Advocacy Recommendations

Quick Tips on Letters to Elected Officials

1. Keep the letter short and to the point (about 200 words or so).
2. Stay on message and have only one message per letter.
3. You can appeal to a reader’s emotions.
4. As with letters to elected officials, personalize it with a specific event that also relates to the issue if you can.
5. Include your contact information to verify authorship, you may be contacted by the paper to confirm this.
6. Check with the paper for the correct person to send the letter to. Many papers now have online access for sending letters to the editor.

Quick Tips on Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor are often based on a strong news hook or a timely response to a current issue covered by the targeted paper. You could also write a letter noting the anniversary of an event or an event itself and its relevance to the community covered by the paper.

Letters can come from an organization’s executive director, board member, key volunteer, sponsoring business, or a long-time service user: such as a parent or youth.

1. It is best to keep the letter short, to the point, and polite.
2. Thanks the official for any past efforts they have done on behalf of your program/after-school issues.
3. Personalize the letter with specific references to your program or any personal interactions you have had with the official (for example, if you met them at some event or at the program site).
4. Letters from youth, parents, and providers are especially effective.
5. Give your address and phone number for follow-up contact and to show the official you are one of their constituents.