ACWA is now in its fourth two-year term of working within the regional structure. Since their inception, the regions have primarily focused on holding meetings and conducting programs. While the regions have been active in facilitating communication and education within the regions, they have not yet realized their full potential as the primary conduit for ACWA's legislative and regulatory outreach. This framework outlines how the regions can form active local and statewide networks that will be effective in the promotion of ACWA's legislative and regulatory priorities. The framework serves as a template on which ACWA can apply its specific goals, priorities, and issues each year.

• Background
• Goals & Objectives
• Strategies
• Implementation

BACKGROUND:

This Regional Outreach Framework has been developed, in part, as a response to ACWA's 2000 Goals. The goals state that we must: "Assess the future role of the regions as a cornerstone of ACWA's governance structure and develop an outreach plan that better integrates regional activity and focus towards the advancement of ACWA's overall legislative and regulatory goals." ACWA's 2000 Goals further call for:

1. More effective use of region coordinators in the field
2. Increase effectiveness of regions as the primary conduit for ACWA's legislative and regulatory outreach
3. Develop a more focused outreach program for each region

Implementation of the Regional Outreach Program will help the regions fulfill the role for which they were originally designed. The regional structure was developed during ACWA's 1993 Vision 2000 strategic planning process. ACWA's Vision 2000 outlines the primary charge of the regions as follows:

A. To provide a structure where agencies can come together and discuss/solve issues of mutual concern and interest and based on that interaction, provide representative input to the ACWA board.

B. To provide the grassroots outreach organization necessary to advance ACWA's legislative and regulatory priorities.

C. To provide a forum to educate region members on ACWA's priorities/issues, as well as other issues of local and statewide concern.

D. To assist with association membership recruitment at the regional level.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF REGIONAL OUTREACH PROGRAM:

The ultimate goal of the Regional Outreach Program is the successful advancement of ACWA's legislative and regulatory priorities. The regions are to accomplish this goal by serving as ACWA's forces in the field for both state and federal issues; activating the region membership, local public officials, and community leaders to have a substantive, positive impact on ACWA's legislative and regulatory agenda.

The objectives of the Regional Outreach Program are to:

I. Increase the Effectiveness of the ACWA/Region Member Network

II. Create a Real Grassroots Base for the Association

III. Reach Beyond the Membership to Educate and Receive Active Support from Local Public Officials and Community Leaders

IV. Provide an Effective Mechanism for Communication with and Receive Active Responses from ACWA Members When Needed

STRATEGIES:

With the cooperative effort of ACWA staff, region boards, and region membership, the regions can achieve their goals and objectives by:

A. Establishing a Communications Network of Key Contacts within Each Region

B. Building and Maintaining Relationships with Legislators, Local Public Officials, and Community Leaders

C. Identifying and Assigning Responsibility for Legislative Contacts to Individual ACWA Members in Each Legislator's District

D. Developing Effective Outreach Materials and Routine Updates

E. Designing Efficient Tools for Outreach Implementation and Activation

F. Providing Forums for Internal and External Outreach and Education

The framework outlines the different responsibilities of staff, the region boards, and membership and how they will work together to implement the outreach program.

IMPLEMENTATION:

Strategy A: Establish a Communications Network of Key Contacts within Each Region

• With input from the region boards, ACWA staff, and key committees, ACWA will compile a list of key contact people (by region) for the Outreach Network.
• Candidates for the Outreach Network should be people who are especially active in the water community, politically/locally connected, have a particular expertise in the field, or possess a special skill such as writing or public speaking. Members of the Outreach Network must be willing to be involved and have the time to be engaged when needed.
• The Outreach Network will be called upon when legislative or regulatory action is needed such as calling local representatives or writing letters to legislators, local public officials, interest groups, the community, etc.
• Outreach Network members should be proactive on the issues:
  -- Obtain their agency's appropriate board approval or action on specific issues and legislation as it develops so members can act when called upon
  -- Inform ACWA staff, region members, and ACWA committee members of local issues, events, and projects within their region
  -- Respond promptly to ACWA's requests for comments, feedback, suggestions, and information
• ACWA staff will ensure that members of the Outreach Network receive all outreach communications and updates.
• Members of the Outreach Network, the region boards, and ACWA staff will work together and ensure that there is reliable, consistent communication with each other, ACWA committee members, and the region membership.
• Each year, at ACWA's Spring and Fall Conferences, ACWA will recognize the member agency that has been the most active in ACWA's Outreach Network by responding to alerts and general support of outreach activities.

