Advocacy Toolkits
Always-free templates, checklists, guides, downloads, and more to help you advocate for your short-term rental, start or grow an advocacy group, and protect your right to rent responsibly.
How to Do Everything
(OK MAYBE NOT EVERYTHING, BUT A LOT.)
The Ultimate Guide:
Building a Self-Sustainable Short-Term Rental Alliance
INSIDE:
- The Tools to Make Your Vision a Reality
- Recruiting Members, Building a Leadership Team, and Creating Partnerships
- Knowing Your Decision-Makers and How to Make Sure They Hear You
- Building Community & Keeping Members Engaged
The Event-in-a-Box Toolkit:
Hosting Great Short-Term Rental Alliance Events
INSIDE:
- Key considerations and foundational to-dos before the event train leaves the station
- Customizable timelines for in-person and virtual event planning
- Strategies for driving event attendance
- Downloadable checklists, templates and SOPs
The 501 (c) (6) How-To:
Becoming an Incorporated Nonprofit Trade Association
INSIDE:
- The fundamentals of what it means to be a 501(c)(6) organization
- Pre-filing preparations and things to consider
- 10 Steps to Become a 501(c)(6)
- Why file for 501(c)(6)
- How to maintain your 501(c)(6) status
Fundraising Strategies
How to Raise Money for Your Short-Term Rental Alliance
Make Your Voice Heard
Public Comment 101: Effective Written and Spoken Testimonies
Advocate Toolkits + Resources
FOR ADVOCATES:
⭐ Indicates premium resources available for free in the RR Network, our private community designed exclusively for hosts and advocates!
Navigating Governments
- Regulations 101: A primer on how short-term rental rules are made
- Public Records: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Sunshine Law Requests for Short-Term Rental Advocacy
- Glossary: Important Short-Term Rental, Government, and Legal Terms
- Conflicting Regulations: Navigating overlap in state, county, local, and neighborhood rules ⭐
Advocacy Guides
- Replay: Political Action, Lobbying, and Fundraising for Vacation Rental Property Managers
- Public Comment 101: Effective Written and Spoken Testimonies
- Data: Short-Term Rental Data for Advocacy and Where to Get It
- Media 101: Talking to Reporters about Short-Term Rentals
- How-to: 5 Tips for Getting Your Letter to the Editor or Op-Ed Published
- Storytelling: Using the Inverted Pyramid in Advocacy Messaging ⭐
FOR ALLIANCE AND ASSOCIATION LEADERS:
⭐ Indicates premium resources available for free in the RR Network, our private community designed exclusively for hosts and advocates!
Advocacy Essentials
- Popular: Top 10 short-term rental advocacy resources and how to use them
- Playbook: Public Records: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Sunshine Law Requests for Short-Term Rental Advocacy
- Playbook: Short-Term Rental Data for Advocacy and Where to Get It
- Playbook: Media 101: Talking to Reporters about Short-Term Rentals
- Playbook: 5 Tips for Getting Your Letter to the Editor or Op-Ed Published
- Storytelling: Using the Inverted Pyramid in Advocacy Messaging ⭐
Advocacy Strategy
Case Studies
- Case Studies: Affordable housing vs. STRs: What does the data say?
- The Power of Language: Vacation rental semantics and why they matter
- Case Study: How 1999’s NC Vacation Rental Act is a Model for Today’s Regulations
- Case Study: Effecting positive change in vacation rental ordinances in Fort Pierce, Florida
- Case Study: Defeating Colorado Senate Bill 33 STR Property Tax Bill
- Case Study: How Portland short-term rental hosts earned a seat on the city’s DMO board
Engagement + Marketing
FOR ALLIANCE AND ASSOCIATION LEADERS:
⭐ Indicates premium resources available for free in the RR Network, our private community designed exclusively for hosts and advocates!
Growing Your Organization
- Leader Seminar Recap: Building Irresistible Member Benefits ⭐
- Playbook: How to run a #GivingTuesday campaign for your short-term rental organization
- Leader Seminar Recap: Membership Sales
- Playbook: How to raise money for your short-term rental alliance
- Replay: Nonprofit 101: Level up to 501(c)(6) Status
Member Engagement
Strengthening Your Board
- Replay: Inspire & Ignite: Stoke Your Team’s Fire and Avoid Burnout
- Playbook: Board Strategy Meeting Guide ⭐
- Must-read: 6 must-read books for alliance leaders ⭐
- Playbook: Guide to a Successful Alliance Board
FEATURED
State of the STR Industry Report 2024
The latest data and trends on STR hosts and managers, tech, operations, regulations, and more – plus the take of more than 2,000 local policymakers on STRs in their communities.
Housing & Economic Impact Studies
National Reports
The Real Drivers of Housing Affordability: An assessment of the role of vacation rentals (2024)
Barron, Kung, & Proserpio: The Effect of Home-Sharing on House Prices and Rents: Evidence from Airbnb (2020)
The Drivers of Housing Affordability: An assessment of the role of short-term rentals (2019)
Local Reports & Case Studies
HR&A: Colorado Short Term Rental Impact Study (2022)
Western Mountain Resort Alliance: Economic and Workforce Housing Impacts of STRs (2024)
Summit Alliance Vacation Rental Managers: State of Vacation Rental Industry Report (2024)
Regulatory News
Colorado vacancy tax bill nixed in committee after advocacy effort
A bill that would have allowed Colorado communities to tax vacant homes died in committee on Feb. 9, 2026, after more than four hours of testimony and concerted opposition by short-term rental activists.
Washington bill would allow short-term rental hosts to gift guests a joint
House Bill 2639, sponsored by Rep. Melanie Morgan, would permit short-term rental hosts to provide each guest age 21 or older with one free prerolled cannabis product containing up to one gram of marijuana. The annual permit fee would be $75 and would apply to all properties owned or operated by a host.
From Sundance to the Olympics, cities test event-only short-term rental permits
For years, many U.S. cities treated short-term rentals as a problem to be contained or eliminated altogether. But as high-stakes global events are poised to overwhelm their limited hotel capacity, a growing number of jurisdictions that severely restricted or banned short-term rentals have changed their tune. They’re testing a hybrid model that temporarily allows short-term rentals only for major events like the Sundance Film Festival, the FIFA World Cup, the Super Bowl, and the Olympics.
How short-term rental bans backfire
Across the country, bans or “effective bans” (rules so strict the activity can’t continue) on short-term rentals have reshaped visitor economies, shifted millions in spending, and triggered years of administrative and legal battles.
Clark County, Nevada, to appeal federal ruling blocking short-term rental ordinance
The Clark County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Jan. 6, 2026, to appeal a federal court order that suspended enforcement of the county’s short-term rental ordinance.
Year-end 2025 state short-term rental bills and what’s ahead in 2026
State legislatures across the country considered a range of legislation regulating short-term rentals in 2025. Lawmakers tested proposals on taxation, surveillance pricing, and local control, some of which are still pending in legislative chambers. Below is a year-end look at the most consequential state-level short-term rental bills from last year, organized by what passed, what failed, and what’s still in play in 2026.