Preparing For CCL March Lobby Days (online-only)

From March 22-26, 2021, Citizens’ Climate Lobby supporters will join online from around the world to help Congress address climate change. This page walks through important details regarding how the appointment setting process is being handled, available trainings, and additional recommendations as volunteers prepare with their chapters.

Breadcrumb

/topics/working-with-congress

TOC and Guide Section

Overview

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CCL will be holding our March Lobby Days online. This training page contains information about these events, and will be updated to reflect additional 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:

March 4: March Lobby Training w/ Dr. Danny Richter (details here)
Mar. 7th: Online Climate Advocate Training (with practice meetings with Congressmembers)
March 22-26: March Lobby Days (online-only)

Planning For 2021 March Lobby Meetings

Planning for CCL's March 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 March 22 - 26 online lobby meetings.

Additional Training Opportunities

Leading up to the March Lobby Days, there is a variety of live CCL trainings being offered for you to help get you up to speed. You are welcome to click the links to RSVP and find out more information to any of the following trainings:

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 2021 March Lobby Days, please email Amy Bennett at amy@citizensclimate.org.

Length

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

Previous Video For December's Conference & Lobby Days: