The most effective way to ensure your conservative values are able to take hold in your community and across our nation is to organize and educate voters.

• Become a leader in your own community
• Contact your elected leaders and tell them what you think

You have more opportunities to change politicians’ minds on an issue if you have strong ideas, strong leadership and a strong backing.

Such “grassroots” organizing has a long history of success.

• Conservative candidates for office often rely on grassroots efforts to turn out the vote on their behalf
• Talk radio has for more than a decade provided daily news and analysis to millions

The best techniques

Before you can start organizing people around an issue, you must first narrowly define the issue you are advocating and then educate the public of its importance.

Remember:

• Image counts
  
  While in the end you are selling an idea and not yourself, in this day and age the behavior of the messenger is just as important as the message itself.
  
  
• Be reasonable
  
  Perhaps the most important thing you can do when advocating a new policy position is to remain calm and reasonable when discussing it. Becoming shrill and loud could discredit you—and your opinions. And, by remaining cool and collected, you can look better than your opponents if they become shrill and obnoxious.
  
  
• Know the facts
  
  Be well-informed about your issue and possible counter-arguments before you discuss it. Be ready to calmly defend your ideas when challenged. This lends greater weight to your arguments.

Talk to your friends

The people you will find it easiest to convince are those closest to you: your family, your neighbors, your friends. They will value your informed opinions over most anything they hear on television, on the radio or in the newspaper.

• Forward MyHeritage.org e-mails to your friends

Start discussions, and give them copies of Heritage’s informational brochures on these major issues. And encourage them to visit MyHeritage.org so they can find out the truth for themselves.

Write a letter to the editor

Newspapers, especially local newspapers, are an ideal forum for reaching a broad audience that will understand your views or at least hear you out. Many people read letters to the editor precisely to get a local reaction to a big story, or to find views that are not necessarily in normal coverage. Your lawmakers, in particular, place a high importance on reading local newspapers to find out their constituents’ thoughts and concerns.

• Keep it short
  
  Make sure your letter is brief (150 words or so) and that it makes only one point in clear, plain English. A short, well-written letter is much more likely to be published than a long one.
  
  
• Be neat
  
  Double-space your letter for easy reading. Use proper punctuation and capitalization, NOT ALL CAPS LIKE THIS
  
  
• Use e-mail, not the post office
  
  To increase the likelihood of publication, send your letter via e-mail. This saves the newspaper the effort of re-typing your letter.
  
  If you must submit your letter on paper, type it or print neatly on 81/2 × 11 paper.
  
  Find newspaper e-mail addresses at the top right of the Activist Toolkit page.
  
  
• Keep it relevant
  
  Make sure your letter is about a recent development in the news, especially something your newspaper covered.
  
  For example: “Your editorial about the Pledge of Allegiance (‘Schools Don’t Need This,’ Aug. 23) overlooked some important historical facts.”
  
  
• Back up your argument
  
  Use two or three solid facts and figures to back up your claim. Do not use emotions to justify your argument. If you appear authoritative and rational, your letter is more likely to be published and more likely to convince the public.
  
  Find useful facts and talking points on our issues page.
  
  
• Include your contact information
  
  Be sure to include your e-mail address and a daytime phone number so the newspaper can contact you if need be.
  
  
• Keep ’em coming
  
  Write often and your views might get noticed. Especially in larger areas, you might have to write several times before you’re published.
  
  Convince your friends to submit letters as well. Even if one of you is rejected, if there are more letters one of them might get through. But make sure you use different letters—many letter-writing campaigns have been discredited when it came out that it was one group, and not individuals, writing the material.

If others see your letters in the paper, they might be encouraged to speak out as well—and changing the debate like that is the point.

Call in to talk radio

Listen to your local talk radio programs and try to find out which topics they will be covering on upcoming shows, and try to keep abreast of local and national news.

• Call early
  
  Call in to the program as early as you can. The more popular shows have long waits.
  
  
• Be brief and get to the point
  
  You only have a matter of seconds to get across the important part of your message before the host moves on to another caller.
  
  
• Be cool and collected
  
  When you go on the radio, you are representing not just yourself but your ideas and others who share them, so treat them with respect. Be calm, not shrill, and you will convince your audience they can respect your ideas too.
  
  
• Just the facts
  
  Use solid facts, not just assertions, to back up your point. If need be, keep a few notes handy so you can remember what to say.
  
  Find useful facts and talking points on our issues page.

Start a blog

The 2004 election showed just how important weblogs, or blogs, can be. These online journals are websites where you can give your opinion on whatever you like—a perfect tool for spreading the word about your favorite conservative causes.

