Senate sponsor, and visible support from leadership.

The good news is that failure is predictable – and preventable.

When you:

· Set clear goals and purpose,

· Secure leadership buy-in and sufficient budget,

· Engage professional help,

· Respect the time it takes to shape public policy (Chapter 9), and

· Follow a disciplined blueprint for legislation (Chapter 12),

…your odds of success go up dramatically.

Government relations is not magic, and it’s not guesswork. It’s a plan, executed over time, with the right people and the right strategy.

If you want a deeper dive into how to structure an effective government relations program — from timing, to bill design, to relationship-building and hardball strategies — you’ll find a step-by-step roadmap in my book, Hardball Advocacy: Secrets of the Lobby. You can find it on Amazon here: https://a.co/d/6oEXEQ0

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Why Government Relations Programs Fail

1. No Clear Goals

2. No Clear Purpose

3. Lack of 100% Acceptance by Association Leadership

4. Limited Budget

5. No Professional Help

6. Limited Understanding of the Legislative and Regulatory Proces

7. Poor Timing for Initiation of Proposed Legislation

8. Weak Leadership

9. No Legislative Relationships

10. Poorly Written Legislation

11. Weak Sponsors

Building a Program That Works