At the national level, Congressional representatives are full-time elected officials who receive thousands of letters, phone calls, and e-mails each week on topics ranging from agriculture to workplace protections. To manage the workload, national legislators (or “Members” of Congress) have a team of staff who help collect, categorize and respond to constituent mail.

In contrast, state lawmakers serve part-time and have less help managing constituent correspondence. Only 26 states provide year-round personal staff to legislators. The other states provide shared or session-only personal staff to legislators. State legislators often draw on their own resources to support official business.

We encourage our advocates to communicate with their elected officials to influence their decisions on policy and votes on legislation.

The New Electronic Paradigm: Mail bound for the White House and Congress is physically and radiologically screened an offsite facility to protect mail workers, elected officials, staff, and infrastructure from biological and chemical agents. This process delays mail delivery for weeks or months. Consequently, federal offices prefer to receive and process constituent contacts electronically. To send e-mail messages, advocates can make use of the FARE Action Center or through a legislator’s web site via congress.gov.

• Social Media: Most legislators also have Facebook, Twitter and other social media vehicles to communicate with their constituents. Following them and commenting on their postings are effective means of building visibility and credibility with the office.
• E-mail & Letters: Using either channel, there are still some good tips to keep in mind for your communications:
• Use proper forms of address when writing to any government official and spell their name correctly. Sometimes simple names can cause big problems. At the office of former Congressman Craig James, dozens of letters arrived addressed to Congressman James Craig. Addressing should also be to “The Honorable_______”
• Use personal stationery or letterhead from your organization (if sending postal mail.)
• Identify yourself as a constituent and mention the state, district, and city or county in which you are a registered voter.
• Identify yourself within the community. Inform your elected official if you are affiliated with a local group and work directly with the legislator’s constituents. Your message will have more weight if the legislator knows that you are involved as a community leader (e.g., establishing support groups).
• State your purpose for writing in the first paragraph. Clearly state what issue or bill you are writing about, and what position or action you urge the legislator to take.
• Identify the specific issue or bill. Since thousands of bills are introduced in every legislative session, legislators cannot be expected to know from the bill number or title alone which bill you are writing about unless you reference it as clearly as possible. If possible, specify the bill number, title, original sponsor (author of the bill) and its status in the legislative process.
• Be brief. Focus on one subject. Try to keep the letter to one page if typewritten and two pages if hand-written.
• Personalize your letter. Avoid the format of a form letter. Use your own words and explain how an issue will affect you and others in your community. Personalized letters have a greater influence than form letters.
• Explain your position clearly. Be informed about the issue and describe how it affects you personally. Use local examples.
• Mention prior meetings with the lawmaker. If you have previously met or attended events hosted by the legislator, specify that in your letter.
• Research your legislator’s voting record. Avoid embarrassments such as asking for support of a bill that has already public supported. Visit their website or use other advocacy research tools.
• Ask for a response. Seek a commitment from your legislators them by urging them to champion, co-sponsor, support, oppose, or take action with respect to a bill, and request that they explain their position to you.
• Be reasonable and courteous. Don’t ask for the impossible or issue ultimatums. A lawmaker will not always support your views. If this happens, agree to disagree – that legislator might support you on some other issue at another time.
• Don’t become a “pen pal” or a constant letter writer to a legislator. If you write too often, your credibility may suffer, and the legislator and/or staff may perceive your constant correspondence as redundant or harassing. Less is more.
• Be appreciative. Thank lawmakers for their attention to your issue and for their consideration of your views. When an elected official helps, be sure to follow up with a thank you note.
• Follow e-mail letter writing rules. keep your correspondence to a few short paragraphs. identify yourself within the community so that the legislator will recognize that you are a constituent or that you work with a local organization within that legislator’s jurisdiction. Include your mailing address.
• Please inform FARE and other advocates about your contacts with legislators, and share copies of letters that you receive from lawmakers as a result of your contacts. The community’s awareness of your relationships with legislators will enhance their efforts in the Capitol.