Crafting Messages to Legislators that Will Be Heard

By: Phone2Action

In the age of information, access to science has never been easier. People who grew up watching Bill Nye the Science Guy while their teachers used SmartBoards recognize science and technology’s ability to innovate while creating much needed change. The Atlantic explains, “by its nature, science holds some of the only solutions that are applicable across national, religious and cultural boundaries.” However, many modern issues in the scientific field are clouded by policy and partisan protocol.

So how can this generation persuade members in Congress to understand the importance of science-and the politics that surround it? By crafting effective legislative messages.

If you’ve ever sent an email to an elected official, you may or may not have gotten a response. How do you ensure that those messages have the biggest possible impact, and aren’t just glossed over in the slush pile? It comes down to knowing your audience.

Before Your Message Gets to the Legislator, it Goes Through Their Staff

When crafting a message for a lawmaker, you are actually writing for two different audiences — the legislator and their staff. The first person to lay eyes on your email won’t be your representative, instead, it will likely be a junior legislative staffer — someone in their early- to mid-twenties. Also known as Legislative Correspondents, LCs oversee constituent messages and work with legislative staff on responses. If you want your words to break through, you need to understand what LCs are looking for.

Here’s how Legislative Correspondents evaluate incoming messages addressed to the legislator.

Are you a constituent?

If you are contacting a member of Congress in their personal office (as opposed to their committee office) and you are not a constituent, your words do not carry much weight. If you’re lucky, your correspondence might be passed to your representative who may respond. When you contact your member of Congress, your words become much more valuable. Messages to legislators are only as valuable as the constituent they come from. When crafting a message to legislators, the first step is to make sure you are writing to the legislator that represents your district or state. Otherwise, unfortunately, the message may sink to the bottom of the pile.

What general issue does this fall under?

Are you writing about taxes, immigration, the environment, or healthcare? Legislative staffers tend to specialize in specific issues, so this information will help the junior staff determine which senior staff member is best-suited to draft a reply. The message you send should clearly and promptly state the general issue you’re writing about. If the junior staff member has to dig to figure that out, the message is less likely to get into the right hands for due consideration.

What specific issue is this about?

If you support or oppose specific legislation, be sure to include that legislation in the subject line and mention it within the first couple of sentences. The longer the buildup to getting to the point of the message, the more work the staffer on the receiving end must do to decipher the real issue at hand. Oftentimes, constituents can take a while to get to their point in emails, phone calls, or social media. If you send concise, clear messages, they’ll stand out and have a better chance of being dealt with promptly.

Best Practices for Writing and Tone

What kind of tone should you use when writing to your legislator? It’s important to strike the right balance between informed, direct, and personal. A personal connection to the issue is always helpful. Explaining how Congressional action or inaction would directly affect an individual’s family or community carries a lot of weight. Beyond that, you should convey that you have a general understanding of what you’re writing about. Informed messages to congressional offices reflect positively on the individual writer, and more importantly, you are likely to get your legislator’s attention.

Length is also important. There’s no need to write an essay, but it’s also helpful to write more than a single sentence. A short paragraph will usually suffice. Additionally, never underestimate the value of thanking members of Congress (and their staff). Be sure to recognize the hard work they are doing to represent and respond to their constituents. Congressional offices receive thousands of correspondence each month and it’s rare that offices have the personnel to manage the increasing volume. The people on the receiving end of the message are probably overworked, and the messages that convey empathy with offices and staff through their correspondence are like a breath of fresh air for overworked staff.

So, what doesn’t work? By all means, avoid using vitriolic, aggressive language when communicating with Congress. Members of Congress and their staff recognize that the legislative process can be painfully slow. They recognize that the issue you contact them about is critically important and numerous lives are affected. Whatever happens, do not be rude or crass when communicating with elected officials. Encourage yourself to agitate without anger.

Ready to contact your lawmakers?

Now you know how to craft messages to elected officials that will actually be heard. Check out the March for Science’s ongoing campaigns to help you find the science-based issues you want to advocate on!

Phone2Action is the world’s leading technology company for public policy engagement, built to empower the advocate in everyone. Since its founding in 2012, Phone2Action’s technology has enabled more than ten million people to advocate for important issues, resulting in over 27 million legislator connections, with 25 new connections added every minute. Located in Arlington, VA, the organization serves nonprofit, trade association and corporate customers, including the American Heart Association, the Consumer Technology Association, Patagonia, and Ben & Jerry’s, who champion movements at the local, state, and federal levels. For more information, visit Phone2Action.com.