True or false? Only wealthy donors or lobbyists can get real meetings with members of Congress and their staff.

FALSE

During Baltic Advocacy Day, not a single Congressional Office denied or ignored a request for a meeting with a constituent. This includes meetings where only one activist was present.

How?

First, know who to email or call.

Members of Congress rely on staff to handle their schedules. Nearly every one has a scheduler, and those are typically the best people to contact to set up meetings.

House:

The House makes it easy, and all House staff can be found here: https://directory.house.gov/#/

For House staff, the email format is first.last@mail.house.gov. If Kristaps Porzingis was a staffer in the House, his email would be Kristaps.Porzingis@mail.house.gov.

Senate:

The Senate is a bit more tricky since their staff names are not publicly released for free. Instead, CQ Roll Call releases a publication with names of staff for the House and Senate for only $18.

For Senate staff, the email format is (first)_(last)@(senator last).senate.gov

For example, if Kristaps Porzingis was a staffer for Senator Durbin, his email would be Kristaps_Porzingis@Durbin.senate.gov.

Second, make sure to build a good email.

Please feel free to use Email to Schedule a Meeting to build your own emails to staffers.

True or false? Sure, I can meet with staff, but meetings with staffers or members of Congress is symbolic. They don’t actually care.

FALSE

Representatives whose offices participated in Baltic Advocacy Day in 2018 are over 2.5x more likely to join the House Baltic Caucus than Representatives whose offices did not participate.