Calling Decision-Makers

A simple way to lobby decision-makers is to call their offices.

The most effective time to call is before a major vote on legislation or before a key decision will be made.

General Guidelines

• Focus on one specific issue. Include important details, such as the bill number or the name of a measure or legislation.
• Keep it short. Calls are normally 1 to 2 minutes long.
• Give two or three main talking points.
• Personalize your message. Make sure they know you are a constituent. Offer personal experiences and stories and tailor your message to fit your decision-maker’s interests.
• Always make an ask, such as a “yes” or “no” vote on a specific bill.
• Locate the contact information for many of state decision-makers at www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us

Writing Your Decision-Makers

Decision-makers rely on feedback from constituents to know how to best improve and serve their communities. They receive far fewer pieces of mail than you might imagine, so decision-makers assume that each letter they receive represents the opinion of many voters who did not take the time to write.

How to Send Your Letter

• Sign a pre-written letter or sign a petition. Mass-produced postcards and letters demonstrate to decision-makers that large groups of people hold the same point of view on an issue. You can support ACLU of Texas campaigns by signing pre-filled letters on our Take Action page.
• E-mail: Be sure to include your name and home address in the email so the decision-maker knows you are a constituent.
• Fax (either handwritten or typed): Fax your letter when you are contacting your decision-maker about a time-sensitive issue.
• U.S. Mail (either handwritten or typed): A decision-maker knows you are genuinely concerned about an issue when you take the time to write a personal letter. Be sure to include your return address and contact information so they can send a response.

General Guidelines

• Be concise and focus on a single topic. You can normally get your message across in one page, three paragraphs. It is helpful to include a subject line below the address and above the salutation. For example: Reform School Discipline.
• Handwrite your letter. If your writing is not legible, type your letter and add a handwritten note at the end.
• Be courteous. Keep the tone of the letter respectful and polite.
• Make it personal. Say who you are and why you are writing. Make sure you tell the decision-maker that you reside in the district. List your credentials: constituent; representative of a local organization; professional expert; may be impacted by the issue; or any combination of these.
• Provide details. Include the issue, bill number or title if that is available.
• Tailor your message to the decision-maker’s interests. For example, you can discuss budgetary benefits with a fiscally conservative decision-maker. On many topics, the ACLU of Texas will have “talking points” that provide you with the bill number, title, and information about the legislation. Check the ACLU of Texas website and campaign toolkits at www.aclutx.org.
• Make a specific ask. For example, you may be asking for a “yes” or a “no” vote on a bill. Make sure you also ask for a response. End the letter with a phrase like: “Please advise me of your thoughts on this issue and let me know if I can count on your support for [or opposition to] the referenced bill.”

Sample Letters to Representatives:

End the Death Penalty In Texas
Stop the School-to-Prison Pipeline

You can find contact information for your state decision-makers at www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us

Meeting with Decision-Makers

A face-to-face meeting is the most powerful way to advocate for an issue and to build a relationship with your decision-makers. You can use meetings with decision-makers to learn more about their position on a certain issue, to educate them about a particular issue or bill, and to persuade the decision-maker to adopt your view on an issue.

Schedule the meeting

• You can send an email, fax, or a letter requesting the meeting. If you sent an email, follow-up with a phone call. You may have to follow-up several times to get the meeting scheduled.
• Always explain the purpose of the meeting.
• You may be asked to meet with staff rather than the decision-maker and that is fine. As the people who often do the work, staff may even be better-versed on the issues than the decision-maker. When meeting with staff, it is important to meet with the staff member who covers the issue you want to discuss.

Plan your meeting

• Educate yourself about the issue.
• Do your homework on the decision-maker. Is he/she a co-sponsor of the measure? Does he/she have a public position on the bill? Does anyone in your group have connections with the decision-maker?
• Figure out who will attend the meeting. Make sure to bring people who represent different groups that have an interest in the legislation. Don’t take more than five people in your group.
• Prepare your materials for the meeting. Prepare literature, fact sheets and other educational materials. Bring letters of support from people who could not attend. You can also ask supporters to mail letters to the decision-maker a week before your meeting.
• Decide on your goals. What is your ask? Will you ask for a “yes” or “no” vote? Do you want to get a commitment to introduce or sponsor legislation?
• Decide who will speak on each issue and who will take notes.

The Meeting

• Be on time.
• Thank the decision-maker or staff person for meeting with you. Be courteous throughout the meeting.
• Use the introductions to make a personal connection. Let them know that you are a constituent and why you are interested in the issue.
• Keep the meeting concise. Meetings can be as short as five to ten minutes.
• Educate the decision-maker about the issue and your position.
• Use examples and personal stories from your community.
• If asked a question you do not know how to answer, say you will find the answer and follow-up.
• Make your ask.
  If you are talking with a decision-maker who supports your position: You may ask for sponsorship or co-sponsorship of a bill or measure; advocacy of your goals with other decision-makers; or insider information.

  If you are talking with a decision-maker who is undecided or opposed: You will want to find out what the decision-maker’s concerns are about the bill to figure out if you can change his/her mind. Your final ask may not be to get them to support a bill, but to allow the bill to be debated. You can also ask them not to actively oppose it.
  Consult with ACLU of Texas staff before your meeting to develop the most effective strategy; email us at info@aclutx.org and write “Advocacy” in the subject line.

• Set a deadline for a response – both when you will get back to the decision-maker with more information and find out when you can expect a response.

After the Meeting

• Debrief. Compare notes with your group members and figure out how to follow-up with the decision-maker.
• Send a timely thank you note.
• Follow-up with the decision-maker.
• Be persistent.
• Report back. Let us know how your meeting went! Fill out the in-district meeting report form and send it to your ACLU of Texas contact. Email info@aclutx.org and write “Advocacy” in the subject line.

