Toolkit: Lobbying 101

Introduction

Great news! This year, you and thousands of others have amped up the pressure on President Biden, asking him to keep his promise to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies in his American Jobs Plan — and it worked! President Biden has directed Congress to eliminate subsidies for fossil fuel corporations in his recovery plan. This is very good news and a testament to movement pressure, but a presidential plan alone isn’t enough to get the job done. Now, we need Congress to follow through.

Thank you for signing up to meet with your elected officials and urge them to end fossil fuel subsidies and support a Green New Deal style recovery! If you haven’t signed up to to meet with your elected official yet, please sign up here before following the rest of the toolkit.

If you haven’t set up a meeting with an elected official’s staff before, don’t worry. These meetings can be fun and empowering, and most importantly — persuasive. As a constituent, it is your job to share with them your views on how their actions impact the issues you care about.

This step-by-step guide will give you everything you need to host a successful lobby meeting.

Phase 1: Schedule a meeting

Schedule a meeting with your member of Congress!

Decide who to meet with

• If you don’t know who your Senators and House Representative are, use this handy tool to look them up (note: email is optional).
• Find out where your Senators and Representative stand on this issue.
• Then, look under the “Category” to see where they stand on these issues. check out if they are a current co-sponsor of the End the Polluter Welfare Act or THRIVE Act, if they are part of any key committees important to the passage of these bills, and what their political leaning on these issues are.

Who should you prioritize meeting with?

• Pressuring members in all categories is important — however “Likely Opposition” can be reprioritized if you have members in other categories.
• If you are not sure which members of Congress to prioritize, talk with your Greenpeace coach to decide which is most strategic.
• If there is more than one strategic target, feel free to reach out to more than one to set up meetings if you are able and willing!
• There’s also a chance that setting up a meeting may be difficult so reaching out to multiple could better ensure you get at least one meeting scheduled.

Set up your meeting 

Call the local office of your member of Congress. Often the information is located in the “contact us” section or at the bottom of their website.

When you call, Be prepared with your request for a meeting and why you want to meet with them — and keep it very short and to the point. Ask for the scheduler and make sure to get their email contact information BEFORE you are transferred.

Sample script: Hi, I’m (Name) a constituent from (City/State) and I’d like to set up a virtual meeting with (Congressperson) to discuss the End Polluter Welfare Act and Thrive Recovery Agenda. May I speak with a scheduler to set this up and get their email contact as well? (pause for response – write down email and phone. Repeat first part of script with scheduler live or via message when transferred) 

Tips: 

• Send a follow-up email immediately after you speak with the scheduler or leave a message. Here’s an example: 
• Dear Scheduler,
  “I am writing to request a virtual meeting with Rep./Sen. [name] the week of June 1-4 on zoom/skype/hangouts to discuss the End the Polluter Welfare Act and Thrive Recover Agenda. A group of constituents, representing [professions/ communities] would like to meet with [representative/senator] to talk about the importance of ending fossil fuel subsidies and a green and just recovery plan from COVID-19.  Please let me know as soon as you can about Rep./ Sen. [name]’s availability. Thank you for your time and attention to this request.
  Sincerely,
  Name
  Profession, Greenpeace USA volunteer
  City, State, Zipcode
  List of any attendees you’ve confirmed”
• If you don’t hear back by the next day, call again. Ever hear the saying ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’? This is especially true with elected officials — courteous and respectful persistence pays off.

Things to remember:

• Prioritize finalizing the meeting time, even if you haven’t recruited attendees yet. The meeting date and time will be dictated by the office, so take what they offer you. Most of your group will be motivated to attend once you have a meeting secured and they will arrange their schedule to join.
• Ask for 30 minutes. You may wind up only getting 10 or 20 minutes with the official, as they are busy people, but start out asking for 30.

