Transcript Simple Blue - Friends Committee on National Legislation

Grassroots Advocacy
Building Effective Relationships with your Members of Congress
To the presenter: this presentation is a
template for a lobby training. Please
customize it according to your specific
issue area, your specific member of
Congress, and the amount of time you
have. Slides that should be changed have
red writing. As-is, the presentation takes
about three hours.
1) The Friends Committee on National Legislation
2) Why Lobby?
3) Issue Focus: (i.e. Genocide Prevention)
Break
4) Writing an effective message
Break
5) The successful lobby visit
6) Practice lobby visit
7) Building your relationship with your member of
Congress
Friends Committee on National Legislation
We seek a world free of war and the threat of war.
We seek a society with equity and justice for all.
We seek a community in which every person’s
potential may be fulfilled.
We seek an earth restored.
FCNL’s Issues
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Nuclear Disarmament
Peaceful Prevention of Deadly Conflict
Afghanistan
Immigration
Native American Issues
Energy and Environment
Federal Budget Priorities
Selected Successes from 2010
New START Treaty for Nuclear NonProliferation
Cobell Settlement
Friends in Action
Seneca Falls Convention
John F. Kennedy at the University of Michigan
Values are Powerful
•
•
•
•
Listening
Respectful dialogue
Finding common ground
Speaking with sincerity
Building a relationship
II. Why Lobby?
“The best policy in the world isn’t
going anywhere if it’s not
supported by human relationships
based on repeated interactions.”
Welling Hall, Plowshares Professor of Peace Studies at Earlham
College and former fellow at Representative Keith Ellison’s office.
What influences members of Congress?
Source: Congressional Management Foundation 2010
The Ladder of Engagement
You have a relationship.
Meet face to face
Meet a staffer
Attend a public event
Engage the media
Message(s) from a group
Send letters, emails and faxes
III. Issue Focus slides here
IV. Writing an Effective Message
www.fcnl.org
Contacting your Member of Congress
www.fcnl.org
Writing the message
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identify yourself.
Focus on 1 or 2 issues.
Be polite and positive.
Make a clear ask (mention a bill number if possible).
Use a few concise facts.
Ask for a commitment and a reply.
Dear Senator Isakson,
You people in Congress can’t seem to agree on anything
these days, even on something as important as
preventing genocide and mass atrocities in places like
Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This
should be a national priority. Why can’t you provide
leadership and work together on something like the
Genocide Prevention bill instead of all this
partisanship?
Here’s hoping,
Suzy McDaniels
Anywhere, Georgia
Dear Senator Isakson,
I want you to support the bipartisan Genocide Prevention bill. Prevention
of genocide and mass atrocities is a very important because it could
save both lives and money.
Now the U.S. is involved in a military conflict in Libya. It concerns me
that diplomatic methods of resolving this conflict were not fully
exhausted before military actions were taken.
The action in Libya was taken just as important discussions about the
budget were happening. I support those in Congress who were trying
to cut the budget in ways that would not wreck the economy, lose jobs,
or hurt vulnerable people.
As a constituent, I urge you to take action on all these important issues of
peace.
Sincerely,
Albert Green
Someplace, Georgia
Dear Senator Isakson,
I am a voter in the Midtown neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. My children attend
Spurwood Elementary School, where I am the head of the PTA, and I am a member
of the United Methodist Church. I greatly appreciate that you voted in favor of the
START Treaty in December.
I am writing to urge you to use your position on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee to support practical legislation that will address policy gaps that
fail to prevent genocide. For years the US has underinvested in diplomacy,
development, and international cooperation, crippling our ability to prevent conflict.
This is costing us countless lives and resources. Research demonstrates that every
one dollar invested in preventing conflicts from turning deadly would cost sixty
dollars in crisis response once violence erupts.
In December 2010, the Senate passed a resolution (S. Con. Res. 71) calling for specific
steps to improve US capacities to prevent genocide and atrocities. I want you to
support bipartisan legislation that would strengthen key government capacities
addressed in this resolution. I look forward to a commitment and a reply from you
on this matter.
Sincerely, Debbie Dowd Atlanta, GA
Making Friends with Chuck Grassley
Deb Fink
FCNL Makes Letter-Writing Easy
www.fcnl.org
What happens to my message?
• No difference between written and email
messages.
• Tallying.
• Personalized messages treated differently.
• Brief messages with clear asks are the easiest
to deal with.
V. The Effective Lobby Visit
FCNL’s Spring Lobby Weekend
The Lobby Visit
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Make an appointment.
Present yourself respectfully.
Do your homework.
Have a specific “ask.”
Follow up.
How to Make an appointment
•
•
•
•
Home district vs. Washington
Staff vs. Member
The scheduler is key!
Ask for the staff member who works
on your issue.
• Be flexible on time and place.
Who are you talking to?
www.fcnl.org
Decide on your ‘ask’
Your ask might be any of the following:
*Sponsor your proposal
*Co-sponsor a bill
*Take the lead in a funding initiative
*Vote against something in committee
*Speak publicly on a topic
*Hold a hearing
Do your homework
• Know their voting record and bills they are cosponsoring.
• Find something to say “thank you” for.
• Identify a few talking points and key statistics
to back them up.
• Create a one-page written summary of your
ask. Include contact information of the people
in your group.
Organize your group
•
•
•
•
Visiting in groups of 6 or less is better.
Build a “Coalition of the Unexpected.”
Practice!
Make sure the following jobs are assigned:
*Group leader or clerk
runs meeting, prepares talking
points makes sure ‘ask’ is clearly stated, follows up.
*Note-taker
The Visit
• Present yourself respectfully.
• Introduce yourselves and your
topic.
• Repeat the ask.
• Ask questions.
• Meetings can be 8 – 30 minutes.
The Visit
•
•
•
•
You don’t need to be an expert.
Keep it simple.
Never burn a bridge.
Distinguish between protesting and
lobbying.
On your way out
Provide a fact sheet that summarizes your key
points (Include contact information!)
Discuss follow-up.
Ask for their business card.
Consider taking a picture with your member of
Congress if they’re available.
Follow Up
• Write a thank you note.
• Provide additional information (if you said you
would).
• Repeat your ask.
• Follow their actions and thank them if they do
what you asked.
• Tell FCNL what a great time you had!
Your Members of Congress
www.fcnl.org
[Your member of Congress’s] Key Votes
www.fcnl.org
Updated 3/15/2011
VI. Practice Lobby Visit
What makes this issue important to you
personally?
1) Use the Congressional member profile to
decide what you can thank the member for
doing.
2) Use the Lobby Visit Road Map to assign tasks
to each member of your group.
3) Use the member profile and the background
material to fill out talking points.
4) Do a role play of the visit with one member of
your group acting as the staffer.
Evaluation Points
1) Introduction
2) Clearly conveyed and repeated ask
3) Follow-up discussed
VII. How will you build a relationship?
You have a relationship!
Meet face to face
Meet a staffer
Attend a public event
Engage the media
Message(s) from a group
Send letters, emails and faxes
Your next lobby visit
•
•
•
•
Who will you contact?
When?
Who would be good to bring along?
Where can you find resources to support you?
The Story of the Budget Pie
Contacting FCNL
245 2nd St NE
Washington DC, 20002
(800)630-1330
[email protected]
www.fcnl.org