Thanks to the explosion in digital communications, for many of us it has become easier than ever to contact our legislators at all levels. But just because we’re contacting our legislators doesn’t mean we’re successfully influencing their decisions. All advocacy is not necessarily effective advocacy.
A recent report, The Advocacy Gap: Research for Better Advocacy, examines the results of surveys with thousands of activists and interviews with Capitol Hill staff, and highlights that more people than ever are contacting members of Congress; but there exists a significant gap between the kinds of actions citizens are most likely to take and the kinds of actions that are most likely to reach legislators.
Based on what the report discovered, here are seven important things to know about contacting your legislator. (Although these tips are focused on reaching out to members of the U.S. Congress, many of them are relevant to people in other countries and at all levels of policy-making.)
1. Members of Congress want to hear from their constituents and only their constituents.
So that means you can be most effective by contacting your legislators in your own state, city, etc. If you want to influence a law passed in a state in which you don’t live, for example, it’s likely wasted effort to contact that state’s legislators. You might be more effective encouraging your friends and colleagues in that state to do the contacting.
2. Members of Congress can only act on policy “in certain ways at certain points in the process.”
According to the report, “Members of Congress can propose legislation, sponsor and co-sponsor legislation, vote on legislation, negotiate its details with their colleagues, coordinate with advocacy groups to support or oppose legislation, and lobby colleagues for or against it. The cogs of the Congressional wheels turn on legislation; if your advocacy is missing a legislative ask, Members of Congress cannot do anything to advance your issue or cause.”
The reason lobbyists are often so successful is because they are “highly targeted, high quality contacts that engage the Congressional process with knowledge of and in relation to the way policy works on the Hill.” They’re intimately familiar with the system. To be more effective, we citizens can educate ourselves about how things work. For example, a group of people signing a petition that says, “Support clean air now!” isn’t going to be very effective, because the request doesn’t relate to a particular piece of legislation. However, that group could certainly schedule a meeting with their legislator to try to get co-sponsorship of the creation of a bill that enacts certain specific policy regarding clean air.
3. It matters how we contact legislators.
Staff who have worked for legislators make it clear that there is a hierarchy of effectiveness in contacting a legislator. Most effective: in person; then calls from constituents who can articulately outline the issue and speak about how it affects them; then a personal email. Form emails, or phone calls with talking points from an advocacy organization, tend to be least effective.
4. Personal stories about how the issue affects you are always a plus.
As one staffer said, “One compelling story from a constituent is far more valuable than ten template letters.”
5. Members of Congress are individuals.
We tend to think about “Congress,” but Congress is made up of hundreds of individuals, so knowing something about them, their motivations, whether they’re a co-sponsor of the legislation in question, their past voting history, etc., will only help your efforts.
6. Social media is not yet an embraced channel for legislative advocacy.
More legislators are using social media as a communications tool, but it hasn’t yet reached the necessary level as a useful legislative advocacy tool. Many of the staffers who handle social media for legislators are young and new and may not yet have much influential power. As the report noted, “Of the 25 senior staff we talked to, none could point to an example of social media as a powerful way to get sustained attention of an office or influence the behavior of a Member.” So, for now, stick with other avenues.
7. We as advocates tend to do the opposite of what’s most effective.
Although in the report surveyed, advocates noted that actions such as talking to legislators in person were probably more effective, they were more likely to engage in “clicktivism” activities than “in-person” activities. As the report noted, “High levels of satisfaction amongst activists who are unsure of their efficacy could be a powerful reason that they take only those actions that are easiest—things that require only a click of a button—even though they know those actions are not the most effective at moving policy.”
Of course, not all of these tips may be relevant with all legislators everywhere, so it’s important to get to know the people who have the power to make the change you’re seeking and to learn what works best with them. It takes more time and effort, but it will be significantly more effective.
You can find additional tips and suggestions about communicating with Congress members effectively, and about better understanding the roles and responsibilities of members of Congress, from CongressLink, a non-partisan organization.
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