How to lobby a member of Congress

Lobbying is one of the most intense and effective advocacy actions! And it's no wonder- a face to face conversation with your member of Congress gives both parties the opportunity to be heard and understood, and speak in depth on their positions and room for compromise.

There’s an idea many people have in their heads of a cartoonish, fancy-suited man with a briefcase sneaking around Capitol Hill and bribing politicians to represent his interest. I, too, think of that image with extreme distaste. Yes, there are paid lobbyists, but that’s not what I mean by a "lobby meeting" with volunteer constituents.

“Lobbying” as a general concept gets its name from people who used to wait around in the lobby of the office building, hoping to snag a few minutes or even precious seconds of a lawmaker’s time to promote their cause.

[A panorama taken while my family waited to meet with Senator Blunt. My mom appears three times in the shot, among the crowd waiting in the lobby.]

These days, you don’t have to hang around outside the door like a lost puppy. Instead, request a meeting with your member of Congress and sit down at the table with them!

I love lobbying because you actually get a back-and-forth conversation, and you get to look into the eyes of the person you’re trying to reach. A single, in-person meeting can sometimes accomplish what dozens of phone calls or letters to the editor have been building towards.

Before we get into the details of what makes a successful meeting, I want to preface this by saying-- feel free to throw everything I’m saying out the window. The best thing you can do is be flexible.

Face-to-face meetings in the Capitol (be it D.C. or your state capitol) are very different from the more casual in-district meetings, back home with aides. Likewise, meetings with our partners and allies in Congress are different from sitting across from a legislator who strongly disagrees, or is brand-new and has no idea what you’re even talking about. All of these are possible scenarios for your lobby meeting, and because of this, it does more harm than good to say there’s one right way to do it every time.

[My younger sister listens carefully during a lobby meeting when she was about eight years old.]

If it can be helpful, here’s the usual structure that my groups start with and adapts for our specific purposes:

1. [Facilitator] A round of personal introductions, with each volunteer giving their name, pronouns, where they live, and one to two sentences about their experience with the issue or their role in the community. This gives the member (or aide) more context about the meeting. Are these students the leaders of a school club? How long have they been passionate about this issue? This is also a chance for you to learn more about your conversation partner and what experience they’re bringing to the table.
2. [Facilitator] Introduce your organization and the topic you’re going to discuss, especially if this is your first time meeting with this office. This helps set expectations and gives the member context for your discussion.
3. [Storyteller] One team member shares a personal story. Personal stories are truly the heart of the meeting, because lawmakers and their aides can’t get that from anybody else. If you run out of time, you can always leave behind a fact sheet for the aide to review later, but don’t waste your chance to really make them care.
4. [Policy Person] Someone shares additional background information on the issue, like key statistics the aides will want to know, and explains the solution you’re advocating for.
5. [Request-maker] Make your request directly to the member or aide, phrased as a yes or no question. They will most likely give you a cheerful-but-vague answer along the lines of “we’ll be happy to look into this,” so feel free to clarify what their answer really means and be persistent. If you’re meeting with a legislative aide, they may be unable to give you a definite answer because they need to talk to their boss first. But you can still follow up, like asking “what would you need from us to help get your boss to sign this bill pretty soon?”
6. [Facilitator + whole team] Leave time for a back-and-forth discussion. What questions does the member or aide still have? Do you have time to share additional stories? If they are hesitant to agree, how can you address those concerns?
7. [Facilitator] Thank them for their time and don’t forget to take a picture together! If you’re bringing extra materials, like a stack of handwritten letters from other constituents, a packet of fact sheets, or a folder of published media from your group, this could be a good time to present it.

[Seven advocates sit in a circle in a hotel multipurpose room, holding laptops and notebooks as they prepare for a day of lobby meetings]

The Team

As you saw above, certain sections of the meeting can be led by different team members. Usually it’s helpful to have a designated “facilitator” who doesn’t have major persuasive speaking roles, but it’s their job to keep the conversation flowing and transition between different sections. This is my favorite job for experienced advocates to have, because it’s all about thinking on your feet and supporting the newer members of your team who have important stories to share.

The other roles are “storyteller” who shares their personal story (a powerful role, but it can be intimidating because storytelling is vulnerable!), a “policy person” who has all the notes and fact sheets on the bill you’re talking about and can answer questions, and a “request maker” whose sole job is to make that hard ask, and keep an ear out through the whole meeting on whether the member of Congress seems receptive.

These are all very important roles! They can be held by multiple people, or one person can hold several roles, depending on the size of your team. But this is generally what’s worked for me as a basic template, for the last ten years or so.


While we’re talking about building teams, let’s not overlook a major step at the beginning of the lobby prep process: make sure your team is in agreement over the goals and norms of the meeting.


