Transcript RESULTS - Face-to-Face Lobby Visits (Activist Toolkit)

RESULTS
Making the Most of Town Hall
Meetings and Other Public Events
Meredith Dodson
Director of U.S. Poverty Campaigns
RESULTS
Purpose

This training is designed to:
Share tools and tips on making the most of town hall
meetings and candidate appearances
 Demonstrate a useful
exercise on speaking
effectively you can use to train
others
 Answer your questions

What We Do





Working to create the political will to end hunger and
worst aspects of poverty
Empowering individuals to have breakthroughs in
exercising personal and political power
Over 30 years of advocacy experience
Time tested strategies and tactics
Active and engaged network that builds relationships
with legislators, media and local communities
RESULTS Activists



800 active volunteers in about 100 communities around
the country
Everyday people who want to make a difference
In 2011, our activists had…
 Over 250 meetings with congressional offices, including
87 face-to-face meetings with U.S. House members and
23 face-to-face meetings with U.S. Senators
 215 strategic media placements, including editorials, Opeds, and letters to the editor
 Over 100 outreach and community events around the
country
Why Advocacy?
We stand by as children starve by the millions
because we lack the will to eliminate hunger. Yet
we have found the will to develop missiles
capable of flying over the polar cap and landing
within a few hundred feet of their target. This is
not innovation. It is a profound distortion of
humanity’s purpose on earth.
– former Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-OR)
Why Advocacy?

Advocacy is creating political will


Telling decision-makers what their priorities should be
If we want something, we have to ask for it
Every idea must have a voice
 Decision-makers are not all knowing
 Many times, they need to be educated just like
everyone else


Ultimately…it’s about change
All major changes in social or economic policy, good or
bad, happened because advocates did not give up
until it happened — it’s a long-term project
 Status quo, i.e. inertia, is a powerful force

Why Getting Face-to-Face
with Policymakers Matters
97 percent of
Congressional staff
say that in-person
issues visits from
Constituents influence
policymakers, with 46
percent reporting it
has a lot of influence.
(Source: poll of more
than 250
congressional staff by
the Congressional
Management
Foundation)
Find Your Members of Congress
and Congressional Candidates
•
•
•
•
Schedule a face-to-face in your District office
Town Halls
Candidate Forums and Debates
Other Public Appearances
•
•
•
County/State Fairs
Local events
Resource to locate your members of Congress:
www.house.gov and www.senate.gov
Make the Most of Town Halls and
Public Events





Research: ask the RESULTS staff and coalition partners for
insights and check out past votes on our website.
As a group, prepare your key “laser talks”.
Get there early to scope it out: Sit in the front. If they are
taken written questions, many places go in order of when
questions were written.
Spread out, but sit strategically: go to the front and near
microphones
Make sure you get called upon: be “first, fast, high!” This
means raise your hand immediately when it is time to ask
questions, and keep it up there
“Work It” at Town Halls and Public
Events

•



Work the line: introduce yourselves and follow up, or ask your
question if you could not during the meeting.
Handshaking Trick: Don’t let go until you’ve said your piece
Work the staff: Swap contact information and any additional
material you brought with you.
 Have a one or two page, easy-to-read sheet you can leave
with their staff that outlines the issues and your request or
“ask”, see this example
 Bring local data and stories
Work the media: Find the media to share your laser talk to
shape the coverage.
Follow up!
After the Event

Follow-up





Follow-up can be almost as important as the meeting itself
It further develops the relationship
Contact staffpersons who handle your issue to see what
progress has been made on your request
Be sure to send a thank you note to whomever you met
(handwritten is more personal, e-mail is faster)
Send supplemental information, if appropriate
 If
sending information, follow up a week or two later to see if
they got it and to answer questions

Offer to be a resource on your issue
Advocacy Resources and Contact Info
RESULTS: www.results.org




Take Action Now:
http://www.results.org/take_action/us_poverty_actions_and_news/
Activist Toolkit: http://www.results.org/skills_center/activist_toolkit/
Elected Officials: http://capwiz.com/results/dbq/officials/
Issues: http://www.results.org/issues/us_poverty_campaigns/
Meredith Dodson
Director of U.S. Poverty Campaigns
[email protected] / @DodsonAdvocate
You Can Make a Difference!
Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world. Indeed, it is the only
thing that ever has.
— anthropologist Margaret Mead