It takes just minutes to set up a blog. From there your audience becomes the world at large. Several free blog tools are available to help you get started:

• Blogger.com offers one of the most popular free blog services.
• MyBlogSite.com offers free blogs and online photo galleries.
• LiveJournal.com includes not just blog tools but also a substantial online community element.

Your audience is what you make it: by keeping your blog’s content fresh, original, timely and interesting, with updates at least every day, you can draw a fairly substantial audience.

You can help keep your site new and interesting by displaying the very latest news and commentary.

Register to vote

But before you do anything else, you should make sure you and your closest allies are registered to vote if you aren’t already. In our democracy, your vote is at least as important as your voice. What’s more, politicians are more likely to listen to you if they know that you hold power over them.

Write to or call your representative

Sending a letter to your city councilman, state representative, state senator, Congressman or Senator is a good way to get your opinion heard. Many politicians rely on letters of support or opposition to gauge whether their policies will be popular in their home districts. A politician might be afraid to act on his conservative beliefs if he believes his constituents aren’t with him—so he needs you to convince him he has his district’s backing.

If you like, you can also call your Congressman—and be sure to call your Congressman’s local office. Since they generally receive fewer calls than the Washington offices, staffers there are bound to take notice if call volumes increase.

• Find your Representative
• Find your Senator

Keep the following in mind:

• Say you are a constituent
  
  If a lawmaker knows you are from his district, he is more likely to listen to your concerns. Likewise, if you have any political experience in your district, volunteering for a campaign or anything else, briefly explain what you have done. This will tell the politician that you are a voter he cannot ignore.
  
  
• Discuss one recent issue
  
  By writing about just one issue, you can be assured the politician will be able to follow your argument and clearly understand your position. And by writing about a recent news occurrence, especially one the lawmaker participated in, you come across as knowledgeable, lending authority to your voice.
  
  Need inspiration? Check out our issues page for a breakdown of major issues in the news.
  
  
• Know the legislator’s position
  
  Be sure to reference the lawmaker’s position on your issue that in your letter and declare your support for or opposition to that position. If the lawmaker doesn’t hold a position, urge him to take yours.
  
  
• Keep it concise, specific, informed, polite and unemotional
  
  The more rational and knowledgeable the letter or call appears, the more likely he is to take you seriously.
  
  State your purpose in one paragraph, use one paragraph to make your case, and a third and final paragraph to conclude.
  
  
• Encourage a reply
  
  At the end of your letter or call, encourage the politician to respond by asking his position on your issue. Be sure to include your full name and address on all letters and envelopes.

While you may be tempted to write an e-mail, a letter is still your best bet. Anyone can dash off an e-mail; a letter is more official and it tells the politician that you care. Staffs today are increasingly prepared to handle constituent e-mail, though, so it may be a faster way to contact your representative.

Visit your member of Congress

If you care to, you can arrange to meet with your lawmaker to discuss your views. If you do, remember the following:

• Schedule your meeting as far in advance as possible
  
  Lawmakers are often very busy, especially at the state and national level, so it is important to call several weeks in advance to arrange a specific time. Then, a few days before the meeting, call the office to confirm your appointment.
  
  
• Prepare in advance
  
  You should be knowledgeable about your issue and be ready to answer questions the lawmaker might have. But you do not need to be an expert, and it’s OK to admit you don’t know—it’s better to admit ignorance than to make up an answer.
  
  
• Arrive early
  
  Give yourself time to relax. But be prepared to wait—lawmakers can be extremely busy, so they may not be able to see you right away. Be prepared to meet with staff members if the politician is unable to meet with you.
  
  
• Dress appropriately
  
  By dressing well, you tell the politician both that you are serious about your cause and that you respect their office. This can go a long way towards creating a good impression.
  
  Men should wear a jacket and tie and women should wear a skirt or nice slacks and a nice blouse. Clothes should be clean and wrinkle-free. Do not wear any sort of activist or campaign paraphernalia, since that could sour your meeting before it even starts.
  
  
• Use visual aids
  
  Come prepared with a one-page handout explaining your position and detailing your evidence in bullet points.
  
  
• Be brief and polite
  
  Get to the point quickly. Remember, legislators are busy and will not want to waste time—no matter how important your issue may be. And even if he disagrees with your position, remain civil.
  
  
• Send a thank-you note
  
  After your meeting ends, be sure to send a short thank-you letter to the lawmaker’s office thanking him for taking the time to meet with you and for considering your position.