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Members have long included short polling questions in their regular newsletters or on their websites, and some even pose questions on Facebook or Twitter. Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA), however, is taking a slightly different approach. Rather than tacking on a polling question to a much larger email newsletter—almost as an afterthought—he created a cleverly branded regular poll of his constituents called the “instaPoll.”

CMF hosted a training program for House and Senate staff on how to improve their websites in preparation for the Gold Mouse Project website evaluations this summer. Here are 5 tips from our Q+A with award winning staffers and 5 recommendations from our presentation:

I recently made an historic discovery regarding what is probably the first system to track relationships between Members of Congress and organizations that seek to influence them. Any grassroots or government relations professional knows that it is essential to have an understanding of Congress, and one of the best ways to do this is to set up a customer relationship management (CRM) system to track relationships between supporters and legislators. The tools also are used to note important characteristics or interests of the legislator that may either connect him to your cause, track meeting discussions, and note follow-up actions.

You might be able to do it alone, but it's easier with some help! In fact, it's close to impossible for a single staffer to create an award-winning website by himself. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes an entire office to maintain an excellent website.

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?

Managing high volumes of constituent calls is a challenge for many congressional offices, but the office of Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) is taking matters into its own hands to help New Mexicans get their answer when they first call the office.

As Hollywood prepares for the Oscars, Congress is gearing up to compete for a different prize: the Gold Mouse Awards. They are awarded to the Members of Congress who best use the Internet to more effectively communicate with and serve citizens. Preparations have already begun for the evaluations to start this summer!

I just got done reading an amazing book about creating change in society, "Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard," by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. This morning, as I heard the stories of the winners of the Public Affairs Council's Grassroots Innovation Awards, I realized that these innovators used some of the same strategies that the authors urged.

Today, CMF and the Partnership released a new survey of congressional staff which reveals that they believe constituents have far more influence on undecided lawmakers than lobbyists. If you listen to the media, the pundits, or the general public, however, you might think lobbyists are at the top of the heap. But our research shows this is not the case.

The newly released House calendar for the 112th Congress presents a fascinating opportunity for grassroots advocates seeking to build relationships and influence legislators. The calendar makes good on part of a promise the House Republicans made that they would operate differently than Democrats, and even previous Republican leaders.