Gold Mouse Awards for the 113th Congress

It's that time of year when CMF gears up to begin the Gold Mouse Awards project. The good news for Congress—evaluations won't begin until Labor Day. We will, however, be offering tips throughout the summer on how you can improve your online communications.

Managing Budget Cuts

To assist Hill managers with the recent funding cuts, CMF produced a short manual containing 46 budget-cutting ideas and strategies for saving on big-ticket and small-ticket items, which can be applied to both House and Senate offices.

The Power of Citizen Advocacy

Contrary to popular belief, citizens have more power than they realize. According to our research, most of the congressional staff surveyed said constituent visits to the D.C. or district/state offices have 'some' or 'a lot' of influence on an undecided Member of Congress, more than any other influence group or strategy.

Life in Congress

CMF and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) have partnered to conduct groundbreaking research with congressional staff and Members. The second of three reports from this project, "Life in Congress: The Member Perspective," focuses on the Member's viewpoint of work-life in Congress.

#SocialCongress

This report, part of the "Communicating with Congress" project, represents the first research into how Congress uses social media to gauge opinion and communicate with constituents.

Recent Updates

civility

Op-Ed: Congress’s tragedy of the commons

by CMF on June 02, 2011

"As I step down from the chairmanship of the nonpartisan Congressional Management Foundation, I'd like to make a plea to the members of Congress whom the foundation exists to serve: that they recapture the trust of the American people."

Comments: 0

Tags:citizen engagement, civility, house, senate, standards, transparency

Advocate to Influence...Not to Annoy

by Bradford Fitch on September 10, 2010

The last few years have seen an explosion in interest in advocacy, and that is generally a good thing. A CMF survey of citizens found that 44% of adult Americans had contacted Congress within the last five years. While this increased interest in exercising constitutional rights has value, one must keep in mind there is such a thing as 'bad advocacy.'

Comments: 0

Tags:advocacy, citizen engagement, civility, grassroots

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