U.S. Poverty Campaigns

Weekly Update | July 14, 2015

"It is so exciting that your group will be on the Hill because I believe members of Congress need to see your faces and they need to hear your stories.”

– Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-CA-46) in recorded remarks to RESULTS volunteers on the July 2015 U.S. Poverty National Webinar

In This Week’s Update:

• Got Two Minutes? Have Each Person in Your Group Make a Meeting Request Today (July Action)
• Got Ten Minutes? Invite Members of Congress to the Advocacy Day Reception on July 21
• Got Twenty Minutes? Final RESULTS Conference To Do List – Tax Issues Could Get Attention on Advocacy Day
• Quick News
• Upcoming Events

Quick Action: Urge Congress to Protect Working Families

Got Two Minutes? Have Each Person in Your Group Make a Meeting Request Today (July Action)

RESULTS believes that the key to any lasting change in public policy is through relationships. By building relationships with decision-makers, media figures, and others in your community, you secure a foundation of trust ensures change. Our focus this month is doing one of the easiest and most effective actions to build relationships – meeting face-to-face with members of Congress.

We’re only days away from the RESULTS International Conference and merely a month away from the August congressional recess. To help ensure that you can get face-to-face meetings with your members of Congress at the Conference and in August, it is important that you submit your requests now. Many of you know that getting a face-to-face meeting with a member of Congress is often difficult. Asking for those meetings, and then following up on your requests, is the only way to get them. As we noted on last Saturday’s U.S. Poverty National Webinar, it’s these meetings that can make the difference between reaching our goal and not. Let Congress know that you are a dedicated, committed advocate not only for the end of poverty but for American democracy where We The People have the right to make our voice heard.

TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to request face-to-face meetings for the Conference and August recess (or follow up on requests you’ve already made). We know that doing this for all of your congressional offices could take more than two minutes so divvy up the task among your group members. Assign one office to each person in your group and contact the scheduler today about setting up meetings for Advocacy Day on July 21 in DC or back home during the August recess. The July Action has information to help you and you can find a Word meetin request and an online meeting request on the RESULTS website. You can find scheduler names and contact information on our Elected Officials page. Once you confirm a meeting, please contact RESULTS Director of US Poverty Campaigns Meredith Dodson ([email protected]) to set up a lobby meeting coaching call.

Find out more about face-to-face meetings, including comments from Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA-46) urging you to schedule these meetings, and a mock face-to-face meeting on the recording of last weekend’s National Webinar. You can find it, along with the summary and slides from the webinar on our National Conference Calls page. We greatly appreciate Congresswoman Sanchez for recording her message to us and we look forward to her appearing on our call in the future.

Got Ten Minutes? Invite Members of Congress to the Advocacy Day Reception on July 21

In addition to getting face-to-face meetings with members of Congress in July and August, another way to build relationships with congressional decision-makers is by inviting them to an event. And we have a great one for you to invite them to.

On July 21, RESULTS will host its annual Advocacy Day Congressional Reception on Capitol Hill. This is a chance for volunteers attending the RESULTS International Conference to celebrate their successful day lobbying Congress on Capitol Hill (and breathe a small sigh of relief). As part of the event, we invite members of Congress to stop by to celebrate with us and say a few words about the importance of citizen advocacy and the fight to end poverty. The reception is a great way for them to get to know RESULTS better and help us and you build working relationships with them and their staff. Help us make this year’s Congressional Reception a success by inviting your representatives and senators to attend.

TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes to invite your members of Congress to the Advocacy Day Congressional Reception on Tuesday, July 21 from 6:00–8:00 pm in the Rayburn House Office Building B338. Contact their offices today using our invitation letter online (you can customize it). It doesn’t matter if you are attending the Conference are not; we welcome all members of Congress who can attend. In fact, if you are not coming to DC, help your fellow group members coming to the Conference, who are focusing on planning their trip, by making the request for them. Thank you for your help and we’ll be sure take lots of pictures at the Reception to share with all of you.

Got Twenty Minutes? Final RESULTS Conference To Do List – Tax Issues Could Get Attention on Advocacy Day

It’s finally here! The R2015 RESULTS International Conference begins this weekend in Washington, DC. We are looking forward to a wonderful event. And our timing could not be better. We’ve learned that the Senate Finance Committee will be meeting to discuss new tax proposals, which gives us a chance to push committee members to speak up on behalf of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC). We’ll have more about the potential hearing (these things are always subject to postponement) but you can start getting ready for any actions we take, as well as your upcoming lobby meetings, by Googling the names of your members of Congress along with “Earned Income Tax Credit” and/or “Child Tax Credit.” Any information you find, jot it down or print it off so you can have it ready when you connect with their offices.

TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to get ready for the Conference. Regardless of whether you’re coming to DC this weekend or not, use these tips to experience the Conference in a fun and meaningful way:

1. Schedule your lobby meetings and enter them into our Lobby Meeting Form. As noted above, if you have not submitted your requests for lobby meetings, please do so now. The longer you wait, the less likely you’ll get a face-to-face meeting. Use our sample request to make your appointment today. Even people from your group who are not coming to DC can help make requests. As you get each meeting scheduled, please enter them into the Conference Lobby Meeting Form.
2. Gather Your Letters. Last weekend, many of your gathered the EITC/CTC letters you plan to hand-deliver to DC. If you have more out there, gather them this week and get them to your DC travelers before they leave for the Conference. And if you are bringing them to DC, don’t forget to pack them!
3. Read the Background Packet. Our 2015 U.S. Poverty Background Packet  has a lot of good information and up-to-date statistics on our current U.S. Poverty Campaigns. This is a great resource for all RESULTS volunteers. If you want a copy at the Conference, please bring a hard or digital copy with you; we will not have copies for everyone in DC.
4. Dress Appropriately. If you’re coming to the Conference, please remember that is going to be hot. The forecast is for temperatures in the 90s with a mix of sun and scattered thunderstorms. However, the Conference hotel tends to run on the cool side, so you’ll have a mix of cool and very hot each day. Please dress appropriately and comfortably. For Advocacy on July 21, you’ll want to dress professionally. You’ll be meeting with people who are professionally dressed and you want to make a good impression. A good rule is to dress as if you were going to a job interview.
5. Share in Advocacy Day Back Home. Next Tuesday, we will not send out our normal Weekly Update. Instead, we will send out an Action Alert so those of you back home can share in Advocacy Day with your fellow volunteers in DC. Be sure to take the action and then forward it to your local Action Networks, urging them to take action too. We’ll also include messaging and links you can post to Facebook and Twitter to urge people to act through social media. Spread the word far and wide to remind people to make their voices heard.
6. Have Fun. Anyone who has been to a RESULTS conference before can tell you that it’s more like a family reunion and that policy and advocacy conference (although you get plenty of that too). Expect to have a great time when you get to DC!  

Be sure to visit the  RESULTS International Conference Resources page  for materials you’ll want to read for the conference, including the Conference Checklist.

For those of you that will be coming to D.C., we are all extremely excited to see you. It will be a great experience for you. And for those of you staying behind, we are grateful for all the support you’ve provided to help your fellow advocates attend this year’s conference a. We look forward to seeing you next year. Thank you all!

Quick News

Show Support for Summer Child Nutrition Bills. From our friends at FRAC: The Summer Meals Act of 2015 (S. 613 / H.R. 1728 and the Stop Child Summer Hunger Act of 2015 (S. 1539, H.R. 2715 have the potential to dramatically reduce hunger during summer vacation. Together these two bills provide the framework to reduce hunger in the summer and complement one another to greatly enable children and families to have access to the nutritional resources they need during the summer months when they lose access to school meals. They both outline important provisions that should be included in the upcoming Child Nutrition Reauthorization. Show your support by signing your local RESULTS group (“RESULTS Atlanta”) on as an endorser of these bills. Go to the FRAC website to sign your groups name on today.

Upcoming Events

Go to the RESULTS Events Calendar to see a full list of RESULTS events.

Take the RESULTS Grassroots Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MJYGK9B.

Next Congressional Recesses: House: July 31 – September 7; Senate: August 8 – September 7. Request face-to-face meetings.

RESULTS U.S. Poverty Free Agents Call, July 14 at 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm ET. Join online at: http://fuze.me/27491886; or by phone at (201) 479-4595 and enter Meeting ID: 27491886. For more information, contact Jos Linn ([email protected]).

The RESULTS International Conference, July 18-21. Join us for the RESULTS International Conference at the Washington Court Hotel in Washington, DC.

RESULTS Introductory Call, July 31 at 1:00 pm ET. If you want to learn more about RESULTS, register for an upcoming Intro Call on the RESULTS website.

Find a list of the RESULTS U.S. Poverty staff with contact information on the RESULTS website.