Download the In-District Meeting Guide.

Cristina Tzintzun is a longtime activist and the current executive director of the Workers’ Defense Project. While at WDP, she has worked to recoup wages for employers, enforce safe working conditions, and pushed the City of Austin to go after employers who purposefully exploit immigrant and construction workers.

                1. TEXAS IS WORSE THAN NICARAGUA ON WORKERS’ RIGHTS

                                   2. ALL JOBS CAN BE GOOD JOBS

                                    3. MAKING YOUR MESSAGE RESONATE

                                    4. RESPONDING TO RIGHTS ABUSES

                                    5. HOLDING GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE

                               6. GETTING POLITICIANS TO CARE

Yannis Banks is a born and raised Texan who currently serves as the Legislative Liaison for the Texas National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples. As a voice for the NAACP, he often gives testimony before committees, reaches out to legislators, and lobbies for full equality and equal voting rights across Texas. In his spare time, he runs a radio show geared at getting more young people to speak up and take ownership of our democracy.

                1. HOW TO MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT

                2. PROTECTING VOTING RIGHTS ACROSS TEXAS

                3. COMMUNICATING WITH LEGISLATORS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

                4. USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD

                5. HOW TO FOLLOW AN ISSUE THROUGH COMMITTEE

                6. ARGUING FOR RACIAL EQUALITY IN TEXAS TODAY

Tom “Smitty” Smith is the state director of Public Citizen, a government accountability group that works on energy, environment, urban sprawl, ethics and international trade agreements. He won the Austin Chronicle’s award for “Best People’s Lobbyist” as well as an U.S. EPA “Environmental Excellence Award.”

Among his proudest accomplishments is helping to create the Texas Emissions Reductions Plan, which reduces emissions from Texas’s dirtiest diesels, gives incentives for purchasing clean cars and trucks, and requires all new homes and buildings to meet new tough energy use standards.

                1. HOW TO GET STARTED AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST

                2. CRAFTING YOUR POLITICAL ELEVATOR PITCH

                3. WATCHDOG 101: HOW TO HUMANIZE YOUR ISSUE

                4. WATCHDOG 101: HOW TO PICK YOUR TARGET

                5. ADVOCATING WIN-WIN SOLUTIONS TO GET WHAT YOU WANT

                6. CREATIVE LOBBYING TECHNIQUES

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Shoot a two-minute video of you or someone in your community talking about an effort to make a positive change in your community, on the local or state level. What was the problem? The action taken? Did things change? Is there more work to be done?

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Lobbying visits can take several forms. One is a meeting with the decision maker. Another is public testimony at a hearing or meeting. A third is an event that you stage to get the decision maker’s attention.

Lobbying should be one part of an overall strategy to win people over. This includes persuading your neighbors, other activists, members of the media, and people across the district, state, or country. Your decision makers are more likely to pay attention if they know you are making waves elsewhere and there are many other people who stand with you and are ready to take up the fight.

We’ve already discussed how to initiate a relationship with a legislator or policy maker. If you’ve got a campaign in motion, now’s the time to deepen that relationship.

Make a follow-up visit. Perhaps now you have some allies on your side, a one-pager to leave with your decision maker, or more evidence on how the problem is hurting your town and will continue to get worse unless they take action.

You are working up to a slam dunk lobbying visit, which you should time to coincide with a vote to address the problem, a direct action your allies have organized, a tragic event like a shooting or accident, or a recent report demonstrating that the situation has become dire. The more informed you are, the more effective the meetings with your decision makers will be.

Again, be concrete about what you’re asking for. Take some time to think through what barriers your decision maker is up against. Call before your visit and find out what they advocate, what their objections to your solution may be. Have answers to the concerns with some of their constituents or party members may voice. Can you frame your ask as a win-win solution?

Remember, decision makers are people too. If you’ve had the opportunity to talk to them outside of the office or over a span of several years, they’ll probably be less guarded. They’ll be less likely to view you as an adversary and more as a recognized player in the game.

And above all, do not forget about the power of a good story.

Take this example. (Watch the video.) One Public Citizen intern with asthma was upset at people smoking at dorms, bars, and classrooms at the University Texas. After getting nowhere with the faculty senate and UT governing bodies in trying to get a “no smoking” ban passed, he showed up at a UT Board meeting in his blue jeans and tie-dyed shirt.

When they asked for public comment, he stood up, held up his inhaler, and explained how, since coming to UT and being around cigarette smoke, he needed to use his inhaler several times a day where he’d only used it for emergencies when he’d lived at home.

He looked around and one of the Board members said, “I’ll make that motion.” To his surprise, a majority of the Board was ready to support the motion.

The next meeting, he returned in a shirt and tie. The resolution for a No Smoking Ban passed. The lesson? Don’t be afraid to tell your own story. Telling people how an issue has affected you is often way more effective than telling them what they should do. Just be honest, and make sure you have evidence – bring a prop even – to back up your point.

Debbie Russell is a self-declared rabbelrouser who has fought to monitor city government and curb the use of Tasers in schools and on the streets. She is an active ACLU of Texas member and blogs on civil rights issues frequently under the name Debmocracy at austingonzo.blogspot.com.

                        1. HOW TO BE A COMMUNITY WATCHDOG

                       2. HOW TO MAKE AN OPEN RECORDS REQUEST

                3. OPEN RECORDS REQUESTS & POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY

                4. WATCHDOG SUCCESS STORY: LIMITING THE USE OF TASERS

                           5. WHAT IS A GOVERNMENT WATCHDOG?

                      6. GETTING TO KNOW YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS

                7. CIVIL LIBERTIES ISSUES FACING TEXANS

Below, take a look at what some of your fellow community watchdogs are doing to make a difference.