Case Study: National Corn Growers Association achieves 38,404 nonmember advocates in 10 days with FiscalNote

How the National Corn Growers Association Got 38,000+ Nonmember Advocates to Take Action

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), a trade group representing more than 40,000 corn farmers and 48 state affiliates, needed to pressure the EPA on Renewable Fuel Standard rules and wanted voices beyond its traditional Midwest membership. Facing a tight public-comment deadline, NCGA set an ambitious target—31,000 comments in two weeks—and sought a way to mobilize a nationwide, nonmember audience to amplify its message.

NCGA ran two concurrent efforts: a traditional direct-mail and email campaign for members, and a cost-per-advocate digital ad campaign with FiscalNote to recruit nonmembers. They tested three messages (clean air, lower gas prices, energy security), micro-targeted ads and landing pages to collect contact info, and launched nationwide. In ten days the digital campaign produced 38,404 nonmember advocates (exceeding the goal), the member mail piece saw a ~10% response rate, and NCGA captured segmented supporter data for follow-up outreach.

National Corn Growers Association