We’re excited to share templates and tools to help you celebrate and advocate for the Digital Equity Act (DEA) in your local communities and with federal policymakers. These resources and tools can be used to build awareness of digital inclusion work in general and the Digital Equity Act in particular.
1. One-Pagers: Protecting DEA by State/Territory
These one-pagers, available for all U.S. states and territories, will equip you to discuss and advocate for the protection of DEA in your specific state or territory. Each one-pager includes background information on DEA, the funding each state/territory would receive under DEA, and data highlighting who in your state is most impacted by the digital divide.
2. Tips and Tricks for Congressional Meetings
This document provides tips and tricks to help you prepare for meetings with policymakers and their staff.
3. Talking Points for Raising Awareness about DEA
This document provides talking points and sample scripts for discussing the protection of Digital Equity Act funds with policymakers and staff.
4. Template Email/Letter to Member of Congress re. Digital Equity Act
This template is designed to help you write an email or letter to policymakers at any level of government. It provides a framework for clearly communicating the need for digital inclusion and advocating for the Digital Equity Act (DEA) programs to be implemented as intended.
5. Sign-On Template Letters to Members of Congress
This document contains two templates: a Template Invitation Email for inviting signatures and a Template Letter to Congress. Sending a letter to your elected officials is a critical way to encourage them to support the Digital Equity Act and other programs critical to your work. The second template, a Template Email Invitation, invites partner organizations to sign on to the letter.
6. Finding Your Federal, State, and Local Elected Officials
This document provides instructions for identifying your current federal, state, and local elected officials. You can visit a few sites to determine who represents you at each level of government, and we’ve provided instructions for using all of them.
7. Protecting the Digital Equity Act: Allocations by State/Territory
This document outlines the total federal funding allocation to states and territories under the Digital Equity Act, which is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Templates and tools specifically for organizations recommended for DEA award or other digital inclusion funds:
1. Press Release Template
This template is designed to help you write a press release celebrating your recommendation for an NTIA Competitive Grant Program award.
2. Digital Inclusion Funding Celebration Ideas
This document will help you develop ideas for a celebration for receiving digital inclusion funds. Celebration events help foster community, build relationships, and recognize achievements. They can help boost public support for digital inclusion initiatives, increase awareness of the project’s positive impact on bridging the digital divide, and ultimately lead to more effective policy implementation.
3. Digital Inclusion Funding Celebration Agenda Template
Congratulations! You received (or will receive) a digital inclusion award! Whether it’s a Digital Equity Act Competitive Grant Award, a State Digital Equity Capacity Grant, or another grant, this template will help you create an agenda for an event to celebrate the award.
These tools are part of our ongoing commitment to providing comprehensive resources for digital inclusion advocacy. We are developing more templates and will update them regularly. Stay tuned for additional materials to support your efforts in promoting digital inclusion.