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.
Among the findings to be released:
- Data from a select number of House and Senate offices quantifying the increase in constituent communications in the past decade.
- Percentage of congressional offices answering incoming email with a response email in 2010 compared to 2005.
- Percentage of congressional staff who report they spend more time on constituent communications than two years ago.
- Response time to constituent communications, as reported by congressional staff.
The report is part of CMF's "Communicating with Congress" research. The project is now part of CMF's Partnership for a More Perfect Union, which seeks to improve understanding, communications, and the relationship between citizens and Congress. The report is the third in a series released in 2011 by CMF based primarily on a survey of congressional staff conducted October–December 2010. Perceptions of Citizen Advocacy on Capitol Hill was released in January 2011, and #SocialCongress: Perceptions and Use of Social Media on Capitol Hill was released in July 2011.
The report was sponsored by Convio, Fireside21, and voterVOICE.
