The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) will release a new report on October 4 documenting how the volume of constituent communications has changed in the past decade, as well as congressional staff perceptions on how internal practices have changed in that time. CMF's How Citizen Advocacy Is Changing Mail Operations on Capitol Hill is based on a survey of 260 congressional staff on how email and the Internet are affecting office procedures. CMF researchers also collected mail volume data from ten congressional offices.

When communicating with congressional offices, the most pressing question used to be: are email or postal messages more effective? While each has its advantages, congressional staff view them equally. The more important question is: are the messages personalized?

Since the release of our Recommendations for Improving the Democratic Dialogue in 2008, we've been working to bring about a dramatic change in the way communications are transmitted to and from congressional offices.