I never said you could buy a Senator's vote for the max donation, just that you can get their ear. You should try harder if all you get is a thank you card beca

I never said you could buy a Senator's vote for the max donation, just that you can get their ear. You should try harder if all you get is a thank you card because a decent sized donation is the easiest way to quickly establish a relationship with their office. YMMV but I've helped several nonprofits in SoCal navigate Congress and I'm constantly surprised by how little coordinated effort it takes to effect legislation, especially the budget (and I have no previous experience in politics, I was just an interested volunteer). We've only just begun collecting sponsors for the first bill drafted by one of the nonprofits so I can't speak to the whole process for a greenfield bill just yet but already we've had help from the Office of the Legislative Counsel to fix up the bill through our House rep so the ball is rolling. So far we've spent far more on travel expenses than any of the orgs have spent on lobbyists or the members have spent on donations. > Large donations at best get your calls answered by the junior staffer whose job it is to protect the Senator/Congressman from ever having to talk to people like you directly. They're there to protect the politician from raving abortion/guns/bullshit-of-the-day lunatics. Offer to send them a short fact sheet in the format that they expect and the doors start to open quickly. Like I said though, I'm in SoCal and YMMV. I have no idea what it's like with the GOP or in states where both Senators are like Feinstein (her office is a black hole). I do agree with the rest of your point about tech bills, my experience is with environmental and social services nonprofits who don't deal with very controversial issues.