Strategy B: Build and Maintain Relationships with Legislators, Local Public Officials, and Community Leaders

• Region board and Outreach Network members will work to initiate, develop, and foster relationships with their local legislators, legislators' key staff members, and public officials such as members of local chambers of commerce, city councils, interest groups, and trade associations:
  -- Schedule appointments with legislators, legislative staff members, or public officials to brief them on key issues
  - - Invite legislators/staff restricted/public officials to region sponsored events such as tours of agencies' facilities, briefings, programs, etc.
  - - Take legislators/staff restricted/public officials out to lunch
  - - Send agencies' newsletters and other information materials to legislators' and public officials' district offices
  -- Send letters and copies of board action on specific issues/legislation to legislators/staff restricted/public officials
  -- Phone or fax legislators/staff restricted/public officials when a vote is imminent and time is of the essence
• Members will inform ACWA of their relationships with legislators, legislative staff members, and public officials.
• ACWA will only call upon members to use their legislative connections when absolutely necessary.
• ACWA staff will NOT attempt to use members'contacts directly.

Strategy C: Develop Effective Outreach Materials and Routine Updates

• ACWA staff will provide the region boards and Communications Network members with a variety of outreach materials such as:
  -- Legislative, Regulatory, and Communications advisories and alerts which provide information and request member action
  -- Priority Legislation which is a summary of the status of current issues ACWA is working on that can be reproduced for distribution
  -- Sample letters to legislators, board resolutions, letters to editors, and talking points - Issue papers, fact sheets, briefing books, reports, and presentations
• ACWA staff will make information quickly and easily accessible for members via the web site, e-mail, and fax
• ACWA staff will be proactive with providing members information and requesting action

Strategy D: Design Efficient Tools for Outreach Implementation and Activation

• Outreach Database: ACWA staff is currently developing a more efficient, user-friendly outreach/grassroots database. This database will be an extension of the current ACWA database, as opposed to the separate database called GoldMine that was previously used for grassroots outreach. The new database would:
  - - Target more specific groups of members based on user-defined criteria, i.e. interests, legislative districts, contacts with legislators, etc.
  -- Allow more flexibility and customization of reports
  -- Make information and reports quickly and easily accessible
  -- Enable staff to create both pre-set and ad hoc group-fax, e-mail, and phone tree lists based on defined criteria
  -- Provide mail merge and envelope/label printing capabilities
  -- Cut down on the amount of staff time spent on data entry and database maintenance
• Web site: ACWA staff will continue to develop the ACWA web site for use as an outreach tool by offering:
  -- Individual web pages for each region to update members on current region activities, post correspondence, provide educational information and presentations about the region
  -- Downloadable reports, presentations, issue papers, registration forms, etc.
• Surveys: To identify the interests, priorities, and goals of the region membership, the ACWA staff can conduct customized surveys of the region members

Strategy E: Provide Forums for Internal and External Outreach and Education

• Region Board Meetings: The region boards should conduct regular quarterly board meetings which include a format for open discussion and information exchange between region members, such as town hall discussions, roundtable talks, member forums, ACWA committee reports/updates, etc. Region board meetings can also be held to discuss, resolve, or educate board members on a particular issue. In this case an ACWA staff member knowledgeable on the issue, or an expert in the field may be invited to the meeting to give a presentation and answer questions.
• Joint Region Programs: The regions should hold and participate in events that involve multiple regions such as the semi-annual ACWA briefings, conference programs, tours, legislator visits/speeches, etc. Legislators, legislative staff members, and local public officials should be invited to these events. These joint region events encourage information exchange, education, and networking between the regions, as well as, help create relationships and a basis of understanding and mutual appreciation.
• Non-Member Recruitment Programs: In addition to inviting non-members to the regular region events listed above, the regions can create a program for the non-members in their area to encourage their involvement and possible membership with ACWA. The region boards, working with ACWA Membership staff and the Membership Committee can develop a program with topics, speakers, and a location that targets the interests of non-members in the region. Information on ACWA's services will be offered at the program and a representative from ACWA's Meetings & Membership Department can be there to answer questions and help non-members calculate their dues versus the benefits and savings of membership.
• Chair/Vice Chair Meetings: Regular meetings of ACWA's officers, region chairs, region vice chairs, key managers and staff members will be held to discuss various region issues. These meetings will have an interactive format allowing for open communication of feedback, suggestions, questions, and concerns.