Caretaker Period
Part 2 of 3: caretaker period is the quiet window before a new government is sworn in. Here's how to use it to prepare your engagement strategy.
“Always be prepared” applies to advocacy as much as it does to the Boy Scouts, and it matters most in the run-up to an election, when government departments shift into caretaker mode. In this stage, there are no new regulations and no new laws — just enough governance to keep things running until the result is in.
This is part two of a three-part series on advocacy through the election cycle. If you haven’t already, start with part one on staying engaged during election year, and come back to part three once the result is known.
Why caretaker period is your window
While politicians and staff are consumed by the campaign, they have little capacity for much else — which makes caretaker period the ideal time to prepare your approach for whoever wins, so you’re first in line to engage once government resumes normal business.
Build a red book/blue book approach
Government departments spend caretaker period preparing their own “blue book” and “red book” — a critical exercise for ensuring stability after the disruption of an election. The blue book briefs a returning government on the status of legislation, programs and the fiscal position. The red book does the same for an incoming government.
The same model works well for advocacy organisations. Think of your red book as what you’d hand to external stakeholders: an overview of your organisation, key issues and key messages for the incoming government. Your blue book is the internal version — your own strategic engagement plan.
What goes in your red book
Key messages. During a campaign, both sides focus on the three or four issues that resonate most with voters. If your messages don’t connect to those issues, they tend to drop off the radar. Write a simple executive summary covering the three or four essential things you need a new government to understand about your organisation.
Key issues. Provide a thorough but selective brief on the issues facing your organisation or industry — thorough enough to be useful, but not so long it competes with everyone else’s briefing for the new government’s limited attention. If the incumbent is returned, this section can be lighter: more a reminder of where things stood pre-election than a full re-introduction. Include a short selection of recent media coverage and advocacy work here too.
What goes in your blue book
New faces, new strategies. Regardless of who wins, people move. Expect a new Minister, new staff, possibly a new Assistant Minister, and changes among MPs in electorates relevant to your organisation. Have a rough sense of when and how you’ll approach each of them with your red book, and start sketching a 6 to 12-month engagement strategy for building the relationship.
Events. Work out how the new lineup affects your planned events. Does the new Minister need an invitation? Should they be asked to speak? Are there other new Ministers or advisers worth inviting? Should anything be postponed? You won’t have every answer before the election, but the groundwork can be laid.
To find out who’s who ahead of the next government, Advoc8 tracks extended MP biographies covering background, interests and factional alignment. Contact us for a demo.
Once the new government is sworn in, part three of this series covers exactly how to put your red book to work.
