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COVID-19 has forced all of us to significantly alter the way we live. It has required us to find new ways of collaborating, communicating, and cooperating with each other. Alongside the rest of the country, Congress is caught up in these changes as well. Every Senator and Representative has had to find new ways of connecting with constituents to convey federal, state, and local resources; frame the work of Congress to confront COVID's challenges; and advocate for certain behavioral changes.

Technology and Congress - they're doing better than you might think. During my first week at CMF, I attended the Legislative Data Transparency Conference (LDTC) on June 27, 2017 hosted by the Committee on House Administration...and it blew my mind.

As the volume of incoming constituent communications rises exponentially across Capitol Hill, the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) has pulled together information that might help your office deal with the deluge.

Please read on for our advice – whether for phone, email, social media, or your website.

In April 2014, the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) released the Gold Mouse Awards (and accompanying best practices report) for the 113th Congress. Seventy congressional websites were recognized with awards. This video discusses the methodology for the Gold Mouse Awards, the characteristics of effective Member websites, and includes examples from some of the award winners.

In past posts, we've discussed the characteristics of effective Member (personal office) websites. While some overlap exists between award-winning Member and committee websites in terms of usability and timeliness, there is little commonality otherwise.

Today CMF hosted a briefing for congressional staff on how to improve online communications with constituents, based on what we saw in our recent reviews of congressional websites and social media. The program also paid special attention on learning from the policies and practices of Gold Mouse Award-winning staffers.