What’s the Most Influential Association in Congress?

After interviewing 301 people in the public and private sectors, consulting company APCO Worldwide  (opens in a new tab) declared that a leading healthcare trade association could be the most influential organization when it comes to lobbying lawmakers  (opens in a new tab).

Out of 15 categories, ranging from local impact to self-regulation to media relations, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America  (opens in a new tab) (PhRMA) earned the top ranking in seven. As The Hill reporter Megan R. Wilson noted  (opens in a new tab), this marks PhRMA’s second time atop APCO’s lobbying rankings.

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APCO also surveyed to discover the highest- and lowest-performing sectors in those same 15 categories, and those findings also prove interesting. When it comes to social media, for example, the telecommunications sector took top honors, while manufacturing fell to the bottom. And the manufacturing sector’s woes didn’t end there: Its average ranking in the poll was dead last for eight of the 15 categories.

As one would expect, given PhRMA’s performance, the healthcare sector took top marks in multilateral impact, lobbying, coalition building, events, member representation, grassroots, and information-resource rankings.

Tutorials of the Day

Online educational course provider Udemy offers everything from design and music to productivity and photography. And for conference speakers, the site has tutorials on the ins and outs of improving your delivery  (opens in a new tab), with the likes of President Obama  (opens in a new tab), Shaquille O’Neal  (opens in a new tab), and former Miss South Carolina Caitlin Upton  (opens in a new tab) as real-world examples of improved public speaking.

Other Good Reads

The 2015 Engaging Associations Forum  (opens in a new tab) is happening right now, so follow the hashtag #engageassn  (opens in a new tab) to keep track of all of the latest insights and events!

BuzzFeed‘s video branch receives more than 250 million YouTube views each month. Yes, you read that correctly. And Frederator Director of Programming & Audience Development Matt Gielen  (opens in a new tab) highlights some lessons you can learn from BuzzFeed‘s success. Find them on Tubefilter  (opens in a new tab).

We’ve shared plenty of lists with a positive angle. Now, to learn what not to do, read Tessa Srebro’s “4 Ways to Build an Ineffective, Disengaged Nonprofit Board,” via VolunteerMatch’s blog  (opens in a new tab).

(Phil Roeder/Flickr)