Template
How to plan a lobby day
A day of meetings with legislators' offices, with your supporters in the room. Here is the timeline, the request, and the follow-up.
The timeline
- Six to eight weeks out: pick a date when the legislature is in session, ideally before the committee that has your bill meets. Settle the ask.
- Four to six weeks out: recruit attendees and sort them by district, then request a meeting with each office (template below).
- Two weeks out: write a one-page leave-behind, assign a lead and a storyteller for each meeting, and hold a short training call.
- On the day: arrive early, keep each meeting to the ask, the story and a question, and leave the one-pager.
- Within two days: send each office a thank-you that repeats the ask, and tell your supporters what you heard.
The meeting request
Requesting a meeting
Subject: Meeting request from constituents, [date], about [bill number] Dear [scheduler's name or "Scheduler"], I'm writing on behalf of [organization], whose members include [number] constituents in [district]. We will be at the [capitol or Capitol Hill] on [date] and would like 15 minutes with [legislator's name], or with the staff member who handles [issue], to discuss [bill number and title]. Those attending live in [cities or ZIP codes]. Please let me know a time that works. Thank you, [Your name], [title], [organization] [Phone] · [Email]
What to bring
- A one-page leave-behind: the ask, three facts, a local story, and a contact.
- Each attendee's address, so staff can see who is a constituent.
- A short list of questions, starting with: where does the member stand?
Running a campaign, not writing one letter?
Book a free grassroots advocacy session. We'll walk through reaching the right offices with your supporters, then run a one-click campaign with our grassroots advocacy software that sends personalized messages from your whole list.
More from the advocacy guide
Need 500 people to send this before the vote?
Run it as a campaign. Each supporter's message goes to their own legislators, matched by street address, and message versions rotate so offices see varied mail, not 500 copies of one letter.