Call Ahead
Call your legislator’s office and identify yourself. Respect your legislator’s time by request a short, 10-15 minute meeting. Be flexible on when you are available to meet and be punctual. To reserve a meeting room, call Legislative Services at 785-236-2391.
Prepare materials
Bring a one-page document you can leave with the legislator that states your issues and position. Also include information on what action you are requesting, along with your contact information for follow-up. It is helpful to include statistics and hard data (see separate Statistics document in the Advocacy Toolkit folder).
Prepare advocacy team
Make sure the advocacy team has time to review the one-page document. Create a 3 minute elevator speech on which everyone can agree. The speech should include a quick description of the issues, your requests, and why they are important. Take the time to practice.
Maintain a Relationship
Having an ongoing relationship with your legislator will make your advocacy more effective. Tailor your interactions to your legislator and to your organization. Suggestions include: invite your legislator to coffee when they are back in their home district; add legislators to your mailing lists or newsletters; host a breakfast or luncheon at the Capitol; or create a phone tree to generate quick communication between the advocacy team and key leaders when legislation is being reviewed.
Follow-Up
Don’t forget to follow-up after your meeting. Summarize your conversation and write down key information for your files. Write a thank you note the day after the meeting.