Add your meeting to the Greenpeace events map

• Include a max number of attendees of 8 (your ideal target # of attendees is 3-5 — not including yourself — but setting a cap of 8 allows for normal drop-off rates).
• If you need help with creating your event on our site, here is a handy guide that walks you through the event creation process and template language to use for your event.

Phase 2: Invite others to join you

Recruit others to join you

Recruit others to join you! The ideal number of attendees for a lobby meeting is about 3-5. 

• Sample text: Hey (Name)! I’m reaching out because I just set up a virtual lobby meeting with (Congress member’s name) on (Date/Time) to talk about ending fossil fuel subsidies and supporting a Green New Deal style recovery package from COVID-19. I’m looking for people to join me in this meeting, and I think your voice would be great in that space. It’s pretty easy, and I’ll make sure to prep you so you feel confident going into the meeting. Can you attend? 

Let us know if you would like Greenpeace to invite additional supporters. You have the option of texting Greenpeace supporters in your area to join you. Your best and most reliable recruits will be people you know, but this could be a good option if you need recruitment support or want to connect with other Greenpeace supporters locally

Watch our lobby 101 training 

You’ll learn the basics for what makes a good lobby meeting, what to prepare before your meeting, and get your outstanding questions answered.

Phase 3: Prepare for and host your meeting

Prepare your attendees for the meeting and DO IT!

Prep for the meeting

• Review the Fossil Fuel Subsidies FAQ
• Review the THRIVE fact sheet — you can also read more and find more resources here.
• Prepare your talking points based on this and the sample script below. Know the basics but also don’t worry — you don’t need to be an expert. Equally important is sharing your passion and dedication to the issue and conveying why you care.
• Fill out this prep worksheet to identify your talking points that resonate with you the most about each piece of legislation. Make sure to ask each person attending the lobby meeting with you to fill out the worksheet as well.
• Follow up with the scheduler 1-2 days before the meeting to confirm. Sometimes schedules can change quickly, so it is good to re-confirm your meeting.

Hold a prep meeting with your group 

Meet with your group before your meeting with your member of Congress. Determine who will be the main speaker and go over your talking points together.

• Here’s how to schedule a virtual meeting (Google Meet is the best free option, but you can also use Zoom if you have a paid account).
• Use this Virtual Lobbying Prep Meeting agenda to prep for your meeting.

Meet with the elected official (or staffer)

Make sure that you and your group are prompt and maintain courtesy at all times.

A more detailed and tailored script is coming soon! But here’s the basic outline of your meeting:

• Thank you for making the time to meet with us. We wanted to meet because… (tailored messaging on End Polluter Welfare Act and Thrive demands)
• Each person introduces themselves with their name, where they live, and a few words about why this issue personally matters to them (this needs to be very short – shoot for 1 min each)
• So with all that said, we of course want to hear from you. Will Rep/ Sen…. (targeted ask for each category will be included in the script).

Please remember that you are at this meeting as a concerned constituent and member of your community. You may represent yourself as a volunteer with Greenpeace, but please do not directly or by implication represent yourself as Greenpeace staff, or speak on behalf of the organization.

After your meeting 

Send a “thank you”. After the meeting, send a thank you note or email to the staffer you spoke to with this fact sheet. If you said you would get back to them with any additional information, do so promptly.

Report back! Let us know how your visit went – fill out this quick form. Make sure to take note of who attended your meeting.

Lobbying Pro-tips

• Be patient if the office does not get back to you right away. Staff members are very busy, constantly juggling lots of issues and deadlines. Respectful persistence will be key here.
• Always be polite and respectful even if the elected official has an opposing view.
• You will likely meet with a staff member rather than the elected official themselves. These meetings are equally as important because they will carry your message to the elected official. Work to build a relationship with this person, as they will most likely be your ongoing link to the office for future conversations.
• Come to the meeting prepared: know your subject matter and be familiar with the position of your elected official. We want them to know we’re paying attention.
• If the staff member asks you a question that you don’t have an answer to, let them know that you don’t know and you’ll do some research and get back to them. It’s completely OK to not have all the answers or be an expert — your job primarily is to convey your passion and concern as a constituent. 
• Since this is a virtual meeting, make sure your background isn’t noisy and that all participants mute while they are not speaking.
• Most importantly, speak from the heart. In addition to your talking points, share a brief personal story about why you are passionate about a just transition off fossil fuels.

