Letter Writing

book posted by lxpk Fri, 2006-12-08 01:38

Contacting Officials by Letter Writing & Phone Calls

“The world is so dreadfully managed, one hardly knows to whom to complain.”

—Ronald Firbank

“The government is a beauracracy and one of its weaknesses is its succeptability to little pieces of paper. Now, more than ever, what we in Congress need is plain old grassroots pressure - letters, phone calls, and personal visits from constituents. My colleagues in Congress are not hearing enough from concerned citizens who want to promote peace and protect the environment.”

—Elizabeth Furse, Congresswoman, Oregon

Citizen involvement is the ideal basis of Democracy. Policy makers need to hear from their constituents. Everyday, decision makers on the Hill are barraged by big business and big money lobbies. It’s up to individual citizens to counter this attention by acting in unison on important issues that effect the way we live every day.

Your voice lets our representatives in Washington know how important the issues we care about are to us. When joined with the thousands of other group activists, they take notice.

Join or form a group of activists and make a difference for your community and our world. If you don’t think individuals can make a difference or that letters and phone calls are effective, consider all the success stories to see what old fashioned letter writing can do! Here are a few tips on how to make your actions have the greatest impact.

Personal Letters

“There is a large difference in the attention paid to personal, non-form communications as opposed to canned communications ...The most effective means of gaining a great deal of attention from the Member of Congress are: LETTERS: non-form, personally written, from heads of home district groups and individual constituents.”

—Gallup Poll of Members of Congress

The more personal your letter is, the more influence it has. Say what’s on your mind and in your heart. Use your own words wherever possible, but don’t think you have to write like an expert to tell policy makers the priorities you think they should pursue. Do not send a group’s information to policy makers or say you are writing on behalf of a group. Messages from individuals are more effective.

Mass computer generated mail is getting so sophisticated that it often looks like it’s done by an individual. Handwritten letters are now the only proof of individual constituent senders. If you prefer to type a letter, make sure you sign it and then add a handwritten P.S.

When you write to an official, use a formal style for your letter. Make it personalized, localized and let them know exactly what you think they should do. Here is a recommended format:

Your Name
Your Address
Your City, State Zip

Hon. (The full name and title of your policy maker)
Their address
Their City, State, Zip

Dear Senator or Representative (their name),

Briefly state your main point or opinion.
Write about your personal concerns and views. Use the facts from your campaign literature to back up your position.
Close with a strong statement. “Please let me know how you will vote on this important issue. I will take your position into consideration at the next election.”

Sincerely,
Your signature
Your name
P.S. - Include a hand written postscript if you printed your letter.

Tips on Making Letters Effective

Writing letters and making phone calls communicating your thoughts and ideas to your elected officials are simple and effective ways to change policy.

What To Write:

It’s best to be brief, clear and specific. Keep your letter to one page if possible. State your opinion and your specific request within the first few sentences.

Describe briefly how the policy or legislation in question affects you personally or affects people where you live.

Enclose articles that gave bearing on the policy or legislation in question.

If you have any personal association with the policy maker, nothing is more effective in getting attention than letting them know you’ve worked on their campaign.

Be courteous and reasonable. Show respect for the policy makers you contact, even when you disagree with them or call them names in private.

Request A Response

You can ask for a written response to your message. Ask the policy maker to state her or his position in a response letter. Include your return address on your letter; an envelope can get lost. Use your business or organization letterhead stationery if you have any.

Group Coordination

Policy makers do pay attention - and change their minds and votes - when even a moderate number of constituents contact them on a single issue within a short period of time. So it is vitally important to coordinate a group communications strategy on a regular basis.

Organizing a letter writing group can work in a number of ways. One way is to meet in person or on a forum and help each other with the writing process as a team. This is also a good opportunity to ensure that your letters will not sound identical before you send them out.

If you put off your phone call or letter for more than two or three days, it’s probably put off indefinitely. So please act within a day of the strategy’s announcement.

Every letter writing campaign should include additional instructions for writing letters on their behalf.

Calling

When calling legislators, try to reach their specialist aides. If they are not available, leave your name, address and a clear message with the person who answers the phone. For example: “I’m Jane Doe calling from Anytown, and I’d like to leave a message for Congressperson Smith.” State what issue you are calling about and what you want your legislator to do.

Phoning

Try to avoid sending letters by fax. Many congressional offices find a fax intrusive and prefer letters that arrive by mail. Your goal is to persuade with honey, not infuriate with vinegar.

Follow-Up

Write or call a second time to demonstrate your persistence. Follow-up letters can have a much stronger impact on policy makers and their aides than the initial communication. Thank the legislator for taking a correct stand or ask questions about any unsatisfactory answers they have given you.

Email Is Secondary

Congressional and Administrative offices are inconsistent in checking and responding to e-mail. Sending a personalized letter and following up with an e-mail message is usually effective. Let the decision makers you contact know that you appreciate and support their having e-mail as an option for contacting them. Good sources for finding out if your Congressional Members have e-mail are the House and Senate Gophers. If you are calling or e-mailing an official, you may want to follow up with a written letter as well.

Letter Audiences

Presidental Email

You can also e-mail the President or Vice President and let them know what you think about a particular issue. The White House will send you an electronic auto-response e-mail message and a snail-mail letter.

Letter To The Editor

Letters to the editor can be automated, but

Democrats.org Lists Circulations by zip code

Most newspapers will only print original letters. Use talking points and sample letters as a starting point for your own message.

Letters with a personal angle are always compelling. Ask yourself how this issue affects you and your family.

Keep it brief and to the point. Letters under 250 words are much more likely to be published.

Word count is usually limited to about 150
It helps to refer to an article that has appeared in the last 7 days
include your address and phone numbers
No attachments

“The letter-writing feature has been disabled, because people, not following the friendly advice provided on the page, were sending the same email to every newspaper.”

—?

Do not send the same letter to multiple publications (write different ones)

how to write a great letter to the editor

tell your family, contact advertisers, etc

contacting journalists

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