Every member of Congress has one or more offices in his or her congressional district. Most members of Congress regularly return to their districts and hold meetings with their constituents. You can be one of the people who meets with them — all you have to do is request a meeting, be patient, and be flexible.

Meeting with your member of Congress or a staff member is the most effective tool in the activist arsenal. Take advantage of it! Here’s how:

Find out who handles scheduling
Call the member’s Washington, D.C., office through the Capitol switchboard at 202/224-3121, or call the district office and ask for the name of the person who handles in-district scheduling requests.

Get a fax number
Ask for the fax number where the person can be reached. You can also go to your member of Congress’ web site to find this information. Go to www.congress.gov to find your member of Congress’ site.

Put your request in writing
Write a letter requesting a meeting and address it to the person who handles in-district scheduling requests. Be sure to include who will attend the meeting, your AAUW affiliation, which days you are available to meet (keeping in mind that members tend to be in-district on Friday afternoons, weekends, and Mondays), and what issues you would like to discuss. It is important to pay attention to developments relevant to the issue you choose. For example, if you request a meeting to ask your member of Congress to co-sponsor the PACT Act and in the meantime your member of Congress becomes a co-sponsor, you would more than likely use the meeting to thank the person and talk substantively about an alternative matter. For suggestions of relevant issues to discuss please contact AAUW's public policy department at VoterEd@aauw.org or 202/785-7793.

Fax it
Fax your request to the person responsible for in-district scheduling. Faxing is a more timely method of delivery than standard mail but still holds the formality of a hard copy that the member of Congress’ staff can use for internal purposes.

Confirm the request was received
Wait a few days and call your contact person to confirm receipt of your request. Ask if the member of Congress is available for a meeting, and if not, ask to meet with the district or state director. (Keep in mind that it likely will take several follow-up calls to get a meeting scheduled. Don’t get discouraged!)

Follow up
Call to follow up every few days to see if your meeting has been scheduled.

Confirm the meeting
Once a meeting is scheduled, call the day before to confirm. This also will give you the opportunity to confirm who else will be in attendance.

Find out the latest from Washington, DC
AAUW members can e-mail AAUW's public policy department at VoterEd@aauw.org or 202/785-7793 for information on the status of the issue you will be discussing as well as assistance with making persuasive arguments in favor of your cause.

Hold a pre-meeting meeting
Have everyone who is attending the meeting come together a few minutes before the appointment to discuss who will say what. You may consider choosing someone to lead the meeting by facilitating introductions and keeping the meeting moving.

Send a thank-you note
The best way to recap what happened at the meeting is to send a thank-you letter recounting the issues you discussed and any commitments that were made.

Good luck, and have fun!