Scheduling Your Meetings

The delegation captain in your state/region coordinates the scheduling process. In most states, regional associations of grantmakers act as delegation captains. To find your delegation captain, visit the Find your Delegation Captain for FOTH 2009 web page. If you don’t have a delegation captain and/or need help in setting up your congressional visits please contact Chatrane Birbal (703/879-0689) for assistance.

Delegation captains might find the information below helpful when scheduling meetings for FOTH. If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact Chatrane Birbal (703/879-0689).

1. DECIDE on which members of Congress to visit. You have Wednesday, March 25, 2009 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to meet with your Senators and Representatives. It is possible to hold up to six to eight meetings during this time. Remember to leave enough time to attend the Breakfast Kick-off from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. at the Almas Temple Club (Note that shuttle buses will take participants to Capitol Hill following the breakfast).
   
   
2. SCHEDULE a meeting by calling the Member’s congressional office in early January and setting up a meeting time for March 25, 2009 that is convenient for both you and your member of Congress (Phone numbers for congressional offices are available at www.congress.org) . Follow these steps when making the call:
   
   
• Ask for the appointments or scheduling assistant.
• Inform the assistant that you are (1) a constituent, (2) you are in Washington for that day only and (3) you have a number of issues of importance to share with your Senator or Representative.
• You will most likely be asked to e-mail or fax a letter stating (1) where you are from, (2) the date and time you would like to meet, (3) why you will be on the Hill, (4) what you would like to discuss and (5) your contact information.
• Meeting with the member AND the tax aide is your ideal scenario, but if the member is unavailable, the tax aide should be able to see you. Request at least 15 minutes for your meeting.
  


3. BE PERSISTENT Members and their staff are busy people. Several calls may be necessary to finalize the meeting.
   
   
4. CONTACT Chatrane Birbal at the Council if you run into problems making your appointment, need help finding the correct number to call, or want to request that a staff member from the Council to attend the meeting with you.
   
   
5. ALLOW TIME between meetings. It can take at least 15 minutes to travel between the three House office buildings (even longer if you are going to the Senate office buildings, located on the other side of Capitol Hill). It’s best to allow a half-hour between meetings.

Capitol Hill Map