Host a Letter-Writing Event
Politicians have refused to listen. This tax season, we’re making our demands impossible to ignore.
Join us in writing letters and confronting our members of Congress directly, wherever they show up. Our message is simple: Not another dime for bombs over Gaza, ICE raids in our communities, or war on Iran. Our tax dollars should be funding care for our communities, not killing.
Every letter will add to a visible record of all the constituents our elected officials have tried to ignore. When we document our mailings or deliver them in person, they can’t look away any longer.
Host a letter writing event with your friends and family using this guide:
outreach
Invite everyone who may be interested: friends, neighbors, and/or family who are aware but not yet activated, existing organizers ready to take more action, faith community members, fellow students, or coworkers.
Text and/or call each person 1-on-1 to invite them to attend. Personal outreach works better than mass emails.
Be clear about the goal and purpose of the letter writing event: People across the country are publicly taking action. While politicians can try to ignore the emails and calls in their inboxes, this creates a more visible public record for elected officials to stay accountable to their constituents.
Sample text:
“Hey (NAME) ! I’m getting some friends together at my home on (DATE) to send letters to Congress demanding they stop funding bombs over Gaza and ICE raids in our communities. It’ll be at (TIME) at (ADDRESS). Let me know if you can make it!”
Register Your letter-writing gathering
prepare Materials:
Letter template (below)
Turn Up the Heat call-to-action
Envelopes + stamps
Light snacks
Sample Agenda
Introductions:
Invite each person to introduce themselves
Grounding:
Give people some context for the gathering. Read aloud the Turn Up the Heat call-to-action or ask a friend to give recent updates about Gaza, war on Iran, or ICE raids.
Explain the theory of change behind this letter writing tactic. How many phone calls or messages do we predict our elected officials have received yet continue to ignore? Writing a letter—and documenting it in a public way—helps us create public attention and visibility on our demands.
Instructions:
Walk people through the letter template together, including the instructions. Encourage everyone to write a personal message in their own words on the letters.
Take photos of the letters and/our your gathering, while being mindful to avoid any identifying information you wouldn’t want to be public. Share your photos online with the #NotMyTaxDollars hashtag, and submit them to us to be added to the public collection.
Collect letters to deliver to your members of Congress during a protest or disruption, or record a video of someone putting all the letters in a mailbox.