Capitol Hill Strategy

Crafting Your Message to Influence Policy

In Capitol Hill’s ever-changing (and sometimes turbulent) legislative environment, educating policymakers on your organization’s issue can be challenging. With the thousands of advocacy groups vying for legislators’ attention, getting your association’s voice heard can be challenging. Not only are you competing with other groups, legislators and their staffers are often swamped and don’t have time for lengthy briefings.

Here are a few tips on how to cut through constituent clutter to get your message heard:

Package Your Message for Quick Consumption


Ensuring that your message is heard greatly depends on your ability to package your messages in a clear, concise, but convincing, manner. One way to do this to summarize your issue in an effective backgrounder. In doing so, note the following:

• Make it brief. Limit your backgrounder to 2-3 pages and be careful to make it focused. Do not attempt to address too many issues in one document. If your campaign is centered around several critical issues, create a backgrounder on each issue.
• Make it scannable. Make sure your backgrounder is scannable by underscoring high level messages to communicate key points. Make these points visible in headers, sub headers, call outs and bulleted lists.
• Make it interesting. Integrate statistics to support your case and keep readers interested. In doing so, use infographics to tell the story behind the data. Readers typically gravitate to graphics so incorporate charts, graphs and illustrations to ensure that critical points won’t be missed.

Leverage Video


Video messaging is one of the most effective ways to deliver a campaign message. It’s visual, it’s dynamic, and it’s highly portable. To make sure your video message is impactful and don’t be shy:

• Get emotional and tell a compelling story.
• Include gripping testimonials and quotes from influencers.
• Tell legislators what you want. Include a call to action.

There are many ways to create compelling videos that inspire action and start conversations. Documentaries, interviews, explainer animations, and investigative journalism are highly effective in highlighting social issues. 

Think beyond basic content creation for maximum impact

If you have access to a community leader or subject expert, reach out to request their participation in the production. The use of personal stories and testimonials can build emotional connections that readers can relate to. 

Focus on content that educates, evokes emotion, and is easily shareable. Consider the use of short clips that are easily digestible and highlight key arguments or powerful moments to drive engagement. The most effective videos are concise, clearly communicate key messages, and use compelling visuals to explain complex topics or showcase real-world impacts.

The goal is to build a lasting understanding about social change and encourage specific behaviors. Know your audience and leverage social media for maximum reach to encourage action. Whatever video methods you use, it is important to provide essential details about a cause and how to take action like volunteering, canvassing, advocacy, or participation in events. 

Rally (and Engage) the Troops


Enlisting the support of constituents is a sure-fire way to get a legislator’s attention. The key is to equip your troops with the arsenal they need, so at a minimum, you want to make sure your troops have:

• Talking points to make sure everyone’s on message;
• A customizable sample letter to fuel a robust letter writing campaign;
• Background material to share with elected officials, staffers, and other influencers; and an
• Online rallying place (i.e. campaign website) that he/she can reference.

These are just a few simple tips that, if employed properly, can help your organization gain the attention of elected officials. The key is to be strategic in your planning and tactical in your execution.