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Advocacy Tipsheet Archives |
August Recess Adventures -- August 13, 2003
Welcome to the District Work Period -- March 23, 2002
EFFECTIVE ADVOCACY TIP - AUGUST RECESS ADVENTURES
Ah, August. Also known to Washington, DC insiders as “the Summer Work Period” or, by its less formal title, “the August recess.” I’ll tell you, it’s a great time to find a parking spot in Washington, but not a great time to find an elected official. Most members of Congress have headed home to their district, where you should feel free to track them down and share your views! Elected officials need to hear from their constituents about what’s really important before coming back to DC to complete their legislative work for the year. Following are a few tips to help you connect with your elected officials during August
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Find out what events they have planned: Most elected officials will have at least one or two townhalls scheduled during the recess. Call their district offices to find out what’s happening in your area. You can find district office numbers at www.congress.org, or in your yellow pages.
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Invite them to do something fun: Believe it or not, most elected officials like to, well, do something interesting. There are only so many long, boring meetings one person can tolerate. Think about innovative ways to highlight your issues and concerns – through a site visit, walking tour, or alternative to the traditional “meet and greet” event, such as a picnic or wine-tasting. One member of Congress I know LOVES to go bowling. Find out what they like to do for fun and then offer some opportunity for them to do ust that.
- Don’t ignore the staff: Often, the district staff members of elected officials feel like second class citizens to their Washington, DC counterparts. Be sensitive to this and remember that district staff are important and influential people. While they might not be as directly involved in the day-to-day policy debate, they often help members make decisions about important priorities for the district. If you want to be one of those priorities, treat the district staff well! For a list of the titles and responsibilities of district staff, check out our overview online at http://www.advocacyguru.com/learning_about_staff.htm.
You can also find details about working with the district office through the Advocacy Classroom class at www.advocacyclassroom.com.
EFFECTIVE GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATIONAL TIP
Grassroots coordinators, it’s time to think about going back to school! Connecting your grassroots efforts to events throughout the year, such as the annual odyssey back to campus, can serve to both energize your advocates and focus your message. Are their ways you can connect your issues to a “back to school” theme? Some ideas to suggest to your supporters or put together yourself:
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Have a rally at a local school
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Set up an opportunity for advocates and elected officials to volunteer together with a local education-related group, such as a literacy organization, a head start group, or a band-supporters program.
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Create press or marketing materials with “back-to-school” themes, such as the “back-to-school” reading list or a “pop-quiz”.
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Develop an event around typical back-to-school activities, such as shopping for new clothes, planning for classes, commuting to and from school, the search for an after-school job, and the like.
- Ask your advocates to write a letter to their elected officials on “what I did for my summer vacation” and, of course, be sure they highlight the direct impact of YOUR important issues on their lives.
These are just a few ideas – I look forward to hearing from you about your own efforts!
INTERESTING WEBSITES
Is Government getting bigger or is it just me (no need to comment on that). If you’ve been wondering, check out www.onpower.org, a resource that helps explain the expansion of the US government over the last several decades.
My friends at the National Priorities Project have a couple interesting things going on. Their new quick report feature allows you to get a one-page, visual snapshot of the needs in your state and how they fit into a national context by going to: http://database.nationalpriorities.org/quickReport. Quick Reports are now available in the areas of hunger, poverty and military spending. More issue areas will be added in the coming months. They are also excited that on August 1st, Bill Moyers used NPP's data and highlighted our website and Database on his PBS show "NOW", for its feature, "Inside the Pentagon". http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/defensedollars.html.
Republicans and Democrats alike can learn from the techniques behind www.citizenoutreach.com. Whether or not you agree with the message (it’s being billed as the right-wing’s answer to moveon.org), take a look at the means used to deliver it – an e-mail newsletter, webcast interviews, and templates and other resources for activists.
INTERESTING EVENTS
September 3, 2003: The U.S. House and Senate return to Washington, DC from the August recess. Be sure they’ve heard from you at least ONCE during August!
