Writing a letter is, at once, the most difficult and simplest way to communicate. For many, setting a request on paper is much less threatening that a face-to-face request. Additionally, writing a letter is a formal means of expression that serves to clearly document a request or petition.

Of course, the difficulty with writing a letter is ensuring that you write a strong and persuasive letter. Before you can accomplish that task, you must have a clear message or request. You must have done research and analyzed the impact of your request.  In short, you must be in a position to persuade. Remember, when you ask a decision-maker for something you are seen as someone knowledgeable about that request.  You must be prepared to state your position in a way that supports your request. 

Information You Will Need

Know who you are addressing. In all cases, do your homework.  Research the kinds of results and programs a decision maker has supported in the past. Find out the political or policy leanings of those individuals you must contact. You may have to convince people who may not be favorable to your cause.  So, your letter should be crafted to answer any potential objections they may have.  If you are writing to a supporter, do not assume you have their support. Help them help you by focusing on principles/policies they can promote. And, of course, be ready and eager to follow up your written letter/proposal with an in-person visit.

Show you are an expert: know your users.  Go beyond demographic data.  Find out who uses your library and why.  Most importantly, be able to draw a concrete image of those users and the value they bring to the organization, educational setting, or community. Connect your request in outcomes to the people you serve and, in turn, the decision maker you are contacting.

Set priorities.  One of the most common errors when asking for something is the aggressive pursuit of too many items at once.  While no one suggests not advocating for everything the library needs over the long term (in fact, professional librarians have an obligation to do so), in the immediate decision-making arena, one cannot ask for a wish list of 20 items and expect to get them all. In fact, you run the risk of not being taken seriously.

You need to ask yourself:  What does my library need most?  What can I most likely get this year?  While you can ask for that list of 20 big-ticket items, remember that you will have to spread your energy promoting them all, and you run the risk of being viewed as someone who asks for the moon and has no real sense of practicalities.  In the lobbying world, few perceptions are more damaging.  You lose credibility quickly.  Ask for what you really need now.

Show the crisis! Librarianship is one of the few professions that seems to do more work with fewer resources.  If budgets are cut, then staff works twice as hard so that patrons do not suffer.  And yet, it seems as if libraries are often penalized for performing well.  Since few libraries appear to be on the verge of some crisis, decision makers tend to allocate funding to departments or agencies that are in trouble, 

For so long, librarians have struggled to present a positive image of libraries, to combat stereotypes and modernize the library image. It is understandable that libraries want to project a positive image unmarred by troubles.  In one sense, library managers have to do so.  They are accountable and must act as good stewards of public funding and provide quality services. The problem is that, without showing some sort of crisis, libraries will likely not receive large allocations of resources. 

In advocacy, the strongest technique (because it is the most urgent) is to show a real need for something. Library managers, in fact most librarians, have little experience speaking in terms of disasters and crisis.  Lobbying is, in some ways, a competition against other priorities.  Whatever is most pressing is what will be funded.

Or, show success.  An important qualification is, if you are writing to be included in some project or you hope to expand your services, you will need to focus on your successes. Crises don’t help here.

Checklist

• Find the correct address, title, and salutation for the person you are writing
• Determine if you or someone else will sign the letter (will it be on official stationary or sent personally?
• If you are asking for a specific action by a certain date, make sure you send the letter with sufficient time.
• Use direct, professional prose. Do not ramble.
• Introduce the purpose of your letter quickly
• Use good data but do not just send facts and figures
• Illustrate your point
• Give outcomes
• Ask for something specific.
• Be polite and offer thanks.
• Try to stay to one page.
• Keep a copy and make sure you copy anyone else who should be copied.
• Assume your letter will be read by people who support you and those that do not.
• Add documentation as needed.

You will also want to consider having multiple signers to your letter. In some cases, getting several key people to sign a single letter is much more effective than multiple letters.  Such an action shows consensus and a call to action.

Be careful, however. Depending on the tone of the letter and the nature of the issue, a letter with multiple signers can lead the recipient to take the letter as a subtle—or not so subtle—warning.

SAMPLES (pdf):

• Letter to get vendors involved in policy advocacy

• Letter to a U.S. senator

• Open letter to the Texas Legislature

---