Lobby Targeting Guide

The goal is for you to to have smart, strategic conversations with your members of Congress.

• Senate Targeting Guide
• House of Representative Targeting Guide 

Guide Key

Cosponsors

• EPWA (End Polluter Welfare Act) Cosponsor: Current co-sponsors of the End Polluter Welfare Act to end 150 billion in fossil fuel subsidies in the next 10 years. We want to thank and ask copsonors to champion and go to bat for this bill.
• THRIVE Act Cosponsor: Members of Congress who have signed on to support the THRIVE Act – a binding Bill that is a large-scale investment package for a Green New Deal Style Recovery that creates millions of new, family-sustaining jobs that restore our climate rather than pollute it.  We want to thank and ask them to champion and go to bat for this bill!
• THRIVE Resolution Cosponsor: Members of Congress who have signed onto the THRIVE Resolution in either 2020 or 2021, meaning they supported an agenda (but not yet binding legislation) for a bold and necessary “Green New Deal” style economic recovery. If your member of Congress signed onto the THRIVE Resolution but has not yet sponsored the THRIVE Act, it’s important to remind them that they already signaled their commitment for the vision and urge them to follow through by sponsoring the THRIVE Act.

Political Leanings

• Priority Progressives: Progressive climate champions. If they are not already co-sponsors of the End the Polluter Welfare Act and THRIVE 2021, they should be! We want to urge them to cosponsor and go to bat for these bills.
• Moderates: These are lawmakers we want to convince to support. For this category of lawmakers we use a “practical” budget-oriented rationale.
• Likely Opposition: These are lawmakers who are likely to oppose our agenda. We will use “practical” budget oriented rationales to persuade or at least dissuade them from actively organizing against us.

Key House Committees

• House Congressional Progressive Caucus: Members of the House Progressive Caucus who together can wield collective power for progressive demands, and can even hold negotiating power that influences Senate decisions.
• Ways and Means Committee: All bills regarding taxation (including the End Polluter Welfare Act and THRIVE) must originate in the House and pass through this committee. This gives members of this committee a lot of influence over other representatives and public policy. 
• Energy & Commerce Committee: This committee legislates on a wide range of issues that deal with Energy, the Environment, and climate policy.
• Natural Resources: The House Natural Resources committee covers many areas that have to do with the lands and nature of the country.

Key Senate Committees

• Budget Committee: This committee will decide whether or not the End Polluter Welfare Act and the THRIVE Act will be integrated into the American Jobs Plan package to pass through budget reconciliation (the most likely way to get this passed) — before it goes to a full vote.
• Finance Committee: This committee deals with all tax and revenue issues and is considered one of the most powerful committees in Congress. Fossil fuel subsidies and THRIVE will have to pass through this committee to make it to a full vote. 
• Homeland Security and Government Affairs: This committee is the primary body for oversight in the Senate, and it also serves to study government operations. This is where the THRIVE act is currently sitting in committee.
• Environment and Public Works: This is the lead committee over multiple environmental impacts, including air pollution, environmental policy, environmental regulation, and many other areas.
• Energy & Natural Resources: This committee handles energy policy, including international policy, as well as on the public lands, forests, and other natural systems under Federal jurisdiction.

Resources

• Fossil Fuel Subsidies FAQ 
• Find your Congressperson
• Lobbying 101 Training slide deck 
• Advocacy Overview slide deck

Questions

If you have any questions or run into any issues, reach out to the Distributed Organizing Team at [email protected]