The do’s and don’ts of emailing your lawmakers

Your community's voice matters in the political process. Equip them to use it to advocate for the issues they care about by providing clear guidelines when emailing their lawmakers.

The job of elected officials is to listen to their constituents and, in turn, make decisions and advocate for the causes that matter the most to those they are serving. Asking your community to send an email is an effective way to ensure their opinions on your key issues are addressed by their lawmakers. Are you unsure of how, exactly, to write an email that will resonate with elected officials and result in action? Here are a few do’s and don’ts while building your community strategy to contact lawmakers.

Do:

  Be concise in the subject line.

State the position and the topic or bill in the subject. It’s incredibly important to be clear and concise throughout the email to legislators. This begins with the subject line. For example:

Subject Line: "NO on S.B. 123"
Subject Line: “Vote YES on H.R. 456”
Subject Line: “Support jobs in Iowa with S.B. 379”

These are all clear subject lines that ensure the legislative staff receiving the email know which issue it corresponds with.

Include your full name and address

It's important to ensure your supporters identify themselves at the beginning of the email. Stating their name and address assures the elected official they are a constituent. Legislators do not have any obligation to read messages from people who are not constituents, so make it clear that you live in their electoral district.

Include details of the bill

If you're requesting action on a specific bill, include the name, authors, and topic of the bill. Bill numbers consist of an alphabetic abbreviation (for the branch of Congress that originated the legislation and the bill type), plus a unique number. If you are unsure of how to identify a bill, here are a few resources:

• Commonly searched for legislation. Bills are listed alphabetically by popular title or general subject. This list is updated often when the Senate is in session.
• The Senate Calendar of Business and the Congressional Record are published daily when the Senate is in session. These lists are useful for identifying legislation currently under consideration or pending on the Senate floor.

Make the e-mail personal

Humanize the email. Remind your legislators that real people are being impacted by their decisions. Describe how this issue will impact you, a loved one, your community, or institutions you are a member of. Including your personal experiences separates your message from bulk messages crafted by organizations and interest groups.

Request a reply

Ask your elected official to get back to you. Provide complete contact information to ensure their team knows how and where to contact you.

Don't:

❌ Use threatening or violent language

While you can certainly disagree with your legislator’s stance on an issue, you should never use threatening or violent language in any form of communication with them. You will not be effective if you abuse or threaten them. (Not to mention it's illegal.) Emails using threats take the attention away from the issue being discussed.

❌ Write lengthy paragraphs

Legislators and their staffers receive a large number of emails each day. Respect their time— keep your communication brief. A two- or three-paragraph email is sufficient to convey your view. It's not necessary to make every possible argument in support of your viewpoint.

❌ Make broad requests

Your request should be stated as a specific, actionable item. A few examples include:

• Introduce a bill.
• Vote yes or no on a bill.
• Co-sponsor legislation.
• Send a letter to another member of the legislature in an influential position, such as the chair or ranking member of a committee.

❌ Send attachments

Elected officials rarely read attachments to an e-mail, for time and security reasons. Offer to provide documents on request, but avoid sending attached files in an initial email.

Ready to write an email to your legislators in Washington, D.C.? Create your own ActionButton to quickly and easily contact your lawmakers—our technology finds your elected official and sends your message for you. Give it a try in this live example button below: