II: Work the Numbers

As I mentioned in Part I, the State Motorcyclist Rights Organization (SMRO) approach relies on two principles:

> Everything Counts
> Strength in Numbers

As Einstein famously said, "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." With this in mind, let's move from the Part I discussion of an SMRO's priorities to how it makes use of its "strength in numbers."

Again, you can't be everywhere and do everything. An SMRO is limited by the number of members it has (as well as other resources, like money and time). But we'll just consider members who show up and help to get things done.

It would seem like the more people you have, the more you can accomplish. This is pretty much true, no matter how you slice it.

But let's pretend your priorities are out of whack, so you spend a lot of time doing unproductive things. Given the same number of people, you'd be less efficient. A lot less.

MPG

This is no different than a gasoline powered engine. The more fuel efficient it is, the further it will go on a gallon of gas. One gallon in a top-fuel dragster will only take you about 2 or 3 miles, while in a Toyota Prius it would go 20 times as far.

Now I'll be the first one to say 15 seconds in a hot rod is a lot more fun than a lifetime in an econobox. But what is your mission? Is it to have as much fun as possible before you run out of gas, or to go the distance and reach your goal?

Obviously (at least to me) the whole point of an SMRO is to restore and protect your rights as a motorcyclist. And if an SMRO is efficient at accomplishing that mission, it gets the most accomplished with the people it has.

Full Tank

Some SMRO's are HUGE, so they can afford to be a little less efficient. ABATE of Indiana is probably the biggest, and I hear they have tens of thousands of members. ABATE of PA is also pretty sizeable, with about seven thousand. They're both top-tier organizations, with plenty of volunteers who keep them on top.

But let's take a look at SMROs in states that are not winning the battle, with the helmet law separating the "haves" from the "have-nots." Generally speaking, quite a few of them are struggling in the low thousands. And some of them can't even claim more than a few hundred members, even on a good day.

If your approach requires big numbers, and you ain't got big numbers, you will not be successful. At least not successful at anything that matters. Like your mission.

Three Quarters

The greatest SMRO "resource hound" is the sheer overhead of running the organization. Monthly meetings, treasury reports, membership packages, newsletter submissions, selling products, and organizing events. They all take time, effort, and volunteers.

Yet all of these tasks are internal house-keeping jobs.

Given the benefit of the doubt, these life-support tasks account for about 75% of an SMRO's time and effort expended. Good luck finding any other nonprofit organization that consumes so much, just to maintain its own pulse.

One Quarter

Of the remaining 25%, most of it is devoted to fundraising. Some of it is for charity and other worthy causes, and the rest goes back into care and feeding of the SMRO (again, internal housekeeping).

Motorcycle safety is often the next program in line for making use of SMRO volunteers. Again, a worthy cause, but off on a tangent when it comes to political action.

Fumes

That doesn't leave much. Again being generous, let's say 10% is left over for political activity. Mostly this consists of lobbying and protesting, both of which rise no higher than the level of expressing one's opinion.

No wonder politicians see us as "all bark and no bite."

But if lobbying and protesting are at the top the political to-do list, there might be less than 5% left for elections.

The closer we get to the mission, the less there is in the tank.

Running on Empty

The election year efforts of almost every SMRO are exclusively focused on getting bikers to vote. And sometimes this consists entirely of one or two emails, sent on Election Day, that say "Go out and vote!!!"

But bikers are a tiny minority of voters. A lot of us can't vote. If I were a betting man, I'd bet on the majority. That's what politicians do, and the house always wins.

Our true strength lies not in voting, but in delivering votes ... as dependable campaign volunteers.

Yet it is extremely rare to hear any mention of campaign volunteering, let alone see organized activity. Why? Because when you're last in line, there's usually nothing left.

This is not a big deal if you have tens of thousand of members. It becomes a challenge when you dip into the single thousands. And if you struggle to maintain a few hundred?

Well good luck with that.

Again, the most political leverage comes from campaign volunteering. If your SMRO has an abundance of active members, many are politically active. So then you probably have several hundred working in various campaign offices throughout your state.

THAT is what it takes to be successful at influencing legislation.

Alternative Fuel

But if you don't have an abundance of active members, relatively few will be politically active. And then it would be rare indeed to see any black leather out riding on the campaign trail.

The good news is that it only takes a few people to make a big difference. All you need to do is turn your priorities upside down, and put campaign work at the top of the list.

Struggling SMROs should look at it another way: If you continue to do everything EXCEPT campaign work, you will continue to fail. But if you excel at campaign work, you will most certainly win.

-RIDE2REPEAL@gmail.com