Get Letters Written

To make a local letter-writing campaign easy and fun, it helps to have a good strategy in place and to recruit volunteers. Here are some criteria for success and a few ideas to get you started.

Criteria for Success:

• We get enough letters sent in that legislators can’t ignore them, and legislators on “our side” can refer to them as evidence of support.
• We get media coverage about letter writing.
• The national conversation shifts away from money disputes and towards whether we’re fulfilling our duty to America’s kids.
• The activity builds our network, either through recruiting new volunteers or by getting petition signatures.

Ideas to Get You Started:

To get a ton of letters sent in:

• Setup a table at the farmers’ market or at events. When adults write a letter, have them sign the petition and ask if they can volunteer to staff the table (or new tables at other events) in the future. If one in ten says yes, and one of those ten actually does it, you’re doing great.
• Work with a principal, teacher, school nurse or cafeteria worker to do a letter writing activity in class or at school. Here’s a sample lesson plan. Schools could also send kids home with a letter-writing handout, or post a note on the school web site.
• Lead a letter-writing activity at a school garden or after-school program.
• Organize potlucks and fun events that gather groups of people for letter writing.
• Reach out to parents through PTAs, churches and blogs.
• .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) the total number of letters your community has written!

To get media coverage:

• Write down great quotes from letters, or make photocopies of the best letters. Write a letter-to-the-editor or op-ed sharing these quotes, or use them to show an editor why so many people writing letters is a compelling story.
• Stage an event that involves letter writing, and invite the media. Make sure the event has a “hook”: kids are writing letters to Congress instead of to Santa; students are inviting the legislator to eat school lunch; students are staffing tables asking people to write letters. Make it visual, creative, theatrical and unexpected.
• Tailor your action to what editors looking for: short, punchy events where everyday people who resemble their readers do something visually interesting.

To build your network:

• Whenever an adult writes a letter, ask him or her to sign the petition, too.
• Ask adults who sign the letter if they can volunteer for the campaign.
• Give new volunteers an entry-level activity, like staffing a letter-writing table. Over time, you can give them more involved tasks, and eventually they’ll start coming to meetings and will become leaders.
• If you get media coverage or get a letter printed in the newspaper, make sure to direct people to our web site so they can sign the petition online.