November 14 and 26th, 2003: The Advocacy Classroom offered a two-part offline workshop on the Legislative Process entitled “The Legislative Process and YOU: Or, how I learned to love the legislative process and use it to my advantage.” It’s a long title for a fun set of courses. It's not too late to buy the courses on CD-Rom. Legislative Procedure 101 and Legislative Procedure 401.
September 30th, 2003: The current U.S. fiscal year comes to an end. If Congress hasn’t passed all the FY2004 appropriations bills by that time, they must pass a Continuing Resolution to keep government running. Welcome FY2004!
EFFECTIVE ADVOCACY TIP: WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT WORK PERIOD
Some of you may laugh at the term "work period", but you shouldn't. Most members of Congress really are hard at work back in their districts meeting with constituents, visiting facilities and, yes, having the occassional campaign event. The next couple weeks offers a tremendous opportunity for you to see your elected officials live and in person. The work period runs from 3/22/02 through 4/7/02. Following are some ideas on how to track them down (without stalking them, which is frowned on...)
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Find out about public meetings: Many members of Congress hold townhalls or other public meetings during the Spring recess. Check your local newspaper or call the Congressperson's district or state office to find out if any are scheduled over the next two weeks. You can find district or state office numbers by going to www.congress.org, and looking up your elected official. These types of meetings offer you an opportunity to learn more about your elected officials -- and to have them learn more about what you care about.
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Find out about campaign events: Because incumbents have limited time back in their districts to campaign, they often set aside some time during the Spring recess for campaign events such as rallies and fundraisers. To find out about these types of events, contact the elected official's campaign office (note that the Congressional office is not allowed to be involved in campaign activity, and hence is not the best resource for this kind of information). You can find campaign addresses and phone numbers through your state's Board of Elections. A link to all of the state boards can be found at: http://www.nased.org/statelinks.htm. Also, if you're interested in primary dates, check out the Federal Election Commission's site at: http://www.fec.gov/pages/primary02.htm
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Try to set up a meeting: Although the elected official's schedule is likely to be pretty much set for the next couple weeks, you can still try to set up a meeting if you have something timely to discuss (such as a bill that will be voted upon immediately following the return of Congress to D.C., expected the week of April 8th). Remember that the first step in setting up any meeting is to send a request in writing to the scheduler (in this case, the district scheduler). Sending via fax is fine. Then you should follow-up with a phone call in a few days. Even if you are unable to set up a meeting for this time period, you should be on the list for future district work periods.
- Prepare for Congress to reconvene: Starting the week of April 8th, Congress will come back to Washington, DC with a host of items to consider, including Appropriations and the budget. Start preparing now for that work to begin in earnest. You can learn more about the schedule as well as the budget and appropriations process at www.c-span.org. For information on the budget in particular, go to http://www.c-span.org/fy2003/
Have fun during the district work period!!
Interesting Websites
How about that campaign finance reform legislation... If you're interested in a easy overview of the bill, check out: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/images/bill_032102.html
Thanks to my friends at Politics Online for passing this one along (if you aren't subscribed to their newsletter, you should be!). DC has a cool new interactive map showing development projects and other information about the city. Check it out at http://www.dcbiz.dc.gov/map/default.shtm (you have to click on the various options on the left hand side to have them highlighted on the map)
OK, I'm the first one to admit that this has nothing to do with advocacy, or politics, or anything particularly "inside the beltway". But what the heck, it's my newsletter! I've started a new website on the side -- just for kicks. It's called www.dogomatic.com. If you want to know what my dog looks like, you should check it out...
Interesting Events
March 25, 2002: If you want to learn more about the campaign finance bill, consider joining the Washington Post's live chat on Monday the 25th at 11:00am Eastern Time. More information at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/politics.htm.
Historical date: On this day in 1775, American revolutionary Patrick Henry declared, "give me liberty, or give me death!". You can find out about other dates in history at www.on-this-day.com.
