Articles
Advocacy - Visits to the MOC's Office
<p>Probably the most effective way to interact with your MOCs and their staffs is by getting a group of people together to visit them in their DC or district offices. You’re unlikely to get a meeting with a MOC in his/her DC office while Congress is in session, but you may be able to meet with the MOC (more likely your Representative than a Senator) in his/her district office when the MOC has office hours there or during a Congressional recess. And you should be able to get a meeting with the MOC’s staff, even during times when the MOC is unavailable.</p> <p>Meeting with a MOC or his/her staff gives you...</p>
Read MoreAdvocacy - Phone Calls
<p>Phone calls are an effective way of communicating your views to your MOCs, particularly on hot-button issues of the day. Your MOCs are already getting lots of calls on such issues, and it’s important that your views get tallied along with those of other callers. For the phone numbers of your MOCs, visit their websites. Limit each call to a single issue.</p> <p>Before calling, decide whether you just want to register your opinion for or against some pending action, or whether you want to have a substantive discussion with the MOC’s staff about it. If the issue has a high profile, such that the MOC is ...</p>
Read MoreAdvocacy - Emails
<p>Particularly if you need your MOC to act on an issue within the next two weeks, sending an email message is one of the more effective ways of communicating with your MOC. It’s easier than sending a letter, and it allows you to present your position more fully than in a short social media message or phone call.</p> <p>Most of the tips for letter writing apply to email messages as well:</p> <ul><li>Limit your message to one issue.</li> <li>Be respectful and professional; avoid spelling and grammatical errors.</li> <li>Be succinct: state your specific “ask” (e.g., to support or oppose a particular bill identified by its nam...</li></ul>
Read MoreAdvocacy - Letters
<p>Writing a personal letter to your MOC has traditionally been regarded as one of the more effective actions you can take, in part because MOCs are aware of the greater level of effort it requires. However, some MOC offices much prefer email as easier to handle. Regular mail is also much slower, because of both usual mail delivery times and the additional time taken to irradiate all mail addressed to Congress. If action on your issue is not needed for two weeks or more, a letter may get greater attention; if action is needed sooner, an email message is a better option.</p> <p>Some tips for letter writi...</p>
Read MoreAdvocacy - Social Media Messaging
<p>Like signing a petition, sending a tweet about your MOC or posting a message on the MOC’s Facebook page (or your own) takes little effort, and hence it may have little if any influence. But some MOC offices do pay attention to social media messaging.</p> <p>If your message is appropriately tagged to the MOC, identifies you as a constituent, and makes a specific “ask,” it may be worth the effort, particularly if it gains wider attention (retweets, additional Facebook comments, etc.) or adds to a trend. But <em>don’t stop there</em>—follow up with one of the other advocacy tools listed on the <a href="/post/act-advocate">main Advocacy pag...</a></p>
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