The Council’s government relations department has put together templates so you can request a visit with the Washington, D.C., offices of your representative and senators and/or your governor. Download a Word version and personalize it with details about your organization. Please be sure to follow up to ensure receipt of your requests.

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Formal Meeting Request
(Your Foundation's Letterhead)
(Date)

[To a Representative]
The Honorable [insert full name]
U.S. House of Representatives
[Room # Senate Office Building]
Washington, D.C. 20515

[To a Senator]
The Honorable [full name]
United States Senate
[Room # House Office Buidling]
Washington, D.C. 20510

Re: Request for a Meeting

Dear Representative or Senator [insert last name]:

On behalf of the foundations in your state [or district], I am writing to request the opportunity to meet with you on [Insert Date].

[Personalize here: introduce yourself, your foundation and summarize foundations in the congressional district or state] Example: I am Executive Director of the Jones Foundation, which has $25 million in assets. We make grants totaling $2 million annually, mostly in Ohio. The most recent data indicates that there are 24 grantmaking foundations in your district [or state] with combined assets over $120 million, making grants annually of $7.5 million.

During our meeting with you, we would like to talk about our work and share our views on several policy issues affecting foundations being considered by Congress, including:

• legislation that would permanently expand and extend the IRA charitable rollover (H.R. 2502) [If Senator, use S. 557 instead of H.R. 2502];
  
  
• legislation that would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify and simplify the excise tax that private foundations pay on the net investment income. (H.R. 2311) [If Senator, use S. 593 instead of H.R. 2311];
  
  
• the need for legislative improvements to a number of the charitable provisions that were enacted as part of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA);
  
  
• our hope that you will join the bi-partisan Congressional Philanthropy Caucus, House/Senate respectively.

I will call your Washington, D.C. office to confirm receipt of this letter and to speak with your scheduler about a specific meeting date and time. Thank you in advance for the opportunity to meet with you.

Sincerely,

cc: ________________ [insert name of tax aide]

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Download and Print a Copy of the Representative Meeting Request Letter

Download and Print a Copy of the Senate Meeting Request Letter

Download and Print a Copy of the Governor's Office Meeting Request Letter