Last summer, as CMF combed through 618 congressional websites to identify the Gold Mouse Award winners, our researchers kept an eye out for innovative features that we weren’t seeing on other congressional sites, or features that were being done particularly well. They don’t guarantee you an award – you must have the underlying content and timeliness we look for – but they certainly don’t hurt.

O.K., some of these “innovative” features weren’t exactly groundbreaking. However, we felt that if the feature was interesting to the site’s users and it wasn’t offered on other sites, that it deserved to be highlighted and shared with other offices (even if the site itself didn’t win a Gold Mouse).

Following are 4 Senate examples of adding value and connecting with constituents online. Next week we’ll highlight how a few House Members are doing this as well.

• LIVE CHAT: Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) provides a list of the most common topics of communications, along with the methods by which you can get your message to the Senator, including a “live chat” option with staff.

• WHO’S WHO: Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)  uses a “Meet My Team” feature to highlight her staff with short biographies and their role in the office.

• A-Z and ZIP: Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) cleverly divides her “Help with the Federal Government” feature into different ways for users to view the resources available to them including A to Z by issue and  federal agency, as well as by ZIP code.

• VIDEO VOTE: Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) uses "Video Votes" to have the Senator explain in his own words how he voted on high-profile legislation and why.

Is your office doing something innovative online?  Let us know in the comments below, and we may feature your site in a future post!