Last month CMF was pleased to co-host along with the Beekeeper Group the latest session in our Advocacy Leaders Network series, "Mobile Advocacy: There's an App for That." This workshop focused on how mobile technologies can boost recruitment and participation, and help enhance the advocacy experience.

The session kicked off with a presentation by Gabriela Schneider of the Sunlight Foundation who highlighted numerous mobile apps and API's developed by Sunlight to improve citizen engagement and enhance congressional accountability. Following her presentation was a panel of grassroots experts who documented their experiences using apps. In the final hour, participants had the chance to break off into sessions and discuss how they integrated mobile apps into their lobbying strategies.

Through these discussions, a few common strategies emerged for successful mobile advocacy efforts:

• Get buy-in. Show your leadership how the app advances your agenda. The app itself is not an end-goal!
• Fail faster! Acknowledge when your app isn't serving your needs and move on.
• Provide value. No one will download your app just to give you money. If you intend to use your app for fundraising, your supporters must find it useful or you need to provide incentives.

For other key takeaways, be sure to read the Beekeeper Group's post on the event. "Mobile Advocacy" was the final session of our 2013 series, but stay tuned for an upcoming announcement of our 2014 topics and schedule. We hope you can join us for one or more of these workshops and enhance your organization's communications with Congress.