Grassroots Toolkit: Contacting Members of Congress

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Communicating with your members of Congress is one of the most important ways you can participate in policy making. Your visits, letters, phone calls, and emails let elected officials know that their constituents are well informed, watch what they do, and care about national affairs. Constituent communications tell members which issues are of greatest concern to voters.

However, reaching members of Congress has become much more difficult in recent times. Staff in many congressional offices report that postal mail no longer gets through in a timely manner, as it continues to be irradiated off-site.

Is letter-writing no longer an effective advocacy tool?

It is still a good tool; however, many offices recommend that letters be sent to the member's local district or state offices. The letters are then bundled and sent regularly to the member's Washington office. For more information, please see FCNL's guide, Writing Letters to Congress.

How can we communicate with our elected officials now?

Calling is the best way to reach legislators (Capitol switchboard: 202-224-2131 or FCNL’s online directory). Say you are a constituent and ask what is the best way to contact your member's office on issues of concern (postal mail, email, phone, fax). Each office has different preferences. Then spread the word to your friends.

What else works?

Here are a few other ways to get your message through to your members of Congress, listed roughly in order of effectiveness. See FCNL’s Grassroots Toolkit for lots more "how to" information.

• Local lobby visits
• Letters to the editor
• Phone calls
• Faxes: Be sure to: a) address it directly to the staff person in charge of your issue if possible; b) state your issue, bill number, and position in the subject line; c) put your mailing address at the top, so that it is clear that you are a constituent; d) keep the text short and focused on one issue.
• Email: Same guidance as for faxes, above.

Use FCNL's Legislative Action Center to make letter writing easier

Start with the sample letter posted in our Legislative Action Center, personalize the language, then send your message as an email or fax directly from our site. You can also print it out and mail it. You can also use the Legislative Action Center to find out information about your elected officials and media outlets in your area.

Reviewed: 12/15/2005

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