# Campaign Letter Template — Paid Family and Medical Leave

A letter from a campaign to its base, for state or city campaigns to pass paid family and medical leave. Adapt to whether you are pushing a ballot initiative, legislation, or a municipal ordinance.

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**Subject line (pick one, lower-case, personal):**
- the unpaid 12 weeks
- [first name], a quick math problem
- nobody should have to choose between a paycheck and a parent

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Hi [first name],

I want to tell you about a math problem most of our families know in their bones.

You work a job that pays [$X] an hour. You have [N] weeks of vacation, [N] of sick days, and zero weeks of paid family or medical leave. Your [mother / father / partner / child] gets a diagnosis. The doctor says they need [N] weeks of recovery and a caregiver in the home.

You have a choice:
- Take the time off without pay and miss [$Y] in income — money you don't have to miss.
- Stay at work and hope someone else can do the caregiving.
- Quit, and lose health insurance the month before your family needs it most.

That is the choice that [N estimated number] of [state/city] workers face every year, because [state/city] has no paid family and medical leave law. We are the only [wealthy country / [N] of [N] states] that asks working families to handle a parent's cancer with a sick day and a prayer.

**The fix exists and is paid for.** [State / City] could pass [name the bill / ordinance / ballot measure — e.g., "the FAMLI Act"], funded through [a small payroll contribution — typically less than 1% — split between employer and employee], that would give every worker [up to 12 weeks] of paid leave for a new child, a serious illness, a family member's care, or recovery from domestic violence.

**Twelve states and DC have already done this.** [State / City] is not the first, and it does not have to be the last. The states that have it report [lower turnover, higher labor force participation among women, no measurable harm to small business — adapt to current data].

**Why hasn't [state/city] done it?** Because [decision-maker — governor, legislature, mayor, council] has not yet been moved. Major employers in [state] have lobbied against it. They have lobbyists. We have each other.

**That's where you come in.** We are building a base of [N] [parents / caregivers / workers] in [geography] who will:

1. **Share their story** — a one-paragraph "what unpaid leave cost my family" account that we will use (only with permission) in testimony, op-eds, and legislative meetings.
2. **Show up to [event — hearing, town hall, lobby day]** at [date, time, place].
3. **Recruit two coworkers, family members, or neighbors** to do the same.

If you have lived this — taken unpaid leave, lost a job over a family illness, gone back to work three weeks after childbirth because the alternative was the rent — and you would be willing to share that with us (no names ever used without explicit consent), **reply to this email**. Your story is the campaign.

Three ways to get in deeper:

- **Reply** with your story, your question, or just "I'm in."
- **RSVP for [event]** at [link].
- **Host a small gathering** — five coworkers, eight neighbors, the parents from your kid's school. We'll bring food and materials. Reply "host" and we'll plan it.

Paid leave is the bare minimum of how a society takes care of itself, and it's long past time we had it here. Let's go get it.

With you,

[Your full name]
[Title], [Organization]
[Phone number]

PS — The next [hearing / vote / lobby day] is **[date]** at **[time]** at **[place]**. If you can put your body in that room for one hour, hit reply. One hundred constituents in a hearing room moves more than a thousand emails.

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## Why this letter is structured this way

- **Open with a hypothetical the reader can step into.** Most readers have lived a version of it. Naming the math problem creates instant recognition.
- **Name the policy in plain language.** "Paid family and medical leave" — not "FAMLI Act" until after.
- **Cost framing — small payroll contribution.** The single most common opposition talking point is cost. Pre-empt it.
- **Comparison group — states that have passed it.** Makes the ask sound reasonable, not radical.
- **Surface the choice.** Naming the decision-maker is the difference between a complaint and a campaign.
- **Story-first asks.** Reply with your story > RSVP > recruit. The story is the campaign's fuel.
- **Consent language.** Stories are precious. Never extract.

— Module 1, *Base Building From Scratch*