1. LETTER. Write three invitation letters, one to each of your two Senators and one to your member of Congress. We've enclosed a draft you can start with. Please personalize it based on the plans you are making for your Focus the Nation session. Specific details will paint a picture of a session an elected leader shouldn't miss!

1. You can find your Senators and House member by zipcode HERE.   [Congressmerge]
2. You can find your Senators HERE. [official Senate site]
3. You can look up your House member by zipcode HERE. [official House site]

2. SIGNATURE. Ideally, the letter would come from your institution's President. If that's not possible, a faculty member should sign it. Have a student representative from your Focus the Nation committee or student government co-sign the letter.

3. LETTERHEAD. The letter should be on university/college stationary.

4. SNAIL MAIL. Send to the address listed on the sample letter. Have as many individuals as possible send in hand-written personal invitations.

5. FAX OR EMAIL. Either fax the letter to your member of Congress or scan it and send as an email attachment.

6. COPY Important! Please send a copy of your letter on university letterhead to us by fax to 503-200-2313 or by emailing at info@focusthenation.org. Once we have a copy, we can help with follow-up.

7. DON'T BE DISCOURAGED. It's unlikely one of your members of Congress will accept the invitation right away. Also, other schools in your state will be sending invitations. Many Congressional offices keep their schedules very fluid and may not commit until a couple of weeks before the event. By sending it now, you are getting it on the scheduler's radar screen. Complementing the official invite with as many hand-written letters as possible will give it that much more weight. We want to flood their offices with invites so that they cannot ignore this event.

8. FOLLOW-UP About a week after sending the invitation, follow-up with phone calls to the office. Ask for the scheduler and then verify receipt of the invitation. Mention any new information you have. Call again a few weeks later. Be polite. The more individual calls the better – these politicians need to know this is an issue their constituency cares about.

9. GET CREATIVE. In addition to the official letter, your Focus the Nation committee should exercise its creativity to generate additional invitations. Each of you could write your own messages about why the elected leaders shouldn't miss it. You could also stage an event like the Green Torch Relay or some other friendly way to draw media attention to the event and your invitation.

(ON UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE LETTERHEAD)

DATE

(TO A SENATOR)
The Honorable [Full Name]
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator [Last Name]:

(TO A REPRESENTATIVE)
The Honorable [Full Name]
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Mr./Mrs./Ms. [Last Name]:

On behalf of the [University or College Name], it is my very great pleasure to invite you to speak at our campus, joining a national intergenerational dialogue on global warming solutions for America. As young people, we know that global warming is the challenge of our generation, and so we ask you to come and talk with us about our future.

[University or College Name] is sponsoring this discussion as part of a national educational initiative, “Focus the Nation”, along with over one thousand colleges, universities and high schools across the country. This is, by far, the biggest national teach-in in U.S. history. A key feature of Focus the Nation is civic engagement. From campus to Congress, Focus the Nation is directly engaging millions of students and citizens with the nation’s decision-makers.

Will you join us in a non-partisan, round-table dialogue? We need you here to provide us a perspective from Washington, and to hear what young people are thinking. If you cannot attend physically, Focus the Nation is providing a unique opportunity to participate electronically in a carbon-friendly way. You can join us from your desk using a video chat connection! Through a partnership with SightSpeed, we have the technology to make this connection, and are ready to work with your staff to create a new way to talk with your constituents, a new link between your office in Washington, and [name of town or city].

Here at [University or College], our Focus the Nation team is planning an exciting day of campus-wide discussion. Focus the Nation will be a transformative event for faculty, students, and civic leaders who must reason and work together to start solving the problem of climate change. We are in need of your leadership, and very much hope you will be there with us.

Sincerely,