Capwiz & Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association

Mobilize enthusiastic supporters and encourage member participation in important legislative advocacy efforts.

Challenge:
The Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association (ISVMA) predicts, monitors, and confronts issues that affect the professional practice and licenses of Illinois veterinarians. More than 1,800 member veterinarians depend upon the representation and services provided by the ISVMA. Their participation ensures the continued strength of the veterinary profession in Illinois.

The Illinois Department of Revenue was “dragging its feet” in issuing a policy letter that would formalize a law eliminating the requirement for veterinary practices to hold retailer certificates if they were transferring tangible personal property incident to service.

ISVMA needed a way to engage its members in the legislative process and to influence legislators to support local veterinarians.

Solution:
In 2006, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) turned to Capwiz’s Affiliate service to coordinate their state associations’ advocacy efforts.

ISVMA got started with Capwiz right away by creating two Action Alerts on their web site urging their members to e-mail their state legislators, encouraging them to stand with ISVMA and help resolve the retailer certificate issue. Within 24 hours, almost 200 Illinois veterinarians had sent emails to their legislators.

According to Peter Weber, Executive Director of ISVMA, “We had legislators sign on as cosponsors of our bill just because they were contacted by their veterinarian! The feedback I got from ISVMA members was overwhelmingly positive. I was told that it was, '...easy to use' and '...a good idea.' Most importantly, I’m now building a list of ISVMA Activists that will be useful as we tackle bigger ‘gorillas’ at the Capitol.” Weber found that members felt satisfied because they were part of something that yielded practical results.

“It brought a sense of ownership to our members,” Weber says. “Ownership in the sense that they could feel engaged and directly involved with an issue, and this helps build long-term member commitments as well. So for us, using Capwiz was not just about accomplishing a legislative goal, but getting members to see the value of investing time and thought to our organization.”

Weber believes there is a conscious choice involved in being an active association member. By providing their members with Capwiz, ISVMA mobilized an enthusiastic member base. Weber believes that using Capwiz can have far-reaching effects. He says, “Members that have a positive experience using Capwiz to make a difference may be more inclined to register for one of our Association meetings in the future. Or they may use the Bills and Votes feature to research legislation that ISVMA is monitoring.”

Whether it’s looking up issues in the Bill Summary section, responding to an Action Alert, or researching legislators, Capwiz is essential for ISVMA to successfully mobilize their supporters.

www.isvma.org