ACTION PLAYBOOK:

Contact Local Businesses and Nonprofits

Step 0: What’s your why?

Before you send any outreach, write down why you personally think a business or nonprofit ought to care about these IRA tax incentives. This makes your message sound real, not robotic. It doesn’t need to be long—one clear sentence is enough to make your outreach feel genuine. Examples:

“As a business owner myself, I know how big a difference lower energy bills can make.”
“I stop in often and really value having you in the neighborhood — I’d love to see you get these cost savings and contribute to a cleaner, more resilient future for all of us here.”
“I drive/walk by on my daily commute and noticed you don’t have solar panels yet!”
“I believe deeply in your mission. I want to help you save money on energy costs so you can use the funds to make a greater impact in our community.”

Step 1: Email the Chamber of Commerce

The Chamber of Commerce is a local business network that helps companies connect, share resources, and strengthen the community (they also often represent the local business community’s interests in policy debates). As a trusted entity with an email list of businesses, your town’s Chamber of Commerce has the power to disseminate valuable information to many businesses at once.

Find contact information by Googling: “[Your City] Chamber of Commerce.” On the website, navigate to the Contact Us page or site footer and look for a general contact email address (like info@citychamber.org). If your town does not have a Chamber of Commerce, reach out to one in a neighboring region, or a similar entity like a business roundtable, association, or networking group.

Bonus points: If you see a phone number, write it down now! Try following up with a quick call – just use your email as a script.

Personalize this starter template and send an email:

Step 2: Start your outreach list

Open a drafting document or pull out a pen and a fresh page—we’re drafting a list of people and local businesses/nonprofits to reach out to!

Write down businesses and nonprofits in your community that match the strategic targets embedded below. Write down any that come to mind – the time for editing comes later. Think of previous employers or employers of your friends and family. Make a mental map of our neighborhood or commute. List out the places you visit regularly, or where you recently volunteered or made a purchase.

Step 3: Add the warm, strategic leads in your network

Personal outreach > cold outreach. Better results, every time. It might feel intimidating, but remember you’re offering an opportunity – and it’s truly nothing personal if they’re not interested.

So let’s get methodical. Search through your personal and professional network, thinking about who owns a business/nonprofit or has proximity to the decision-makers.

To your list, add names of people you know (at least a little bit) who will be your warm leads. This may help identify businesses and nonprofits you hadn’t thought of in Step 2, or allow you to *star* some of the existing organizations for priority outreach.

Helpful tools for your search:

Search your LinkedIn contacts by industry. Here’s a how-to.
Search your Facebook friends by job. Here’s a how-to.
Scroll your phone contacts.
Scroll through your Instagram and Twitter/X followers.

Step 4: Reach out!

Whether it’s a text to an old colleague, a lukewarm LinkedIn DM (or Instagram DM!), or a cold email to your local grocery store or neighborhood restaurant, it’s time to start slinging out messages.

Start with your warmest leads, and work down the list from there. Do your best to balance scale and impact with how well you know your contact and how receptive you think they’ll be.

Pro tips for cold outreach: It doesn’t have to be scary!

Use the contact page forms on websites, or generic contact addresses.
Check the footers of websites for ownership email information
Try LinkedIn or IG DM-ing the company’s profile
If you can see employees, look for anyone who works in finance, operations, or sustainability.

Personalize the template below based on your level of familiarity. Any personal or unique details you can add will grab their attention and make it feel more sincere and compelling. Personalization gets results—don't skip it!

Quick Step 5: Set yourself a reminder to follow up!

Real quick: Take 30 seconds right now to set a reminder to send a follow-up message. This could be a ‘hey siri…’ nudge, or 30 minutes blocked on your calendar 4-10 days from now.

This little extra effort to say “hey, just following up on this– as a patron and a neighbor, I would love to see you make this investment and save the money!” could be what gets the business or non-profit to “yes.”

Step 6: Post on social media.

Don’t underestimate the power of a little PSA – you never know where the algorithm will take it. Especially if your network includes a lot of relevant businesses and nonprofits (like if you work at one and you’re communicating to your peers!), don’t be afraid to share your story and offer yourself as a resource.

Use the outreach template above for inspiration, and be sure to personalize it for both your voice and the platform you’re posting on.

Whether you’re drafting from scratch or reposting with commentary, here’s an effective message arc:

🤓 What did you learn: I just learned that [insert most interesting factoid].
❤️‍🔥 Why do you care: This is really [emotional adjective like ‘exciting’ or ‘worrying’] because [why do you feel that way].
✅ What did you do: I just contacted my utility company [name] about this, which was honestly way less intimidating and way more empowering than I thought it would be.
❓ Invitation/Call to Action: If any of my people in [places where this is relevant] want to do this with me, here’s a step-by-step playbook: https://www.climatechangemakers.org/preview-utility-companies

A few days later…. Report Back!

Get a positive response? Yippee! Don’t forget to respond to their response with enthusiasm, gratitude, and an offer to continue being a resource. This is an opportunity to start building a relationship. And don’t forget to share your win in the Climate Changemakers Slack, or send a screenshot to advocacy@climatechangemakers.org. Let’s celebrate!

Get a question that stumps ya? That’s ok – you’re not supposed to be the expert. Phone a friend! Pose your question in the Climate Changemakers Slack, or email advocacy@climatechangemakers.org. You can also try Googling around and sending helpful articles. Your role is to put this on the organizations’ radar, cheer them on, and point them towards the folks who do know more.
Get crickets? Dang. That happens sometimes. Try following up a couple more times or leaving a voicemail, and if you still don’t hear back, ask for help! Jump into the Climate Changemakers Slack for a second opinion on your strategy, or email advocacy@climatechangemakers.org.

And that’s it, playbook complete! Feel accomplished.
Thank you for taking action.

🎉 CUE CONFETTI by clicking COMPLETE! 🎉