How To Take Grassroots Action In Your Area

  1. Form a group of interested printers, mailers, magazines, list brokers, letter shops, color separators, photographers and papers mills. The goal is to get a broad range of businesses that can illustrate just how big the issue is. Additionally, a greater number of companies represents a greater number of jobs and a greater number of votes.
  2. Decide which of your representatives and senators will have the most influence on this issue and prioritize them. PIA can help you with this decision.
  3. Start with your highest priority representative or senator and organize a meeting to discuss postal reform.
  4. Preferably, hold your meeting at a print shop or somewhere postal-dependent work is done. This will help show first-hand the jobs that are at risk if the USPS continues its financial slide. You also want to give the impression that this issue impacts many industries and all sizes of companies, so you may not necessarily want to hold the meeting at the biggest company in your area.
  5. Outline the emerging crisis, as well as proposed action, so your representative will have a comprehensive overview of the issue.
  6. Give your representative a listing of the companies in your group as well as the number of jobs at each company.
  7. Develop a few presentations from attendees that will illustrate specifically the impact of postal increases on their companies (in terms of jobs, employee bonuses, etc.). This helps your elected officials put a face to the numbers and show the impact specific to their districts.
  8. Be sure to ask your senator or representative to be an advocate in Congress for postal reform.
  9. Ask them to keep your group informed as to the actions they take on this matter.

Tips on Organizing Your Group:

  • Recruit one or two other professionals to help form the group and do the legwork. Have a staff member to help or recruit someone that does.
  • Try to identify companies in your area that are being hurt by high postage rates.
  • When considering large printers, mailers, etc., be sure that the people you choose are actually working in your state. For example, you want the manager of the print shop in your state, not someone from the corporate office in another state.
  • Concentrate on building an e-mail list of the contacts for your group. You will be organizing meetings, often with last minute information changes, so e-mail is the best contact method.
  • Have someone at the meetings with your senator or representative take photographs with a digital camera. These can be useful on Web sites and for showing other people your efforts and successes.

Sample Petition >>