Letter writing guidelines
Introduction
Letter writing is an effective and useful way to make a contribution to a social justice campaign. While mass produced letters or postcards may no longer make much of an impact on decision makers such as politicians, individually written and addressed personal letters actually do make more of an impact than their size can suggest.
This sheet contains some guidelines from Caritas experience. Amnesty International provides very useful specific guidelines on effective letter writing on their website at:
Key points
• Be polite
• Be accurate
• Write with the assumption that change is possible
• Follow guidelines and advice given by those who have brought the situation to your attention, particularly when there are people working in the area
• Be concise
• Make it personal
• Ask for a response
Be polite
Rude, aggressive letters are simply not helpful. It is essential to be polite, particularly when writing to politicians in cultures different to our own. The point of letter writing is to bring about change on behalf of people in need, not simply to relieve our own feelings about an issue.
If you have particularly strong feelings about a situation, consider owning them and expressing them as your feelings rather than applying them to someone else’s actions. For example, instead of writing: “Your government’s action is shocking and appalling” consider writing “We were deeply shocked to hear of…” or “We felt appalled to learn that…”
It is important to remember what the source of your information is, and what effect your choice of words might have on them. For example, a group who has struggled to bring their situation to the world’s attention might receive worse treatment if condemnatory letters are received, than if careful polite letters are received.
Be accurate
Ensure your letter is accurate. Do not give in to the temptation to exaggerate, or to turn rumour into fact. Double check any statements in your letter with your original source of information.
As we rarely write letters based on first hand knowledge of a situation, if you do not have a way of absolutely verifying your information, use phrases like: “We understand that…” or “We have heard reports that…” It can be effective to ask the recipient of your letter to investigate or check the information you have received.
Ensure that you understand the particular role of the person you are writing to. For example, do not blame a particular politician for the actions of the military, or of prison staff, or of employers, but ask them to investigate possible breaches of the law by these individuals.
Write with the assumption that change is possible
Do not write only to condemn, but to ask for a particular change to take place. Write with the assumption that the person who receives your letter will be able to bring about some change for the better. Even if writing specifically to protest a particular event, include a request for a particular improvement (for example that perpetrators are brought to justice or that laws are re-examined to prevent this situation arising again).
Follow the guidelines and advice of those who have brought this situation to your attention
If you have been asked by another organisation or person to write the letter, check whether they have made specific requests and don not substitute your judgment for their own. For example, if they have asked for a fair trial to take place, do not replace that with a request for freedom.
Consider running your letter past the people who brought the issue to your attention, to see if there are implications that you may be unaware of. Caritas staff members who may have written letters for ten years or more, still ask another staff member with better knowledge of the country or issue to check a letter before sending it away, in case it might affect other people working in that area.
It usually helps to send a copy of your letter to the person or group that brought the issue to your attention, but do not make any mention of this on your letter, for example by writing “cc [organisation]” under your signature. In the worst cases, this could reduce the ability of that person or group to visit or work in the country you are referring to, or cause them to also come under threat.
Be concise
You may learn a great deal about the situation in the course of preparing your letter, but it is rarely useful to write more than one page of a letter. If writing to a non-English speaking country it is particularly important to use simple, short sentences, otherwise your letter may be discarded or ignored. If you feel there is background information that you would like to include or bring to the attention of the recipient of the letter, consider including a separate background paper, rather than including all information in the text of the letter.
Make it personal
If you have a particular interest or connection to the issue you are writing about, consider including a short sentence that makes the letter personal. For example, you may have visited or studied the country you are writing about. Politicians receive many letters and those that bring the writer alive may be the ones that bring the message home.
Ask for a response
It can help to include a request for a response to your letter, for example with wording such as, “We look forward to your response to our concerns” or “Could you please keep us informed of your response to this situation”. This helps the recipient realise that you are expecting action to follow your letter, and are inviting dialogue rather than sending a one way monologue.