The Tug Toward Advocacy Comms

By: Lauren Cook, Founder + Lead Strategist

I recently felt a tug at my heart. It was for something quite unexpected. At COS, we’re accustomed to the call of a good story, a yearning to connect with humanity and share someone’s experience or expertise. We love building good strategies and stories. But this was a different tug. 

Around early December 2024, I felt compelled to engage in advocacy communications (I acknowledge that sounds pretty wonky as I type it out). But it was real! I even said it out loud to my team–”we haven’t done much work around policy or advocacy comms this year and I’d like to.” As these things tend to happen when we vulnerably vocalize our desires (a practice I didn’t develop until my 40s), I found myself engaged in an advocacy comms conversation less than a week later. A colleague on a local comms board inquired about email campaigns and whether they are still effective with state legislative offices. We emailed back and forth privately, and our conversation quickly evolved from the tactical (email) to the relational (building community). Since the relational is where I live and thrive, I was energized by the conversation and offered to facilitate a roundtable discussion with a group of advocacy nonprofits with similar questions and concerns. 

The discussion was interesting and inspiring. Advocacy nonprofits work so hard to connect their members and supporters with policymakers and staff to improve lives and communities. Their passion is so evident, and they want to do the best work they can. I wanted to honor that passion and help where I could. I pitched an idea–a survey for legislative staffers to provide insights to the advocacy community about how to best communicate and connect. The roundtable was enthusiastic about the idea, and several folks helped edit and distribute the survey developed by the COS team. 

The insights we received from 24 staffers (featured in the PROJECTS section below) have already proven super valuable. When we shared the data, several folks told us it will inform, inspire, or transform how they develop their communications strategy for the 89th Texas Legislative Session (January 14 - June 2, 2025). 

I’m so glad my heart was tugged (even in really a wonky direction) and I’m glad I listened and responded. The tug was genuine and the pull was purposeful. Even if one advocacy organization deepens their communications work and builds community this spring, our effort was worth it. 

To our advocacy colleagues and friends as you work hard during the 89th Texas Legislative Session: Listen for those tugs, be pulled toward your passion, and know we’re rooting for you.