Government Relations and Public Affairs

NSI’s Government Relations practice helps organizations impact U.S. state and local government policy. Our team is able to track, analyze and triage any state or local government policy activity across the country. This includes legislative and regulatory activities. Our team helps create integrated, unified government affairs efforts resulting in real-time information regarding relevant policy threats and opportunities, enhanced intelligence and analysis to guide decision making, and the resources on the ground to successfully influence any real threats or opportunities.

Customized Early Warning System

Due to the fragmented and highly political nature of the U.S. state and local government market, it is difficult for organizations to monitor developments across all states, cities, counties, school districts, and other relevant public authorities. NSI assists clients by building an early warning tool to identify relevant policy activities across the country. The tool can be customized to monitor bills, regulatory filings, legislative hearings, statements, news, government social media accounts, press releases, and other activities across all 50 state legislatures, as well as any municipality over 25,000 in population.

In-market Intelligence & Analysis

In-market intelligence is critical to make informed decisions. Whenever relevant activity is identified through the early warning system, NSI leverages our extensive network of over 2,700 state and local consultants on the ground to conduct outreach and due diligence to confirm through human sources, whether a real threat or opportunity exists. The three goals of the outreach and due diligence are to confirm the likelihood of implementation, determine whether proactive activity is needed to address the threat or opportunity, and develop specific recommendations on how best to influence the threat or opportunity. NSI’s disciplined process of tracking, analyzing, and triaging any state or local government policy activity enables organizations to prioritize their resources based on validated threats or opportunities.

Advocacy Support

The NSI team can provide both strategic and tactical support to drive outreach, engagement, and advocacy with relevant government decision-makers and influencers to further your objectives. On an ongoing basis, the NSI team can manage, oversee, and administer all engaged government relations consultants. NSI has the capability to orchestrate a national program for state government relations consultants to drive multi-state public policy change with elected and appointed leaders.

Strategic Marketing and Communications

As part of an effort to successfully influence a state or local government policy threat or opportunity, NSI provides strategic marketing and public relations solutions through an alliance with Sage Communications, where we focus on the intersection of public missions and business transformation. The methodology covers discovery, research, and strategic planning to tactical marketing plans, thought leadership, public relations and media outreach, social media, and custom event support, all aimed at delivering values measured in business success.

Our services within Government Relations and Public Affairs include:

  • Tracking relevant legislative and regulatory issues across all 50 states and most local governments

  • Analyzing any relevant legislative or regulatory issue through an extensive on-the-ground network

  • Determining whether the threat or opportunity from the relevant issue is real

  • Helping make investment decisions regarding government relations budget

  • Creating or validating legislative and regulatory strategic plans, including reactive campaigns to protect interests or proactive campaigns to create and expand opportunities

  • Supporting model bill drafting or amendments

  • Providing support in any state or local government market to pass, amend or defeat relevant legislation or regulation

  • Creating public affairs campaigns to support legislative and regulatory efforts, including building allies and coalitions in support of the effort, digital and social media, grasstops and grassroots activities, and earned media

  • Messaging assistance for each specific policy effort

  • Raising an organization’s profile within the state and local government policy associations