5 steps to ask your local leaders to act on an issue you care about

When to use this resource: 

• There’s an issue in your community, or in the world, that you want your elected leaders to fix 
• You’ve taken action on an issue, like signing a petition, and want to make a bigger impact 

 

Outline of resource: 

1. Decide who you’re lobbying 
2. Prep basic resources
3. Reach out to schedule 
4. Prep your meeting agenda 
5. Hold the lobby meeting 

 

Key points: 

• Direct lobbying is an effective way to connect with and convince a decision-maker 
• Successful lobbying is built on preparing your ideas, pitch, and resources 
• Lobbying is a process – take time to build a relationship, and plan to follow up 

 

You don’t need to be a professional lobbyist to lobby your elected officials. At its core, “lobbying” is just making your case directly to a decision-maker in an effort to sway them to do what you’re asking. Lobbying can happen in many different settings – emails, phone calls, formal scheduled meetings and informal chatting over coffee or in the hallway. 

This resource is about holding a meeting with an elected official (or any other kind of decision-maker) about an issue. If you don’t have time for a meeting, you can still make your voice heard by calling their office or writing a letter. For either of those, you can still follow these basic steps, and simplify your pitch into a phone call or letter. Use these templates for a phone call or email to a public official. 

 

1. Decide who you’re lobbying 

This will depend on what you’re working on, and who has the power to make a difference on that issue. Maybe there’s a new development being proposed in your town, and your mayor and town council members are the ones deciding whether to give it their stamp of approval. Maybe your state government is weighing how much funding they provide to the state university, in which case you tell the legislator representing your district how you think they should vote on the issue. 

Usually, the best place to start is to understand what level of government is in control of the issue you care about, and talk to the elected representative for the area you live in. Read more here on how to identify and contact your legislator. 

But understanding who you’re lobbying is about more than just knowing their name and title. Who are they, really? What do they care about? How have they voted in the past on similar issues? You’ll get a lot further in convincing them to agree with you on the issue if you understand a bit about who they are as a person, who and what they care about, and have a basic theory for why they might be sympathetic to your view, based on what you’ve learned about them. You can learn more by reading their website and social media, and reading public statements they’ve made or articles they’ve been quoted in. If you don’t have time for much or any of this additional research, that’s ok, the most important thing to do is to reach out and share your opinion on the issue and what action you’d like them to take. 

 

2. Prep Basic Resources 

No matter which legislator you’re talking to or what issue you’re concerned about, there are a few things you should have prepared before you meet with them. 

The first thing to do is to outline your “pitch” – a brief summary of what you’re there to talk about and what you want them to do about it. Here’s a sample structure for your pitch:  

• The problem you’re concerned about
• The solution you’re advocating for
• Why it’s important to act now
• Why you care (and why they should, too) 
• The action you’re asking them to take 

You’ll use this pitch in your meeting. Jotting down some notes using this basic logical structure for storytelling will make it easy for you to talk about the issue, not only to legislators, but anyone else you want to get involved in your work! Here’s a worksheet to help you create your pitch. 

Next, you’ll want to pull together some factual evidence for what you’re saying. Good storytelling speaks to both the head and the heart – so it’s important to speak from your experience, and it’s even better if you can back up your feelings with verifiable, scientifically-supported reasons for your view. This can take many different forms: a research report from an advocacy group, government agency, or academic institution; a deep-dive news article on the issue; a case study on another town that successfully implemented the solution you’re proposing; or maybe a fact-sheet that you put together yourself with links to a variety of these types of sources.  

Next, based on what you know about your legislator (their background, what/who they care about, etc), consider what they’ll find personally compelling. Maybe they pride themselves on being a champion of small businesses, and would be personally compelled by a sign-on letter where you’ve gathered support from local business owners. Maybe their job outside of elected office is as a nurse, or farmer, or engineer, and they care a lot about what their peers think about the issue. 

Finally, think about what you want the decision-maker to do about this issue. In your meeting, you’ll want to ask them to take action, and it’s best if you have a specific action you want them to take, for example sign onto or vote for a specific bill, make a statement, lead a bill to do something about the issue, or another ask. 

You’ll integrate all of these pieces into your pitch, which will be part of your meeting agenda.

 

3. Reach out to schedule 

Any forum where you make your case directly to your legislator is “lobbying,” but you can get further in convincing them to do what you’re asking if you have more of their time and attention. If you don’t have much time, a call to their office to share your thoughts and what action you want them to take is great. If you have more time, ask to schedule a separate, sit-down meeting. 

There are a variety of ways you can make this ask: 

• Email a meeting request – directly, or (for somebody like a state legislator or congressperson) through the staff in their office that handles their schedule 
• Call their office and request to schedule a meeting 
• Talk to them in person – at a community event, during a public meeting (ex: your town council meeting), or stop by their office and see if they’re available to talk then 

Here’s a sample script for asking for a meeting: “Hi, my name is [name] and I am [your constituent/any other aspect of your identity that you think is relevant]. I’d like to talk to you about [issue, and 1 sentence from your pitch on that problem/solution]. Can we schedule a meeting, either virtually or in person, to discuss further?” 

 

4. Prep your meeting agenda 

Preparation is key: you’ll get the most out of this meeting if you decide in advance what you’re aiming to get out of it and what approach you’re taking to get there. Here’s an outline for a typical lobby meeting: 

• Introductions – chit chat, take the time to make a connection, and (if relevant/genuine) thank them for something good that they have done (a vote or statement on an issue you care about, etc)  
• State the agenda/meeting purpose – reiterate what you want to talk with them about
• Time check – confirm how much time they have for you and adjust accordingly
• Outline the issue, why you care, and the action you want them to take – this is the “pitch” you prepared earlier
  • The problem you’re concerned about
  • The solution you’re advocating for
  • Why it’s important to act now
  • Why you care (and why they should, too), and any personal appeal for why you think they’d want to support your position on this issue  
  • Ask them to take action, ideally with a specific thing you want them to do
• Dialogue – hear their response, and respond to any questions/concerns they have (to the best of your ability), and ask follow-up questions to better understand their view 
• Agree on next steps – have a plan to follow up with them after the meeting (with answers to their questions, to schedule a next meeting, etc) 

Another thing to keep in mind: you don’t necessarily have to do this meeting by yourself. Consider whether there are other people who would be helpful to have there too – other supportive constituents, an expert (academic or representative from an advocacy organization), or anyone else you think could make an especially compelling case to the legislator. 

 

5. Hold the lobby meeting

Outlining a clear agenda and talking points in advance is half the battle! When it comes to navigating the conversation in the moment, here are a few tips: 

• Take time to connect – ask them about their background, what their priorities are, etc 
• Listen as much as you talk – lobby meetings are an opportunity for you to learn what’s important to the legislator, what pre-conceptions they have about the issue, and what may hold them back from supporting it. All of this is valuable intel for you to hone your approach moving forward
• Be honest – it’s OK to not know the answer to a question they have; and it’s much better to say “I’ll get back to you” than to make something up on the fly 
• Advocacy is a process – they might not say ‘yes’ right off the bat, especially if they were unfamiliar with the issue to begin with.

Once you’ve gotten the issue on their radar, you can follow up with information to address questions they had, and any other next steps agreed upon in the meeting. If you want to spend more time on the issue, you can do more to build support by gathering petitions, asking others to meet with their elected officials, or writing a letter to the editor.