Today at our headquarters in Seattle, we’ve been filming a video demonstrating how easy it is to call your elected officials. It really is one of the fastest and most effective ways to take action and advocate for the issues you care about. A phone call generally lasts shorter than the time it takes to make a cup of coffee; and you can call on your way to the bus, while walking your dog, or on your way home from work. All you need to do is:
1. Find your elected officials and their contact information.
Visit www.congress.org and enter your zip code in the small box provided in the upper right corner. The next page will show your two senators and representative. By clicking on one of their pictures, you will be directed to a page with more information about that representative. By clicking on the “contact” tab, you will find numbers to their local and D.C. offices.
2. Making the call
Simply state your name, where you’re from and what you would like them to support; it could be a specific bill or something as broad as poverty-reduction legislation. You can also leave a message with the same information if you are calling after hours.
We often find that people are sometimes intimidated to make the call, but it is important to know that the secretary, intern, or staffer on the other end is not going to challenge you or require that you know every detail about the issue. They are busy, and want to take down your position, and get you off the phone.
3. Continue making calls
If you feel really strongly about an issue, you should try to call your elected officials once a week. One easy tip is to just save your legislators’ numbers into your phone.
Let your friends and family know how easy the call was and encourage them to take action and contact their congressmen as well. The more people who contact Congress in support of an issue, the more likely it is that issue will be implemented and actualized as policy.
If you feel really strongly about an issue, you should try to call your elected officials once a week. One easy tip is to just save your legislators’ numbers into your phone.
Let your friends and family know how easy the call was and encourage them to take action and contact their congressmen as well. The more people who contact Congress in support of an issue, the more likely it is that issue will be implemented and actualized as policy.
-Martina Georgieva
