Advocacy can take many forms, including calling, writing, or visiting your legislators about the issues that are important to you.
Ready to Put Your Faith into Action?
- Always be respectful and polite.
- Be clear and concise about your concern and what you are asking them to support/oppose.
- Thank them for their time.
- To find your local legislator: https://www.cga.ct.gov/
- The Connecticut General Assembly website provides bill status information, calendars, journals, committee members, minutes, vote tallies: https://www.cga.ct.gov/
- Congress: www.senate.gov and www.house.gov
Letter Writing/Emailing
Letters are an effective advocacy tool. You can write to your local State Senator or Representative, your US Senator or Representative, or others involved in the decision making process for the issue you are concerned about.You can also email your legislators with your message. Email is particularly useful if it’s a time sensitive issue.
Letter Writing Tips:
• Be clear about what you are writing to your legislator about.
• “I’m writing to ask you to support bill __ because ___.”
• “I’m writing to express my concern about (issue).”
• Keep the letter or email focused, to the point, and respectful.
• Tell the legislator why this issue is important to you, and how it affects you (or how addressing the issue would be beneficial). Why do you care about this?
Sample Letters: In MS Word In PDF Format
Telephone Calls
Calling your legislators is a fast, easy way to let them know what you think about a particular issue or bill.
Telephone Tips:
• Note that you will likely speak with a staff person at your legislator’s office when you call. That’s ok, and they will relay your message to the legislator.
• Of course, always be polite and respectful in your communications.
“Hello my name is ___ and I live in your district. I am calling to ask the Senator/Representative to support/oppose bill ____. This is important to me because ____. Thank you for your time.”
“Hello my name is ___ and I live in your district. I am calling because I am concerned about (issue). This is important to me because ____. I urge the Senator/Representative to consider low income people/students/families/immigrants when he/she makes decisions about legislation. Thank you for your time.”
Visits Your Legislator
Consider visiting in person with your legislator or a member of their staff. Not only will you be able to relay your concern or message of support on an issue, but you likely will be able to engage in more dialogue about what your legislator is doing to address it.
Tips For Visits
• Call your legislator’s office to set up an appointment. Let their office know what topic you would like to talk about.
• Prepare for your visit. What do you want to say? It is best to keep each visit focused on only one or two issues. It can be helpful to make notes or practice before your visit.
• Think about who else you would like to attend with you.
• You may also want to find or prepare materials/handouts about your issue to leave behind after your visit for your legislator to read later (a “leave behind”)
• Take notes at the meeting so you can remember how your legislator responded later.
• Follow up with a thank you note to the legislator after your visit.
• Of course, remember to be respectful and courteous to the legislator and their staff.
Issue Fact Sheets/Resource Sheets
- Check back for Issue Fact Sheets to use in your reflection and advocacy efforts!
Workshops on Advocacy Basics
- Interested in learning more about advocacy or developing more effective advocacy skills? We hope to be a resource for advocacy basics training and skill development.