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Starting a Children's Letter Writing Campaign

Every day the RIF national office receives many letters and pictures from program coordinators and RIF children.  It is important that your members of Congress see and read these letters, too! Sharing these letters with them builds support for RIF on Capitol Hill. Make sure to include the cover page with your letters in your postal package to RIF.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What instructions do the children need to write their letters? 
• What materials do the children need to write their letters?
• How do we make sure the letters are read by our Congressional offices?
• How do other RIF volunteers organize their children to write letters?
• Where do we send the letters once they have been collected? 

Starting a children's letter writing drive is easy!  Below are a few FAQs to help you get started.

What instructions do the children need to write their letters?

• Ask each child to write a letter to their members of Congress, explaining that Legislators decide how much money to give each year to buy RIF books for them. TIP: Do not have children date their letters.
• All letters should be written in the children's own words and should focus on why they are thankful to receive their RIF books. Tip: Each letter should mention "RIF".
• Encourage the children to write about why reading is important to them, why they picked a particular book, what they learned after reading their RIF books, whether RIF helps them with reading, etc.
• These are examples of how children can structure their letter content:
  • Some children start their letters by showing their appreciation for the RIF books ("My RIF book makes me happy because I can share it with my family.").
  • Some children write about their dreams and hopes ("I got a book about space from RIF and I love it because want to grow up to be a scientist")
  • Some children end their letters by asking questions of the congressmen ("What do you like to read?" or "Do you like your job?").
• Children should feel free to include the name of their school, their class, and their teacher.  The children should write/sign their names at the end of the letter.
  
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What materials do the children need to write their letters?

• Paper. Download our formatted spring-themed template or Congress-themed template and print it on regular copy paper. Tip: Your children can make their own templates, but don't use construction paper.
• Crayons or markers. Tip: Permanent ink is preferred over pencil.
• The names and titles of both state Senators and the Representative for your district on the board or overhead for children to see.
• Instructions for completing the task.
• RIF Children’s Letter Cover Page for including with your postal package to RIF.
  
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How do we make sure the letters are read by Congressional our offices?

• Do not provide a script. If every child writes the same thing, the letters will not be read by Congressional staff members. Tip: Don't worry about achieving grammatical or spelling perfection. 
• Address the letters to the specific congressman/woman by using their title and last name (i.e. Dear Senator Stevens or Dear Rep. Brown). Identify your Senators and Representative. Tip: Letters addressed to "Dear RIF" or "Dear Federal Government" or "Dear Senator" Will not be read. 
• Include a short note from you for each member of Congress receiving children's letters (please use your organization's letterhead when possible). Tip: Invite your member of Congress to be a guest reader at your next RIF distribution and encourage them to continue to support RIF’s funding.
  
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How do other RIF volunteers organize their children to write letters?

• For small organizations: In a class, all children can be asked to write to their Representative. Since there are two Senators per state, you can divide the group up and have half write to Senator A and half write to the Senator B.  Tip: This practice in advocacy is also a letter writing assignment and can be done as part of Language Arts lessons during normal class time. Identify your Senators and Representative.
• For large organizations: Multiple classrooms can be divided into three groups, all children can be given a RIF children's letter template and one class assigned to write to Senator A, another to Senator B, and the third class to Representative C. Tip: This practice in advocacy is also a letter writing assignment and can be done as part of Language Arts lessons during normal class time. Identify your Senators and Representative.
  
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Where do we send the letters once they have been collected?

Send the letters and RIF Children's Letter Cover Page to RIF's Outreach Coordinators, and they will deliver them to Congress to ensure that the letters are received in a timely manner and do not get damaged by screening measures.

• Mail to:
  C/O Outreach Coordinators, "Your RIF PIN"
  Reading Is Fundamental
  1825 Connecticut Avenue
  Suite 400
  Washington, DC 20009

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