In the time of social distancing, digital advocacy is more important than ever. To address policy issues and the critical needs of marine industry stakeholders, the National Marine Manufacturers Association and Marine Retailers Association of the Americas tapped SparkInfluence — a platform for issue advocacy and stakeholder education and engagement — and relaunched the Boating United website.

“The enhanced Boating United website will make our community’s collective digital advocacy efforts significantly more effective,” Nicole Vasilaros, NMMA senior vice president of government and legal affairs said in a statement. “The new platform also enables our team to integrate Boating United and BoatPAC, which will take all aspects of our advocacy apparatus to the next level — both now and as we begin to recover from the covid-19 crisis.”

Among the features SparkInfluence provides include a significantly more robust database that allows for geotargeted action on policy issues. The site includes national and regional issues addressed in detail and links to petitions, as well as detailed information on such topics as conservation and the environment, responsible fuel policies, and fair and free trade.

“On any given day, the recreational boating community faces a variety of challenges at every level of government,” MRAA president Matt Gruhn said. “Thanks to the new Boating United tool, we are better equipped to educate and mobilize our dedicated supporters to achieve major advocacy victories for the community.”