09/25/2018
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: AVRAL ANNOUNCES SHIFT FROM FORMAL PAC STATUS TO INFORMAL INTEREST GROUP: by Rhonda Parker, Sandra Nathan, and Richard Koerner
We are writing to announce that Alabama Voter’s for Responsible Animal Legislation (AVRAL) is no longer a Political Action Committee (PAC). Instead, it has become a volunteer organization that operates solely through social media.
Shifting from a formal political organization to an informal interest group is logical. Our analysis of AVRAL—as we’ve observed over the past two legislative cycles—reveals that we are able to motivate action for animal welfare just as effectively by using social media (such as Facebook) as we are via expensive databases such as CQ Engage. In fact, given the nature of our demographic, we’ve concluded that reliance upon social media is not only more efficient in terms of time and energy, it also results in the same (or better) level of engagement from AVRAL members.
Given that a key feature of PACs is to fund candidate campaigns, it is obvious that AVRAL has never truly operated as a PAC. When we organized, we made clear we would never buy votes and we never gave money to legislators in either the House or Senate. Instead, we established good relationships with politicians who are animal-friendly, which is something any private citizen can do. You don’t have to form a PAC—or a formal organization of any kind--to accomplish this. Of course AVRAL will continue to encourage animal advocates to participate in all worthy political endeavors for animal welfare.
Our analysis also revealed that our sustained recruitment efforts are not cost effective. We found that people who joined AVRAL were more likely to become active members if they sought us out for membership, rather than, for example, signing up at a pet festival. Members who joined “passively” typically bloated our database and gave us a false sense of confidence. It was tempting to believe that the members “on the books” in various counties (especially rural ones) could be relied up to act on behalf of animals with regard to city/county/state elections. We learned time and time again this was not true—and reaching those members proved difficult. However, when we relied on social media, we were always able to have members across the state give us more than the critical mass needed when it came to having legislators hear our positions on various bills.
Over the past eight years, many people have worked hard to ensure AVRAL gave animals a voice in Alabama. State legislators know us well. Our members never gave up on any bill we put forward, no matter how strong the opposition. And, they supported good bills brought to the legislature by others. AVRAL’s county coordinators worked tirelessly to recruit and to build impressive voting blocs in virtually every pocket of Alabama. They were wholly dedicated foot soldiers in the fight to improve animal welfare and no amount of thanks could ever communicate the depth of our gratitude. Nevertheless, we are thankful, grateful and forever in awe of their leviathan efforts. There is no doubt they made a tremendous difference and improved animals’ lives.
Thousands of people contributed to AVRAL’s success in so many ways; listing them all would create a hefty novel. We were honored to guide AVRAL members through all of our legislative journeys, win or lose. It was a privilege to work with those who were passionate in their belief that the greatness of Alabama can be measured, in no small part, by the way its animals are treated (to paraphrase Gandhi). Ultimately, it was the raw passion of AVRAL members who elevated the status of animals in our state and raised awareness like never before. Because of our members’ unwavering activism, we passed laws banning euthanasia by gassing (Beckham’s Law) and we mandated shelter reporting in Alabama (because of this, we were able to determine which shelters sell their animals for research). We fought the good, hard fight to ban chaining. Though unable to pass a law, our members raised awareness across Alabama and several cities now have regulations concerning the chaining/tethering of dogs.
We know everyone will agree there is much more to be done. Though AVRAL will now be an informal interest group on Facebook, we will maintain and perhaps expand our social media presence. We will continue to keep advocates informed about animal welfare issues and will sound calls for action when needed. Thank you for working diligently to improve the lives of Alabama’s animals.
With gratitude,
Rhonda Parker
Sandra S Nathan
Richard Koerner
To encourage all of Marshall Co. to join us in being a voice for those who have no voice! Animals cannot vote but you do!
