This guide is for advocacy professionals planning a fly-in or lobby day at the federal or state level. It addresses one of the most common pitfalls in fly-in planning: defaulting to the basics while missing the creative, strategic moves that make a lobby day actually land. The piece covers seven proven strategies — from early planning and advocate training to standout tactics and digital visibility — drawing on insights from experienced government affairs professionals. Readers come away with a concrete framework and outside-the-box ideas they can apply to their next event.
Key Takeaways
- Plan at least six months out. Fly-ins are cross-departmental projects — the earlier you start, the more buy-in and resources you can pull together.
- In-person meetings are the gold standard. Practitioners consistently rate face-to-face advocacy as the most effective way to influence policymakers — and with 63% of government affairs work now focused at the state level, that means state capitol fly-ins deserve just as much attention as Hill days.
- Your advocates are your strongest asset — but only if they’re prepared. Brief them the day before with talking points, fact sheets, and a ready-to-send follow-up letter.
- Creative differentiation matters. Distinctive swag, unexpected coalition partners, and memorable formats separate a forgettable lobby day from one lawmakers talk about for years.
- A fly-in is a yearlong relationship, not a one-day event. The organizations that get the best results invest in advocate engagement between events — not just during them.
What Is a Fly-In?
A fly-in (also called a lobby day, advocacy day, or Hill day) is an organized event where constituents travel to Washington, D.C. or a state capitol to meet face-to-face with their legislators on issues their organization cares about.
Fly-ins are organized and run by trade associations, nonprofits, and corporations — bringing members, employees, or grassroots advocates to deliver a coordinated message directly to decision-makers.
Are they worth it? Yes. According to FiscalNote’s 2026 State of Government Affairs Report, 56% of government affairs professionals say what keeps them motivated is impact, values, and contributing to the public good — and few tactics deliver on that more directly than putting a constituent in the room with their legislator.
1. Start Early
How far in advance should you plan a fly-in? At least six months.
“Planning a fly-in lobby day is an exercise in project planning and management. It takes six months to put everything together for our lobby day and it involves staff from other departments at my association.”
— Seth Chase, Government Affairs Director, Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses
Why early planning pays off
- Gives other departments time to get involved and contribute resources
- Creates runway for media outreach (not all outlets will cover your event, but they need lead time)
- Allows at least two weeks for legislator meeting requests — the minimum rule of thumb
“Good events don’t just happen, they are planned.”
— Lindsey Miller, Senior Manager of Grassroots Advocacy, National Restaurant Association
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2. Work Backwards
How do you plan a successful advocacy day? Start with the outcome, then build the plan backward.
“Think about the needs of your advocates and what congressional staffers want to get out of meeting with your members.”
— Seth Chase
Define success before you start
Ask yourself: what does a win actually look like? That might be:
- A specific number of meetings held
- Commitments from staffers on your issue
- Downstream digital campaign participation
Once you’re clear on the goal, communicate it to your team and use it as a filter when logistics get noisy. From there: build your timeline, assign tasks, and lock in issue priorities.
3. Brief Your Advocates Thoroughly
Real stories are what make an impactful fly-in. How do you prepare advocates? Talking points, fact sheets, and hands-on training — ideally the day before meetings.
Don’t assume experience
What feels routine to you may feel intimidating to a first-time advocate. Chase spends 45 minutes per bill with advocates the day before — everyone leaves with:
- A fact sheet
- The text of the bill
- Talking points
- A follow-up letter ready to send
“Just in case they don’t get the message quite right, it’s right there in the letter,” he says.
Training formats that work
On-demand video: “We turned our typical in-person training into video-on-demand trainings so we can help people feel more comfortable and prepared to have conversations with a legislator,” says Jessica Cooper, Grassroots Director at the National Federation of Independent Business. Advocates prepare on their own schedule, which lowers the barrier to participation.
