RallyCongress.com -- Connect to Capitol Hill

Frequently Asked Questions

What petition topics are acceptable?

Rally Congress is a strictly non-partisan tool for people and organizations who care about a wide variety of issues and causes. We help citizens and organizations across the United States connect with Congress, participate in the legislative process, and build communities around different causes. Of course, all petitions are subject to our Terms of Use, which has more detailed guidelines regarding copyrighted materials and other issues.

Will I have access to my petition signers?

Absolutely! When you create your first petition, you'll receive a log-in password and other account information. You can log-in to your account control panel anytime. The control panel has a number of tools that allow you to search and view your Action Takers. You can even export portions or your entire Action Taker database at anytime in an Excel spreadsheet.

I've heard about logic puzzles and other barriers to email delivery on Capitol Hill. How does it work?

No doubt, Congressional offices are adding additional layers of validation to their web site email forms. But don't worry, Rally Congress spends hundreds and hundreds of hours programming to make sure that your emails get delivered! In many cases, the system will ask the end user to provide the real-time validation information and then Rally Congress will deliver that to the Congressional web site. There's a live screen shot of one type of integration in action on the right.

We monitor Congressional web sites daily, so we're able to adapt quickly to any changes.

Does Rally Congress include delivery to state and local legislators?

No, our focus is on delivering to the federal government-- to the 100 offices of the U.S. Senate, the 436 Representatives (including D.C.) in Congress, and the White House.

How secure is my database?

Rally Congress takes the security of your data very seriously. Our servers are locked down in one of the top data centers in the United States. All physical and log-in access to our servers is monitored, logged, and restricted, and we use security-hardened server operating systems to deploy Rally Congress. Your data is backed up nightly, and you can download your own copies of your database at any time.

Who has access to the emails?

We do not share or sell user emails or other personal information with any third parties. Of course, the Member of Congress or Senator will receive the sender's letter, email, and address (that's the point of Rally Congress, after all!).

What does it cost?

The basic service is free! Our mission is helping all Americans better communicate with Congress. Complete pricing details are here.

What about Action Center uptime?

Over the past 14 months of operation, we've delivered 99% unscheduled downtime-- thanks to our high-performance bandwidth and redundant network connections, and our hard-working systems engineers. As we grow in 2008, we will strive to continue to limit downtime to scheduled maintaince or upgrades at off-peak times to limit disruption.

How Do I Write an Effective Letter to Congress?

This is such a common question from people of all walks of life that we organized a list of tips and advice.