Advocacy Day FAQ

Advocacy Day preparation requires significant staff time and financial resources. We ask that you consider waiting to register until you are sure you can commit to attending. FORCE will incur costs and logistical issues as a result of last-minute cancellations.

Meetings are scheduled based on your voting address, so it's important that you register using the address where you are registered to vote. If you have questions about this, please contact our Public Policy staff at [email protected] or 1-866-288-7475 x708.

The registration fee is $25 per person. This helps offset the costs of training, materials, and event coordination. Please let us know if this presents a financial hardship. Scholarhips are available for healthcare professionals, partner organizations and those who cannot afford the expense.

FORCE provides training and prep materials as well as more in-depth education regarding the issues and talking points in advance of Advocacy Day. We will arrange conference call/video links for the event, all congressional meetings, and provide a schedule of your appointments (along with the names and contact info of fellow meeting attendees). An easy-to-use Advocacy Day web platform will enable you to access everything you need including your meeting schedule, appointment reminders, materials, legislator and bill information, meeting notes, and more. A helpline with day-of support staff will be available should you experience any scheduling or technology problems.

Upon registration, you will receive a confirmation email. Prior to the event, we will follow up with additional emails containing information about training, meeting resources, and tips to make Advocacy Day a success.

We will host two Advocacy Day trainings: April 30, 8:00-9:30pm EDT and May 8, 6:00-7:30pm EDT. You can choose the one that is most convenient for you. Following the trainings, we are hosting a drop-in Q&A session where you can ask additional questions. This is scheduled for Monday, May 13, 4:00-5:30pm EDT.

General event registration will close on Thursday, May 2, 2024. This allows time to coordinate the appropriate congressional meetings. It also permits advocates to attend training session to prepare for the Advocacy Day "asks." Registrations after the May 2 deadline will be considered on an individual basis depending on the need for representatives from certain states. 

No. Advocacy Day participants will be coming from all across the country, and we will group you with other people from your city, state or region. It is very important that you do not set up your own appointments! If you have existing contacts with members of Congress or their staff, please let us know when you register, or contact our Public Policy staff at [email protected] or 1-866-288-7475 x708.

We will make every effort to secure appointments with your two U.S. senators and your U.S. representative. If a senator or representative is not available, the meeting will be scheduled with a member of their staff. You may be asked to take part in meetings with other lawmaker offices from your state or region of the country. Please note that meetings with Hill staff are just as important as meetings with the actual legislator; Hill staff play a critical role in the legislative process.

No. We ask that you do not directly contact congressional offices to schedule appointments. If you set up an appointment yourself, it could create complications with meetings that we are scheduling. If you have special connections with individual members of Congress or their staff, please let us know as soon as possible. We can take that into consideration when we are scheduling meetings. Please contact our Public Policy staff at [email protected] or 1-866-288-7475 x708 with any concerns or questions.

While our Advocacy Day meetings will be virtual, it is still important to appear professional. Consider a collared shirt or other professional attire. Lean towards solid colors. Clothes with busy patterns can look fuzzy on camera and big patterns can be distracting. Similarly, reflective jewelry can be distracting.

Ideally. This training is crucial for anyone taking part in Advocacy Day. We will cover important issues and information that you should discuss in your meetings, and what we will be asking Congress to do. It is important for you to feel confident and knowledgeable when meeting with members of Congress or their staff.