Advocacy and Outreach
Your presence is powerful. Congress wants to hear YOUR story to help shape policies on Capitol Hill.
Help us connect with every member of Congress to ensure that they are hearing from the fire and emergency services!Â
Whether you are in Washington, D.C. or at home in your state, your members of Congress are ready to hear from you. Learn the steps to advocacy below!
Write to Your Members of Congress
It's quick and easy! Click here to learn how to send a note to your members of Congress today.
Meet With Your Members of Congress
Step 1: Finding Your Members of Congress and Requesting Meetings
Step 2: Preparing Your Talking Points and Gathering Your Meeting Materials
Step 3: Running Your Meeting with Members of Congress and Staff
Writing to Your Members of Congress
Tips for Writing to Congress
- Identify yourself: Clearly state your name, address, and where you are from to establish yourself as a constituent.
- Be specific: Explain why this issue is important to you and provide concrete examples or data to support your position.
- MAKE THE ASK: Clearly write what you want them to do (e.g. "Cosponsor S.237" or "Join the Congressional Fire Services Caucus")
- Use a respectful tone: Fire is a bipartisan issue and working with both sides of the aisle is essential to success
- Keep it brief: Try to keep your letter to one page and make sure the letter is structured (introduction, say who you are and what you do, clearly state your issue, briefly explain why they should care, reiterate your ask in closing, thank them for their consideration)
Finding Your Members of Congress & Requesting Meetings
Meeting Request Tips
- Submit your meeting requests 2-8 weeks before you want to have the meeting.
- If you haven't heard back in 1-4 weeks (depending on when you sent the initial request and when your requested meeting date is), feel free to call the office to follow up.
- If they don't get back to you about a meeting, you can still print off informational materials and bring them by the office when you're in town. Ask to leave the materials at their main office in a folder with a business card!
Preparing Your Talking Points and Gathering Your Meeting Materials
The Fire Service Agenda for the 119th Congress
Please feel free to download or print and use as many of these talking points documents as you want to explain to members of Congress and staff why these issues are important. You can carry any of these papers in addition to any other issues you may want to talk about.Â
Tip: Don’t forget to leave the documents with the staff after your meeting so they can use them for reference!
Join the Congressional Fire Services Caucus
High Rise Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act
Supporting Fire Sprinklers in Tax Reform
AFG and SAFER Funding
Reauthorize FirstNet
Up-to-Date Codes and Standards: The Affordable Investment We Can’t Ignore
Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act
Prepare Your Stories
As you review the one pagers you want to bring to the attention of Congress, think about the stories you have from your personal experience that can provide color to the talking points on the sheet.
For example, if you plan to talk about AFG and SAFER funding, make sure you have a short story prepared about how AFG or SAFER has helped your department or organization. If you haven’t yet won a grant, you can talk about how it has helped neighboring towns and departments and how you hope it will be able to help your department too.Â
Tips
- Write out your stories in your notes and try to keep the legth to 2-4 sentences.
- Practice your stories beforehand to make sure it doesn't take you longer than 1 minute to share. It's easy to take up too much time with a story!
- Practice using one of the talking points on the one pager as a lead in to your story. Know how you want to bridge the gap from talking point to personal story.
- If writing to your member of Congress, make sure the written story is short (2-4 sentences) and explains why they should care about the issue.
Running Your Meeting with Members of Congress and Staff
Follow the 15 Minute Meeting Formula
Step 1 (30 seconds): Introduction and Establishment of Credentials
- Your Name
- Your Title (and what you do in basic, easy-to-understand terms)
- Your Department or Organization
- If you are a constituent of the member of Congress
Step 2 (30 seconds): Set the Agenda
In one sentence, state the issues you want to discuss so you can set expectations early about the topics you want to get through in the meeting. For example, you can say:
“I’d like to discuss two items today: fire sprinklers and funding for AFG and SAFER.”
Or:
“I noticed that your boss isn’t a member of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus and I wanted to talk to you about having them join. I’d also like to briefly talk about the importance of fire sprinklers in our state.”
Step 3 (2-10 minutes): Tell the Story
Divide 10 minutes by the number of issues you want to discuss and that will guide how much time you have to talk about each issue. In general, plan to talk about no more than 3 issues. 1-2 issues is common for a meeting.
Use the talking points from on the one pagers you downloaded to guide your conversation. Add in one quick personal story per topic.
Remember: you are the expert on your own stories! Congress wants to hear what YOU have to say about each topic. Use the talking points from the one pagers that resonate with you and can be supported by your stories.Â
Step 4 (1 minute): MAKE THE ASK
As you wrap up your story for each topic you want to address, don’t forget to MAKE THE ASK. You have to clearly state what your ask is. For example, if you want a member of Congress to cosponsor a bill, be sure to use a sentence like this:
“That’s why today, I wanted to ask you to please cosponsor this bill: The Bill Title Act (H.R.1234 or S.1234).”
If you are there to share information and not to make an ask, you can say something like this:
“I’m not here today with an ask; I wanted to share information with you about these topics. Please feel free to use me as a resource if you have any questions.”
Step 5 (2 minutes): Take Questions
Don’t forget to leave time for at least one question from the staff.
Relatedly, if staff or a member of Congress are asking questions throughout the meeting, be sure to manage your time effectively to make sure you don’t let the questions prevent you from addressing the topics you want to cover and making the ask.Â
Tip: DON”T GUESS. If you are asked a question and you don’t know what the answer is, or your know the answer but you don’t know why they’re asking — DON’T GUESS. Thank them for the question and ask for more context. Then tell them you’ll get back to them.Â
Step 6 (1 minute): Wrap Up
At the end of the meeting, be sure to reiterate your ask(s) and make sure you get contact information from the staff or the member of Congress. Don’t forget to thank them for their time and end on a gracious and positive note!
Step 7 (after the meeting): Follow Up
Later that evening or the next day, write a quick email to the staff or the member of Congress to thank them for their time. In your email:
- Say thank you
- In 1-2 sentences, reiterate the topics you discussed
- In one sentence, reiterate your asks
- Attach any printed materials you brought as PDFs
- Answer any questions you didn’t have time to answer during the meeting or let them know you’re working to get the information
- Provide your contact info in case they have any questions
Want Advice Directly From Government Relations Professionals?
Watch this online advocacy webinar from CFSI and several of our partner organizations. This webinar covers critical topics including:
- How to make a friend before you need a friend
- How to find your members of Congress and how to request a meeting
- What types of information you should know about your members and how to find it
- Meeting with the members of Congress vs. staff
- How to run a meeting on Capitol Hill
- How to use a one-pager
- Meeting tips and strategies
Watch this webinar, which covers critical topics including:
- A Post-Election Analysis
- The Fire Service Policy Agenda in the 119th Congress
- AFG and SAFER
- FirstNet Reauthorization
- Fire Sprinklers
- Codes & Standards
- What Can You Do Today to Take Action?
