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Advocate's Toolkit
Organizing "Call-ins" to Elected Officials
| 1. |
Designate a phone (or a few phones) in
your Program to be used for the "Call-In".
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| 2. |
Next to each phone place a clearly-typed
sheet of paper with the following information:- The name
of each Elected Official to be called
- The telephone number
of each Elected Official to be called
- A short, clear
message to be spoken by the caller (see sample messages
below)
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| 3. |
Ask people who come to your program to
make a phone call (or phone calls). Parents can call when
they pick up children from an afterschool program or any
other time that they are at your agency.
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| 4. |
If possible, coordinate program sites to
organize "Call-Ins" on the same day. Or, plan a "Call-In"
day with another agency in your district. A lot of calls
to a representative's office during the same period of
time help to bring a particular issue to the attention
of the Elected Official.
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| 5. |
Encourage staff members to call as well.
If an employee lives in another district, have them call
their own Elected Official. Every call is important.
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| 6. |
While "Call-In" days help to focus attention
on a specific issue at a particular time, encouraging
parents to call (and visit) their Elected Officials should
be an on-going activity at your Center. Elected Officials
need to hear from their constituents that these services
are important to the families and children in their district.
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SAMPLE MESSAGE FOR CALLS TO LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES:
"Hello, I am (say your name), I live in your district
and I vote. (Name of your issue; ie-youth services) is
important to the people in your district - but the (Name
of legislation, policy, or budget; ie. Mayor's budget) is
going to hurt these programs this year. We ask you to (say
what it is you're requesting, ie. $25 million increased investment
in youth programs this year)."
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