ACTION PLAYBOOK:
Constituent Meetings 1: Scheduling
Let’s take action.
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Urge a member of congress to support a climate policy priority by meeting fact-to-face (virtually) with them or their staff.
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Pick your policy priority + member of Congress
Submit a scheduling request
Start preparing!
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Constituent meetings achieve 3 things:
Influencing members of Congress: This is the most obvious goal of a constituent meeting. By speaking with a staffer, you are centering a policy issue that might not have been on their radar. At the very least, you have communicated that constituents care enough about the policy to schedule a meeting. In the best case, they are now considering cosponsorships or communications strategies they had not previously considered.
Gathering intel that helps us maximize our impact: Meeting with staffers gives you the ability to ask questions about how the member is approaching a specific policy issue, which climate issues they’re prioritizing, and where they might need help mobilizing constituent support. This can give us fodder for conversations with other members and make us more strategic advocates.
Establishing trust and rapport: This benefit is in service of the previous two goals, but it’s a unique benefit of having a two-way conversation with the appropriate staffer as opposed to contacting the office via phone or email. The staffer may be more compelled to share information that informs our advocacy strategy. Building this relationship also provides a direct line of contact for discussing future priorities.
1. Pick your policy priority + member of Congress
You’ll want to emerge from this step having made two decisions: who you want to meet with and what you want to advocate for.
It’s helpful to have an idea of what you want to discuss with the congressional staffer, even at this early stage in the process. Some policy priorities are extremely time-sensitive and could affect the timing of your meeting. As you think about what policy solution to advocate for, check whether your members of Congress already cosponsor legislation on that topic. (Wait, what does that mean? Check this FAQ!).
To maximize your impact potential, you might want to choose a priority that your representatives don’t already cosponsor. (Wait, who are my representatives?)
2. Submit a scheduling request
Once you have both a member of Congress and a policy priority in mind, look them up on congress.gov. Check your member’s website to see if they have a constituent meeting request form. (This varies from office to office). If not, call the office using the number listed on congress.gov and let them know you’d like to schedule a constituent meeting to discuss climate policy. You should reference the organization you’re affiliated with, and you should ideally plan to bring other members of that group to the meeting. The staffer should give you instructions on how to proceed.
⚠️ Already have a contact in the office? Email that person directly instead of using this form!
Next Up: Prepare for your meeting
While you’re waiting for your meeting to be confirmed, consider taking the following steps, head over to the Constituent Meeting Research & Prep Action Playbook to prepare.