Increasingly large corporations are turning to their own business networks for grassroots support. Such organisations have access to many potential allies through their own employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers and vendors. One of Burson-Marsteller's directors told a gathering of British chemical industry leaders:

Don't forget that the chemical industry has many friends and allies that can be mobilized... employees, shareholders, and retirees.... The industry needs an army of spokespeople speaking on its behalf...Give them the songsheets and let them help industry carry the tune. (Lindheim 1989, p. 494)

Edward Grefe and Marty Linsky, in their handbook on "Harnessing the Power of Grassroots Tactics for Your Organization" point out that any corporation will have three potential constituencies for its grassroots efforts: 'family', 'friends' and 'strangers'. Family are employees and shareholders, and perhaps their close families, "whose livelihoods depend on the organization's success" so they have a strong economic interest and emotional commitment to the company. (p. 138) Friends are people who have less direct connections to the company but still have some sort of economic tie or common interest. These people would include customers, suppliers and trade associations.

Strangers are those who have no connection to the company, are not aware of the issue being debated, and yet can be influential in its outcome. They include the media, politicians, the business community, opinion leaders, scientists and academics and the key is to find those who "may have an intellectual or philosophical perspective that puts them into alignment with your organization." Grefe and Linsky recommend that family should be mobilised first: "Once involved, family are the best ambassadors, not only for reaching out to the friends but more importantly for reaching out to strangers as well."(p. 92)

By getting together in trade associations and federations, smaller businesses can help each other in the same way. The US Chamber of Commerce has 220,000 member businesses, trade associations, and local and state chambers of commerce and in 1993 it established its "Grassroots Action Information Network (GAIN) with state-of-the-art technology and networking capabilities." (Holzinger 1994) The National Federation of Independent Businesses has 617,000 members. From these members it is able to construct a database of members classified into categories which include political backgrounds, position on particular issues and the extent to which they have been 'activated' in the past by direct mail approaches. The computer database is connected to laser printers and broadcast faxes. So when an issue comes up, the Federation can instantly contact and activate thousands of specially selected members or alternatively space out the contacts over a number of weeks to give the impression of a spontaneously growing public reaction. (Faucheux 1995)

One of the most successful grassroots campaigns utilising these multi-sector coalitions mobilised farmers, coal-miners, aluminium manufacturers, the natural gas industry and others to oppose US President Clinton's proposed energy tax.(Seitel, Fraser P., 1995, p. 383)

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Additional Material

Faucheux, Ron, 1995, 'The Grassroots Explosion', Campaigns & Elections, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 20-30, 53-8.

Grefe, Edward A. and Marty Linsky, 1995, The New Corporate Activism: Harnessing the Power of Grassroots Tactics for Your Organization (New York: McGraw-Hill).

Holzinger, Albert G., 1994, 'Thriving on Challenges', Nations Business, Vol. 82, No. 4, pp. 51-2.

Lindheim, James, 1989, 'Restoring the Image of the Chemical Industry', Chemistry and Industry, Vol. 15, No. 7 August, pp. 491-4.

Seitel, Fraser P., 1995, The Practice of Public Relations, 6th edn (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall).

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