How to Host Elected Officials

Case Study:

Hosting an Open House for Elected Officials at Caring for Bethlehem

Connecticut Foodshare partner, Caring for Bethlehem, located in Bethlehem, Connecticut, recently hosted an open house prior to Election Day where they invited candidates to learn about their organization. Learn more about how this event was planned and executed and use it as an example to inspire open houses or elected officials visits at your own program.

Event Planning

After learning how helpful hosting candidates and elected officials is to gaining support for CT-NAP, Caring for Bethlehem volunteer, Rick Wood, brought the idea of an open house to his Board of Directors. They discussed why the event was important, what impact it could have on their organization, and who should be invited. Once everyone agreed on hosting the event, planning began.

Rick shared the event was easy to host, they just needed to complete a list of simple steps.

First, a date and time were chosen. They chose a day when no programs were operating to protect the privacy of neighbors, and chose a two-hour time block, from 8:00AM to 10:00PM to allow for flexibility for guests’ schedules. Alternatively, you can invite officials to see a distribution if it fits better with your style of organization and is acceptable to your neighbors.

Download Invitation Example

This event did not require a budget. Simple refreshments were donated (Don’t worry if this isn’t available to you—elected officials may refrain from eating at public events to avoid a poorly timed photo!).

Next, one person was designated to contact Town Hall for a list of candidates and their contact information. If you host an event after Election Day, click here to find your State Representative and State Senator. It may also be beneficial to invite local officials to build relationships in case there is a way they can support your organization in the future.

One person was designated to contact their Connecticut Foodshare Network Relations Representative for talking points on CT-NAP, so all staff and volunteers were on the same page when talking with legislators.

A small group worked together to write the invitation (example above). This invite also included a basic information sheet about Caring for Bethlehem with descriptions and statistics on their programs. They decided to send letters instead of emails. Each letter was personally addressed and signed by the president of the organization.

Separate event invitations were sent to all volunteers along with Connecticut Foodshare talking points and descriptions of all programs with basic statistics to share. Simple invitations were also given to neighbors who they thought may have an interest in speaking with legislators.

Lastly, a small group was charged with creating simple posters with information and statistics regarding their programs, volunteer hours, and other data to display during the open house. The whole planning process took about a month.

Execution

The day of the open house, Caring for Bethlehem found most people arrived closer to 8:00AM but still had folks trickling in until 10:00AM. Name tags were available to those who wanted them, but the environment was informal. This causal atmosphere created space for some unplanned speeches.

After some basic introductions at the start of the Open House, some volunteers asked to speak. After volunteers had their turn to speak about the program and community needs, some neighbors spoke about their experiences and what they hope their elected officials will do. Candidates then had the chance to respond to what they heard. This order of speakers, though organic, is good practice. Let volunteers and neighbors steer the conversation so candidates and elected officials can hear from the experts in your community.

Volunteers then went to the areas in which they usually work. Candidates and other guests were encouraged to walk around each station and discuss different aspects of the programs with volunteers. This is an opportunity to not only explain

the operations of your program but any increased need you are seeing, whether you have enough resources to meet it, and how CT-NAP can help your community.

Post-Event Reflections

The event was a success and Caring for Bethlehem hopes the Open House will make a lasting impression on officials and spur increased funding of CT-NAP. When asked what he would say to other partners considering an open house, Rick said,