Hill staffers: Let constituents make the fly-in appointments
A study to determine best practices for fly-ins suggests that an appointment request is better received if it comes from the constituent, not the DC representative.
ASAE and Congressional Management Foundation recently conducted the survey of chiefs of staff, which revealed that knowing attention to detail will create a favorable impression on Hill staff. Some of the findings:
- 64.4 percent of offices prefer to receive a meeting request from a constituent, not the DC representative.
- The optimal time in advance to make the request is three to four weeks.
- Leave behind a one- to two-page summary at most of the issue and follow up with an email of the same materials after the visit.
- Fly-in participants should have a thorough understanding of the bill or issue they wish to discuss. Be prepared to share how the issue will impact their organization, district or state.
- Follow up should be directed to the legislative assistant with issue jurisdiction in the office, not the chief of staff. Download the report at www.thepowerofa.org/hillvisit.
