CMF Releases Culminating Report on Communications between Citizens and Congress
After nearly 10 years of research, outreach, and study of the communications between citizens and Congress, Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) released the culminating report, Communicating with Congress: Recommendations for Improving the Democratic Dialogue, with recommendations for all stakeholders and suggested improvements to the structure and processes for managing congressional communications.
Project Overview
Technology Reports
"Capitol Advantage has worked side-by-side with CMF since the inception of the Communicating with Congress project in 2003," says Kenny Ames, Capitol Advantage's Director of Government Outreach and Constituent Communications. "We are pleased with the recommendations in this report, have implemented the vendor recommendations, and remain committed to working with all parties with a stake in effective communications with our elected officials."
CMF Report Recommendations
While we encourage you to read the report in its entirety, here are some highlights:
Grassroots Advocacy Organizations Should... | Advocacy Vendors Should... |
|---|---|
"Send every communication with the knowledge, consent and action of the citizen." (p. 26) Since Capwiz·XC was released in 1997, Capitol Advantage has encouraged open and honest communications between citizens and their elected leaders. Capwiz·XC requires every individual to consent when taking action. | "Identify itself in the electronic communications it facilitates." (p. 31) In 2007, Capitol Advantage added the Organization Signature (OrgSig) to its Capwiz·XC solution. OrgSig allows our clients to append a post-script to constituent messages sent to elected officials. The OrgSig default text identifies the communication as coming through a Capwiz·XC site. |
"Encourage citizens to personalize their message in some way." (p. 26) Capwiz·XC administrators are encouraged to create editable Action Alerts, which gives their supporters the ability to personalize all messages sent to elected officials. Administrators are also encouraged to provide instructions to their advocates as they take action. | "Have a designated liaison to Capitol Hill." (p. 31) Since 2006, Capitol Advantage has been the sole third-party vendor employing a Government Outreach Director, a professional charged with coordinating effective constituent communication between Capwiz∙XC clients and elected officials. The Government Outreach Director serves as the primary contact between Congressional offices and Capitol Advantage for all questions and issues regarding constituent message delivery. |
"Identify themselves as the organization behind a grassroots campaign." (p. 28) Launched in December of 2007, Capwiz·XC's Organization Signature (OrgSig) allows our clients to identify their organization in the messages sent through their site. OrgSig is a settings-based feature that appends an editable post-script to messages. We encourage you to use OrgSig to direct legislative staff to your For Policy Makers page. | "Notify citizens to whom their communications are being sent." (p. 31) All persons taking action on a Capwiz·XC site are notified to which elected official they are contacting. The advocate is notified before the messages is sent, as well as on a confirmation screen and via an e-mail receipt. |
"Adequately prepare supporters when facilitating telephone call campaigns." (p. 31) Capwiz·XC's easy-to-use Call Alert enables an organization to provide supporters with background on the issue, talking points for the call, the office phone number, and an online feedback form to collect call data. | "Provide best practices guidelines for grassroots advocacy client." (p. 32) Capitol Advantage provides its customers with free advocacy trainings courses, professional development conferences, and quarterly newsletters containing grassroots strategies and best practices. Capwiz·XC also includes the Grassroots Toolkit which contains tips and best practices that organizations can send to their supporters. |
