It may sound old-fashioned, but writing a personal letter or email to your Representative or Senator is extremely important. The more mail a congressional office gets – particularly if it is personally written and not a form letter – the more attention that the Academy will receive from that office.

You can help by hosting a letter-writing party. It’s easy — all you have to do is throw a party! Invite your friends and, before they get too crazy, have them sit down for ten minutes and handwrite a letter to their Representative or Senator. Download a party pack to get tips on writing letters and to read a sample letter.

Here are some ideas about how to throw a fun letter-writing party:

1) Make it fun! Sitting around and writing Congress may not be everyone’s idea of a good time, so be sure to lighten the mood with some snacks, a bit of music, perhaps a beverage or two…

2) Make it easy! Be sure to provide anything that they will need to write a good, thoughtful, accurate letter. Your guests will need pens, paper, envelopes, stamps, fact sheets, and addresses. Included in this packet is information that they may find useful, including background information, quotes, and FAQs.

3) Make it personal! Folks in Congress are used to getting tons of form letters from interest groups, and they know how to spot an artificial letter that’s just cut and pasted from a web site. That is why it is so important for people to handwrite the letters and to add personal touches to each one.

After folks finish their letters, you can collect them to make sure that they all get in the mail the next day (or you may fax them directly to the senator’s or representative’s office). Please let us know how things go – we would love to know how many letters you are able to get written and who will receive them.

Good luck!