Preparing For CCL's December Conference & Lobby Day (online-only)

In December 2020, Citizens’ Climate Lobby supporters joined online from around the world to help Congress address climate change. This page walked through important details regarding how the appointment setting process was handled, available trainings, and additional recommendations as volunteers prepared with their groups.

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/topics/working-with-congress

TOC and Guide Section

Overview

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CCL held our December Conference and Lobby Days online. This training page is now dated given the conference is past but it contains information about these events, and will be updated to reflect the plans for June 2021 as soon as more details are known. More information on each of them can be also be found on their corresponding event page:

Planning For 2020 December Lobby Meetings

Planning for CCL's December Lobbying events has begun, with CCL volunteers connecting remotely with their member of Congress or staff in their D.C. office (or district office if necessary). Relationship building with congressional offices and teamwork with each other is our foundation in this new world of all-virtual organizing.

Follow the instructions below to identify your meeting appointment setter, work together to plan your lobby meetings and assemble your lobby teams, and then rehearse your December 7 - 11 online lobby meetings.

How Are Appointments For Meetings Set

All appointments for meetings will be set by CCL congressional liaisons (or someone they designate). If you are not a liaison, please do not try to set an appointment (you can learn about becoming a liaison here).
If there is no liaison to set the appointment for your Senator or Representative, work with chapters in the district/state to designate an appointment setter and email their contact info to amy@citizensclimate.org. Amy will distribute details on how to set appointments to appointment setters. If you’re not sure if there is a liaison or you need help, contact your state coordinator or regional coordinator.
We recommend that appointment setters/liaisons work with local CCL leaders (especially where there is more than one group in a district/state) to assemble the lobby team and create a meeting plan.
While setting the appointment, appointment setters should be sure to ask the Congressional office how they would like to meet - by phone, Zoom, or another preferred platform. For additional security considerations and support for preparing for your online meeting, see the "More Support" section in the Practicing Video Conference Security training page.

Meeting Planning

Use CCL's Meeting Plan Template as a guide to solicit, discuss and prioritize everyone’s ideas for the lobby meeting. Key items to discuss include the appreciation, primary goal, supporting asks, and open-ended questions for discussion. You can find planning guidance on the Planning Your Lobby Meeting training page.
If there is a primary liaison, but the liaison is not at your meeting, designate someone to send your ideas to the liaison.
Please include a volunteer in each meeting who will solely be point person in helping your team with managing the technology platform you will use.

Assembling The Lobby Team

Working with your liaison, determine who will be on the six-person lobby team like you usually would for an in-district meeting. If appropriate, include a local business leader or other trusted messenger on the team. Note: CCL Headquarters will not create lobby teams nor send out lobby meeting schedules. While CCL HQ will track appointment times, your schedule will come directly from working with your local liaison and chapter leaders.
We recommend that the lobby team meet several times on Zoom to plan and rehearse the meeting. Some teams have found it helpful to have someone role-play being the MOC as part of your practice session. If your team includes a local community leader of some prominence, you may need to personally prepare them for the meeting. Include them in your practice meetings if at all possible.
We trust that your meeting team knows your member of Congress best, and can determine what you think is your best option for strengthening the relationship with your MOC and their staff. You’ll want to make sure you have worked through any technical challenges related to conference calls or Zoom, as well as practiced how you will deliver the content of your meeting. Make sure everyone on your meeting team has the time to participate in this planning and practice. Amy will be providing guidance for liaisons around planning and practicing.

How to Participate

There is no need to sign up or register for the lobby days. Please talk to your local chapter leader or liaison if you would like to participate in a lobby meeting.

Due to limited space in meetings, not everyone will be able to participate. Most people should expect to participate in at most one meeting.

For any questions regarding 2020 December Lobby Days, please email Amy Bennett at amy@citizensclimate.org.

Recommended Trainings On Lobby Preparation

Looking to gear up for the December 2020 Lobby Days with CCL's trainings?

If you haven't already, CCL encourages everyone participating in Lobby Days to attend CCL’s Climate Advocate Training (register here) (online session scheduled for October 7th, 21st, November 4th and 18th as well as an additional Youth Lobby Training Sunday, November 8 at 4pm ET/1pm PT (register by 11/7 here).
All 2020 Lobby Day participants are encouraged to RSVP to listen to Dr. Danny Richter's (CCL’s VP of Government Affairs) essential training for Lobby Day in two parts (similar to what he normally provides in D.C.):
- Listen here for Lobby Training #1 (held Thur., November 12th)- Danny provided up to the moment insights on the dynamics in Congress, legislative strategy, and how to talk about endorsements/statements of support most effectively in meetings to support our agenda.
- Listen here for Lobby Training #2 (held Thur., November 19th)- Danny reviewed CCL's June Meeting Analysis, primary and supporting asks and guidance for lobby teams as they plan their meetings.

Additional Optional Trainings

Outside of Danny’s trainings (November 12th and 19th), CCL provides many additional trainings for volunteers to help prepare for virtual lobby meeting experiences. All live sessions are optional and will be held at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT on Tuesday or Thursday evenings. To RSVP for any session, click on the corresponding "RSVP for live training" link to be taken to the sign-up page. Click on any of the training titles below to see the pre-recorded video/podcast ahead of the live training or the updated archive afterwards.

*intended for new/newer CCL volunteers

Oct 13:	The Economics of Carbon Fee & Dividend Policies*
Oct. 27:	Understanding the Basics of Congress*
Nov. 5:	Processing The Election
Nov. 10:	Lobbying 201: Planning & Practicing Lobby Meetings*
Nov. 24:	CCL's Online Conference & Lobby Days Q&A*
Dec. 3:	Lobbying 401: How To Lead A Lobby Team

CCL is also excited to also announce a new and improved interface that will be added to our pages on CCL Community, beginning with our Working With Congress series! These trainings will be rolled out each week coinciding with the upcoming training series and will provide a more interactive and engaging learning experience.

Length

Press play to start the video (28m 45s)