Secrets from a Hill Staffer: Your Best Advocacy Foot Forward

With experience in both roles as a hill staffer and an advocate for federal policy reforms, I can attest that there are common (and understandable) gaps in comprehension of the nuts and bolts of advancing legislation. Here are some tips from a former staff member to help make your upcoming meeting with policymakers more memorable.

The tone of your meeting starts in the outreach email.

• Provide as much information as possible in the initial email request; Why do you want to meet? Who will be attending? Provide date/time options for the staffer to choose what works best for them.

• If they do not reply to your request for a meeting, feel free to bump the request as it is likely your email was caught in the hundreds of requests. Thanks to mass email campaigns, staff can receive thousands of emails per day.

• *DO NOT CC A SUPERVISOR, unless you have tried more than once. During session weeks, staffers are juggling hearings, floor votes, constituent meetings, caucus meetings, and so much more.

• Understand things come up often, and flexibility is key.

  
  

Could the meeting have been an email?

• Lobbyists and advocates frequently aim to meet with staff members to make introductions or express gratitude for their boss' support. However, this may not be the most effective use of staff time, particularly when schedules are hectic. To optimize efficiency, I suggest arranging introductory meetings on recess days or through Zoom.

  
  

BREVITY, BREVITY, BREVITY

• When presenting information, be sure to provide a brief overview of the issue and the proposed solution. While personal stories play a crucial role in advocacy, limit the number of illustrative examples, and guide them to additional examples if desired.

• This advice also applies when you are pitching a newly released report from your organization. Delving into a detailed analysis of the research methodology may not be the most effective use of time. But a high level executive summary and proposed policy recommendations are helpful.

  
  

Always have an ASK

• To increase the chances of success, make sure to be well-prepared with a tangible request such as asking their Member to cosponsor legislation, sign a circulating letter, advocate on someone's behalf with the administration, or draft legislation. Simply bringing up an issue without a clear request may result in it being postponed for a time when they are less occupied. SPOILER: They will always be busy.

Do the homework for your meeting

• Find out the answers to these questions before you meet with the office.

  • What committees does the Member sit on?

  • Does the request fall in line with other priorities of the office?

  • Are there district ties/connections that make the request relevant?

  • Have they ALREADY SIGNED ON as a cosponsor to a bill that you are asking them to support? (This happens a lot.)