Contacting Elected Officials
A few pointers on writing and e-mailing your elected officials.
- Clearly identify yourself as a constituent, with your name and street address at the start of the letter.
- Stick to one page, or the e-mail equivalent. Discard unnecessary details.
- Connect with your reader. She will ask, Why does this apply to me? Tell her why she should care. Tell her of your experiences or expertise which support your position. Yes, this means you must write individual letters, not mass broadcasts. Spend your time wisely.
- Clearly state, in the first paragraph, the needed action: “Please support Proposal A.”
- Avoid e-mail attachments. Instead, include pointers to published articles or reports. With traditional letters, similarly; for example, include a single map and an executive summary, and offer to provide the full study.
- Concise, timely letters can make you a sought-after correspondent. Long-winded, irrelevant letters make you “spam.”
- Proofread! Simple grammatical errors and misspellings do count! If you write “it’s” when you mean “its,” you undercut your credibility.
Bottom line: Stay short, simple, and to-the-point.
