When American Association of School Administrators (AASA) and other membership organizations try to engage individuals in advocacy, a frequent exhortation is "Contact your representatives in Congress." Professional membership groups also stress that written communication is more powerful than phone calls to a representative's office, and they encourage personalizing the message for maximum impact. Recent security concerns relating to congressional mail has made e-mail a preferred form of contact for most Capitol Hill offices. While all these suggestions can make professional groups more effective in promoting specific positions, the author's three decades of involvement with members of Congress has helped him to realize that writing letters, sending e-mail messages, and making periodic phone calls are only small pieces of effective advocacy. When all is said and done, advocacy on the federal level begins and ends with continuous relationships between school leaders and members of Congress and their staffs. Getting to know the representative early in the service involves meeting informally during campaign appearances before the candidate is elected and continues at every opportunity when the successful legislator visits in the local community. This process is nonthreatening and provides opportunities to give congressional representatives a local perspective on public school successes. Every contact should end with an invitation to visit local schools when time permits. Local schools provide good photo opportunities--especially when tied to an accomplishment involving local students or to a particular issue that shows how schools benefit from federal support. Connecting local school leaders to congressional offices in Washington requires a methodical plan, and AASA staff can help with this. The letters or e-mails directed to members of Congress on specific and timely issues are often little more than documents to be addressed by staff with a perfunctory reply. Frequent contacts may guarantee one's name will be recognized, but unless a direct connection is made to someone "real" in the local school district or at the state level, the correspondence may be relegated to the office file. Local school leaders who build positive relationships with elected officials and their legislative staffs can complement the good work of AASA staff in supporting public education on a federal level. The connections one makes can result in a clearer message and help it stand out among the myriad of issues on the congressional agenda.