Grassroots Advocacy

1. Grassroots Advocacy Building Effective Relationships with your Members of Congress

2. 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.

3. The Friends Committee on National Legislation • Why Lobby? • Issue Focus: (i.e. Genocide Prevention)Break • Writing an effective message Break • The successful lobby visit • Practice lobby visit • Building your relationship with your member of Congress

4. 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.

5. FCNL’s Issues • Nuclear Disarmament • Peaceful Prevention of Deadly Conflict • Afghanistan • Immigration • Native American Issues • Energy and Environment • Federal Budget Priorities

6. Selected Successes from 2010 New START Treaty for Nuclear Non-Proliferation Cobell Settlement

7. Friends in Action Seneca Falls Convention John F. Kennedy at the University of Michigan

8. Values are Powerful • Listening • Respectful dialogue • Finding common ground • Speaking with sincerity Building a relationship

9. 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.

10. What influences members of Congress? Source: Congressional Management Foundation 2010

11. 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

12. III. Issue Focus slides here

13. IV. Writing an Effective Message www.fcnl.org

14. Contacting your Member of Congress www.fcnl.org

15. 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.

16. 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 McDanielsAnywhere, Georgia

17. 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

18. 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

19. Making Friends with Chuck Grassley Deb Fink

20. FCNL Makes Letter-Writing Easy www.fcnl.org

21. 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.

22. V. The Effective Lobby Visit FCNL’s Spring Lobby Weekend

23. The Lobby Visit • Make an appointment. • Present yourself respectfully. • Do your homework. • Have a specific “ask.” • Follow up.

24. 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.

25. Who are you talking to? www.fcnl.org

26. 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

27. Do your homework • Know their voting record and bills they are co-sponsoring. • 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.

28. 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

29. The Visit • Present yourself respectfully. • Introduce yourselves and your topic. • Repeat the ask. • Ask questions. • Meetings can be 8 – 30 minutes.

30. The Visit • You don’t need to be an expert. • Keep it simple. • Never burn a bridge. • Distinguish between protesting and lobbying.

31. 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.

32. 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!

33. Your Members of Congress www.fcnl.org

34. [Your member of Congress’s] Key Votes www.fcnl.org Updated 3/15/2011

35. VI. Practice Lobby Visit What makes this issue important to you personally?

36. 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.

37. Evaluation Points • Introduction • Clearly conveyed and repeated ask • Follow-up discussed

38. 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

39. Your next lobby visit • Who will you contact? • When? • Who would be good to bring along? • Where can you find resources to support you?

40. The Story of the Budget Pie

41. Contacting FCNL 245 2nd St NE Washington DC, 20002(800)630-1330fcnlinfo@fcnl.org www.fcnl.org