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How to plan a successful site visit for your representatives

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How to plan a successful site visit for your representatives

As Congress’ Memorial Day recess approaches, your afterschool program has an excellent opportunity to organize a site visit and show your representatives the important work your program is doing. Site visits are a fantastic way for new and established programs alike to build up relationships with elected officials, and for elected officials to see firsthand that afterschool works.

To kick start your site visit planning, here are some top tools and strategies for maximizing your site visit’s impact.

Resources

  • Check out the Afterschool for All Challenge toolkit. You’ll find a general overview of how to host a successful site visit, some do’s and don’ts for a great event, and a sample invitation for you to send to your member of Congress. Our outreach strategies page also has a five-step plan to conducting a great visit.
  • Explore a toolkit from a statewide afterschool network. The Indiana Afterschool Network’s toolkit contains tips, techniques, and templates to make a site visit a success. Read through the planning guide, use the event checklist, and learn how to pitch your site visit to local media to boost your event’s profile.
  • Watch a webinar. While you’re developing your strategy, it’s helpful to hear firsthand accounts from other programs and afterschool advocates about their experiences conducting site visits.  Check out our webinar on the impact of the president’s budget proposal, with tips from a program director on the best ways to maximize your site visit’s impact.

Strategies

  • Do your research. Know who your elected officials are and what subjects are most important to them. Having insight into a policy maker’s platform makes it much easier to design a visit that will persuade them: if a policy maker has repeatedly expressed concern about childhood obesity, highlighting the work your program does to encourage healthy eating and physical activity will resonate!
  • Find your champions. Identify the students, parents, program staff, school officials, and other individuals who are best equipped to represent your program. Ask them if they’d be interested in attending the visit, give them some background on the official who will be present, show them a basic schedule, and encourage them to prepare for a conversation.
  • Showcase your best programming. Select the programming you want to highlight during the visit—STEM learning sessions and other academic enrichment are often the top picks for visits. Include the policy maker in snack time and let them interact with your student representatives before facilitating a discussion between parent representatives and the policy maker. The opportunity to let an elected official talk with their constituents about the importance of afterschool is not to be missed!
  • Follow up after the visit. The visit may be over, but the conversation has just begun! Be sure to send a thank-you message after the visit and stay in touch with your representative. Having a strong relationship with your elected officials is key to the long-term wellness of your afterschool program.

Finally, here’s some advice from Kim Templeman, a former Afterschool Ambassador and elementary school principal who hosted a successful site visit at her afterschool program:

“Be persistent. Don’t feel like you are imposing on the official’s time—they are there to represent you, and their job is to understand and get involved in what you do. … Be prepared to talk specifics. Don’t just say ‘we still need your funding.’ Explain to the official how you budget your program and show the official what funds support different activities. That way, the official can understand the reality of an afterschool program’s needs, and what your program needs most.”

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