As a group, ask yourselves:

• What do we want to get out of this? (A definitive yes/no on voting for a bill? Simple relationship-building? A commitment to speak to their other colleagues and advocate alongside you?)
• How will we respond if the aide/representative pushes back against our request?
• Are we planning to use partisan language, or avoid it?
• How will we make sure everyone feels prepared and supported for their role?
• Anything else you think is relevant!

As you prepare, remember that your main job is to be sincere, persuasive, and persistent. You’re a volunteer advocate speaking up for yourself and others— you’re not expected to be an expert on every aspect of the policy, on top of that! It is perfectly acceptable to say “I don’t know that, actually. I’ll look it up and get back to you” in a meeting. I’ve even pulled out my computer to Google a tuberculosis statistic during a meeting in front of the legislative aide.

[My mom's setup for a day of Zoom lobby meetings: the Zoom window is open on her laptop, but the desktop screen is full of documents and browser windows. She even has stacks of papers with more information so she can reference any of her materials if the aide asks a question. Don't worry-- in a typical meeting, this would be overpreparing.] 

Let’s see… what other tips do I have?

Scheduling a meeting

You can easily request a meeting with a form on the member’s website, or by emailing the scheduler at the office. They’ll look for information such as the organization you’re with (if any), the number of people in the meeting, what you want to talk about, etc.

This week, I've been busy setting up meetings with state legislators for a club at my school. Sometimes the aides just call me directly to set up a time once they see my email!

[Seven advocates from St. Louis of different ages pose in front of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.] This was the 2017 RESULTS International Conference's lobby day!

 

On the day of the meeting

What do you wear to meet your member of Congress? In DC, I usually wear a nice shirt with dress slacks and my “choir concert shoes” (plain black flats). These shoes should be comfortable for a lot of walking, if you’re doing a full day with multiple meetings. Keep in mind that suits are nice for the cool interiors of office buildings and underground tunnels, but less so for walking around outside in the summer. Just use your common sense when it comes to the weather and wear something that makes you feel powerful. For local, in-district meetings, I dress less formally because I’m usually arriving straight from school. Look nice, but it doesn’t have to be fancy. A nice sweater instead of a graphic t-shirt.

Bring a notebook and pen, and meet up with your lobby team before the meeting (maybe about 10 minutes early, depending on how you’re feeling).

[Me at Disney World, making a funny face at the camera with a crowd behind me. I'm wearing a Captain America shirt and a denim jacket]
Do NOT attend a lobby meeting dressed like you're gonna spend the day at a theme park!

[Me sitting cross-legged on a park bench, wearing a blue shirt with pink flowers and black pants]
This outfit from my senior photo outtakes would be more appropriate if I were to visit a Congressional office.

If you’re doing a full lobby DAY

Some advocates have the privilege to do an entire day of lobbying with multiple meetings, in Washington D.C. or their state capitol. In St. Louis, three members of Congress actually have offices within the same building, so we could even do lobby days in our hometown by scheduling meetings on the same afternoon.

It can physically, mentally, and emotionally draining to walk around all day, trying to persuade people that saving lives is a good idea. It can also be empowering to spend hours advocating with your friends, and getting real-time responses in face-to-face conversations.

[Five teenage advocates, dressed formally, hurry between buildings on a sunny day at Capitol Hill]

As I mentioned earlier, wear comfortable shoes, and pack a bag! Have a water bottle and snacks, or a couple dollars to buy them later if food and beverages aren’t allowed by security. Having a notebook and pen is even more important for a big lobby day. Taking notes in lobby meetings is always a good idea, and that’s especially true when you have multiple meetings in a day and want to remember how each one went: which offices responded well, which had follow-up questions, etc.

Following up

You can send a thank-you note signed by everyone who went to the meeting. It offers positive reinforcement and a gentle reminder about your request.

It can be short: “Thank you for taking the time to meet with us about [your issue]! We look forward to working with your office again”

[Three different designs of thank-you notes displayed, next to one card open to a message that begins "Dear Congresswoman Wagner..."]

You can also directly email the aides to forward additional information they requested or share an update after your conversation. Be persistent; see if you can make the request again and get a yes!


Here’s an example:


Dear Ms. Legislative Aide,


Thanks so much for meeting with us the other day! I remembered your question about the level of assistance American families typically receive from the SNAP program, and found these numbers from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities: in fiscal year 2017, the average monthly SNAP benefit for all households was $245. For households with kids, it was $392. I hope this helps when you’re speaking to the Congresswoman about robust funding for SNAP!


Take care,
Your Name

[contact information]

[From left: Senator Dick Durbin, my sister when she was five, myself when I was seven, and former Senator Mark Kirk. We're smiling at the camera while the senators hold handwritten letters written by my friends.]

I hope this has been a helpful introduction to the concept of lobbying, and that some of the tips and instructions can guide you to a successful meeting. Once you get the hang of navigating the quirks of Congressional offices, this can be a very direct and empowering way to interact with government officials in person or over Zoom.