Pre-event webinar: Lauren DePutter, Director of Political Programs at the College of American Pathologists, recommends hosting a webinar to cover talking points, reference material, and the basics of how Congress works. “I like to give them a lesson in Congress 101,” she says.
4. Think Outside the Box
What makes a fly-in stand out? Memorable, intentional tactics — from distinctive swag to unexpected allies.
“There is an arsenal of different tools on the technology side that we can use.”
— Joshua Habursky, Head of Government Affairs, Premium Cigar Association
Brand your advocates visually
“It’s really important to have some sort of swag that identifies your group as you’re walking out on Capitol Hill. Make it something unique and iconic to your organization.”
— Joe Franco, Immediate Past President, The Advocacy Association
Real examples from the Hill:
- Franco has used colorful scarves and sashes
- Home Depot advocates wear orange vests
- One group Tucker worked with used branded rickshaws to shuttle participants between the House and Senate
Build unexpected coalitions
When Franco worked at the American Diabetes Association, he recruited one NFL player per team through the NFL Players Association.
“That made it much easier to get meetings, we got tons of press and publicity, and it cost me zero money,” he says. “The players loved the experience — they all put it on their social media and helped us fundraise afterward.”
The formula: find the right issue, the right people, and the right moment.
Don’t overlook your digital presence
Congressional staffers — and the AI tools they use — often look up your organization before a meeting. Well-structured issue pages, clear one-pagers, and direct FAQs aren’t just good web hygiene. They’re increasingly how your message surfaces when AI tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity research your issue area. Make your ask easy to find and impossible to misread.
5. Face-to-Face Matters
Is in-person lobbying more effective than virtual? Ask any practitioner — the answer is yes. And with 63% of government affairs professionals now focused primarily at the state level, according to FiscalNote’s 2026 State of Government Affairs Report, in-person fly-ins at state capitols are just as important as Hill days, and often more overlooked.
“My advice is to not do a virtual meeting on the same day that you’re physically on the Hill. Set aside another day to try to schedule those virtual meetings.”
— Kirstie Tucker, Founder, DC Fly-Ins
In-person is the highest impact format for fly-ins. You can schedule virtual fly-ins to supplement in-person visits or expand geographic reach.
“You get better results by having advocates meet face-to-face. It’s harder to write them off.”
— Joe Franco, Immediate Past President, The Advocacy Association
6. Follow Up
What should you do after a fly-in? Send leave-behinds, measure results, and maintain relationships year-round.
Leave-behinds
A clean one-pager with your advocate’s info, your issue, and your ask helps lawmakers remember the meeting. Consider sending it before the meeting so legislators arrive prepared.
Measure what happened
Pull a post-event report that captures:
- Total attendees
- Number of meetings held
- States represented
- Advocates who continued taking action after the event
This matters more than ever. FiscalNote’s 2026 State of Government Affairs Report found that 45% of government affairs professionals struggle to demonstrate the value of their team’s work — up from 32% the prior year. A rigorous post-event report is one of the clearest ways to close that gap.
Send an evaluation survey to participants. That feedback is how you improve the next one.
Keep the relationship warm
“If you build relationships year-round, you will have a much better meeting when you’re in D.C.,” Tucker says.
Between events: train advocates, encourage social and email engagement with lawmakers, and help people sharpen their story.
7. Leverage Digital Advocacy Technology
What technology do advocacy organizations need for fly-ins? A platform that handles supporter coordination, message delivery, and impact measurement — plus digital content structured so both people and AI tools can find and understand your position.
What to look for in an advocacy platform
- Supporter organization and outreach tools
- Meeting scheduling and tracking
- Post-event reporting and analytics
- Multi-format support (in-person, virtual, hybrid)
VoterVoice is built to do all of this — so your team can focus on strategy, not logistics.
A note on AI visibility
Structured, clear content on your website — organized FAQs, direct policy positions, unambiguous asks — is increasingly what surfaces when staffers or AI tools research organizations before meetings. It’s not just good web strategy. It’s advocacy infrastructure.
