Advocacy Resource

Sometimes when you attempt to meet with a member of Congress or their staff, you may have trouble getting on their schedule. Here are some tips for securing a meeting from our Advocacy Teams staff.

Engaging new people in the work for peace and justice is essential if we want to grow our power and be more successful in our quest for positive change. Here are three examples of outreach activities you can plan to invite others into the work from our Advocacy Teams staff.

This chart shows the official way proposed legislation is enacted into law. Many bills, however, do not become law because their progress is stopped somewhere during the process—in committee, on the floor of the House or Senate, in conference, or by presidential veto.

Meeting with new members of Congress and their staff is crucial to building lasting relationships that will help advance FCNL’s policy priorities.

It was post-9/11, and Friends in Atlanta Friends Meeting wanted to publicly witness against war. Friends listened to their hearts’ stirrings during business meeting, and “War is Not the Answer” became the Meeting’s new yard sign.

We know that creative advocacy can draw media attention, engage the community, and help build a relationship with a member of Congress or their staff. But how can we design our own creative actions to advocate for an issue we care about?

Creative advocacy can take many different forms. If you’re looking for inspiration, here are a few stories of advocates getting imaginative with their lobbying.

As Quaker advocates, we know that the most effective way to influence our elected officials is to build a relationship with members of Congress and their staff. But this isn’t always easy, and many grassroots advocates across the country have discovered an important principle along the way: to be effective, sometimes you need to get creative.

One silver lining from the pandemic: Congressional offices are meeting with constituents virtually more frequently than ever, making it easy for you to interact with your lawmakers.

Every year, I leave FCNL’s annual meeting feeling new energy and enthusiasm. I leave buoyed and encouraged by the shared commitment of several hundred Friends and friends of Friends to the causes of peace, equality, justice, and a sustainable future.