How to Write or Call Your Elected Officials
We’ve talked about making changes in your daily life that are better for the environment, but at the end of the day there’s only so much one person can do. Even the greenest, meanest, LEEDiest house can’t make the types of changes that are needed to curb climate change on a global scale. But you know who can? Governments and corporations.
Government officials and big companies listen to their customers. They definitely listen when their money is on the line, which is one of the reasons it’s great to reward companies who make green choices by buying their products. Another way to get big wigs to listen (without having to spend any money!) is to just start talking to them. Talk to them like you would talk to any other person - over the phone, through the mail, or over email. In this article we’re going to walk through how you can send a message to your elected representatives and make your voice heard. Check back later on for an article about how to contact business leaders, and of course keep making those good choices in your personal life to leave the earth better than you found it.
Follow these pointers when contacting government officials, and use the script at the bottom as a guide for your own message!
First things first, you need to find out who your elected officials are! On the national scale, use a website like CallMyCongress.com or WhoIsMyRepresentative.com. Just enter your zip code or full address and the website will tell you who your congresspeople are! Or if you want to contact your state or local government officials, try a simple internet search using your zip code. Always make sure you’re contacting the person who represents you, not a rep from across the country! Politicians need to hear from their own constituents. When you look up this person’s contact info, make sure your are finding the info for their government office, not their campaign office. Campaign offices are not always active year-round and their mail is certainly not checked as often.
Pro tip from a Texas State House of Representatives District Director: if your state’s congress is in session, make sure you direct any calls or letters to the state capitol office, not local offices. This is where the Rep or Congressperson will be and where they’re more likely to get personally notified. Better yet, show up in person (at an appropriate time/place)! No one can pass along your message better than you.
Decide what specifically you want to ask your representative to do. Your correspondence should end with a call to action; just chatting with no real conclusion or aim is going to be a waste of everyone’s time. In fact, it won’t just waste time - it will leave a bad impression. The whole point of getting in contact is to make a great impression and convince them of your way of seeing things! In other words, know what you’re there to ask for or else you won’t get it. If you’re asking this person to vote a certain way, include the specific number of the bill or resolution when you contact them. The bill number will be recorded in a database so that when it comes time to vote, the politician can look up the bill and see how constituents want them to vote.
Choose your method of communication: phone call, letter, or email. Avoid mediums like Facebook, Twitter, and any sort of DM. Frankly, no one is in the politician’s office is reading these comments or messages in any meaningful capacity. The best way to communicate your position might be over the phone during business hours; a phone call has to be dealt with in real time and cannot just be tossed into a growing pile of papers. On the other hand, a letter shows that you took more effort and might garner a letter from the office in return. Keep any letter typed and under one page; the person who reads it has lots and lots of mail to get through. Lastly, you can always send an email, but emails don’t pack quite the same punch.
No matter your method of communication, you need to include your name and your address at the very least, and consider adding your phone number and email address. The politician needs to know that you are a constituent, so your address is the most important; they also need some contact information to log your call/letter in their database.
Stay calm and respectful. The person answering your call or reading your letter is a person. All people want to be treated kindly. Calm and polite conversation is also going to make someone more inclined to listen to you and your cause than yelling or anger. You will not set the stage for a productive conversation if you are hostile about this person’s voting history, their position on a topic, or about how long you had to wait on hold.
If you voted for or donated to this person, mention it! Politicians want to please the people who keep them in office.
Always try to personalize your statement or letter. Copy/pasted form letters are not usually well received. Additionally, a personal story is much more likely to sway someone. The whole idea of talking to your elected official in the first place is to convince them to make a decision that you feel is best for the environment (or any other topic you feel strongly about). The best way to convince someone is to move them emotionally. I AM NOT telling you to make up a story or add embellishments; just tell your story from the heart the same way you would if you wanted a friend to take up your stance.
If you’re calling on the phone, know what you’re going to say ahead of time. The staffer who answers is probably fielding a lot of calls and won’t have time to wait while you hum and haw and stammer to a point. The flipside of this is that you need to be prepared to stop and listen to them; it’s a conversation, not a voicemail. Do not be surprised or thrown off if they ask you to stop and repeat your name, address, or any details. Also be prepared to listen to their response when you finish your statement.
If you know other people who feel the same way you do, encourage them to call or write a letter as well! Make your voices heard, there is strength in numbers, … you know all the sayings.
Lastly, if you run a community program that is related to your cause, or if you are voicing concern about something that directly impacts you, invite your representative or one of their staffers on a field trip of sorts to come and see. There’s nothing like seeing the extent of a problem or the possible benefits of a program with your own eyes. You would be surprised by the amount of invitations public officials accept.
Those are all my tips for contacting elected officials! Use this short script below as a jumping off point for your phone call or letter, and let me know in the comments or Facebook group if you use these pointers to get in touch with your elected official!
“Hello, my name is ___ and I am a constituent of congressman/woman ___ in zip code ___. Thank you for taking my call, I am sure your office is very busy. I was excited to hear that ___ voted in favor of ___/ has ___ stance. I supported his/her campaign in the last election and think that your office has made great strides in ___ topic. However, I was really disappointed to hear that he/she is supporting ___ bill/resolution/building project/etc. This would negatively impact me and my neighborhood. If the ___ continues in its current state, the air quality in my area would be seriously affected. My son and I both have asthma, like many other people, and the construction through a residential area would create breathing problems for us as well as others. In addition, my neighborhood takes great pride in preserving the natural wildlife in the surrounding area, and an environmental impact report shows that many native species of animals would be driven out of the area. Because of this, I want ___ to vote for/against ___ in the coming session.”
Now wait to hear their response. They may have a prepared statement to give you or want to make a correction. Let them finish what they have to say and thank them.
“I appreciate you taking the time to hear my concerns. I’ll continue to watch how ___ votes in the coming session/meeting”
I consulted the following links while writing this article:
https://www.thoughtco.com/write-effective-letters-to-congress-3322301
https://www.wikihow.com/Call-Your-Congressperson%27s-Office
https://lifehacker.com/the-best-ways-to-contact-your-congress-people-from-a-f-1788990839
