Building Sustainable Advocacy Infrastructure: Lessons from the Trigger Lead Victory
Three years ago, the Broker Action Coalition faced a fundamental challenge: how do you unite mortgage brokers from across the country, professionals with different markets, different challenges, different perspectives - and get them rowing in the same direction?
The answer wasn't found in boardrooms or policy papers. It was built through the patient work of creating what we call sustainable advocacy infrastructure.
Beyond Individual Voices: The Power of Collective Action
Sustainable advocacy isn't about gathering a few passionate individuals who show up occasionally. It's about creating systems that channel the collective voice of an entire industry segment, even when individual brokers are focused on running their businesses.
When we started the BAC, we asked our earliest supporters what mattered most. Trigger leads emerged as the overwhelming priority - not because we predetermined it, but because brokers themselves identified it as their shared challenge. That clarity of purpose became the foundation for everything that followed.
What Infrastructure Actually Looks Like
Building advocacy infrastructure means creating multiple touchpoints for engagement:
Easy advocacy tools that let brokers send targeted letters to their representatives with just a few clicks
Systematic relationship building with lawmakers and staff across both parties and committees
Coalition partnerships that amplify our voice without diluting our message
Sustained funding that supports multi-year campaigns, not just reactive responses
The trigger lead campaign required over 250 meetings with lawmakers and generated 25,000+ letters to Congress. That doesn't happen through individual heroics: it requires systems that make participation accessible to busy professionals.
The Community Connection Advantage
What sets broker advocacy apart is our community roots. Most of us live and work in the same places where we originate loans. When we tell a representative that trigger leads are harming their constituents, we're not speaking theoretically - we're describing our neighbors' experiences.
This local connection builds credibility that corporate lobbying can't match. A banker in Chicago might know market data about Houston, but a Houston broker knows the actual families facing housing challenges in their community.
Looking Forward: More Than a One-Issue Organization
The trigger lead victory proves our model works, but sustainable infrastructure means preparing for the next fight while celebrating current wins. LO Comp reform, credit reporting costs, GSE oversight: each requires the same patient, systematic approach that made trigger leads possible.
The infrastructure we built doesn't disappear when one issue gets resolved. The relationships, systems, and coalition partnerships become assets for every future campaign.
For brokers watching this unfold: your continued engagement isn't just about the next issue. It's about ensuring that mortgage brokers never again face an industry crisis without institutional advocacy fighting for your interests.
Sustainable advocacy requires sustained commitment. But as trigger leads proves, that commitment delivers results that benefit every broker and every consumer we serve.