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1. Choose your issues (or better yet, ISSUE) carefully! Congressional staff often have fun (and not so flattering) pet names for those constituents who send their members of Congress letters on every issue under the sun.

2. Send hand-written letters, and FAX them, rather than emails or petitions. Emails are effective when they are part of a large campaign, but one hand-written letter carries more weight. Petitions are largely ignored. Phone calls are good, especially when you have built a relationship with a single staff person working on your issue.

3. Focus on building relationships with congressional staff. These are the people who your members of Congress depend on for accurate information on a particular policy. You can be the person that the staffer depends on first. Such relationships usually begin with a letter on an issue of importance to you. With your letter, include information about your connection to the issue. Call the office a few days after your letter should arrive to make sure they received it. Simply ask for the staff person who deals with your issue. Be sure to have access to follow up information and offer to send it to them. Always be polite, but firm.

4. Think strategically. If you know there is a member of Congress in Iowa who is the most important decision-maker on the committee that deals with your issue—but you live in Washington state—think outside the box. Is there a UU congregation in Iowa that you could call and ask for their support on this issue? Let’s begin to think about creating a UU justice movement across the country.

5. Tell us about it! Let the UUA Washington Office for Advocacy know when you are doing something exciting, mundane, or anywhere in between. We not only can help you make your advocacy more strategic, but we also want to learn from your successes and experiences.

And, when the Washington Office staff goes to Capitol Hill to meet with the staff of a member of Congress, we want to be confident enough to tell that staff person that there will be 10 letters from their constituents faxed the next day on the issue we’re discussing. We want to know YOU, the UUs in our congregations who care about protecting civil liberties, funding global AIDS initiatives, securing reproductive health rights for women, and creating federal programs that work to end poverty and discrimination. Let us know your passions and your actions.

Also see RESULTS Activist Milestones for more tips on effective advocacy including step-by-step guidance on building relationships with congressional staff.