How to Address Business Letters to District Officials

Address your envelope correctly to get a response from a district official.

Whether you're contacting them for business or personal reasons, if you don't address a letter to a district official correctly, it may never reach your target. Street addresses for government officials in your district are very precise. They have contact information for both your district and the state capitol. In order to improve the chances of receiving a response from your business letter, address the letter and envelope correctly. Even the opening and closing salutations in your letter need to be precise in order to get an appropriate response.

Things You'll Need

• Contact information
• Letter
• Envelope

Instructions

1. Visit Congress.org (or a similar website) to find a list of your district's government officials. Enter your ZIP code or select your state from the drop-down list and click the "Go" button.

2. Click on the name of the district official you would like to contact from the list. District officials are listed under "Governor & State Legislators." Click the "Contact" tab once you've chosen an official to contact. Here, you'll find addresses for both their contact information at the state capitol and in their district. Address your business letter to their state capitol address.

3. Start your letter with the address of the district official. Write "The Honorable FULL NAME" on the first line followed by the full street address. Although it's optional to add the phone number contact information for the government official, the letter will look more concise without it.

4. Write the appropriate salutation for the district official. If he is a state senator, write "Dear Senator LAST NAME:". Write "Dear Mr. LAST NAME:" instead if you are contacting a state representative. Write out the body of your letter as concisely as possible to ensure you'll get a response. Mention your concerns are business-related early in the article to avoid confusion. Close the letter with "Sincerely yours," followed by your full name and contact information.

5. Address the envelope in the same manner that you addressed the beginning of the letter. The top line should have "The Honorable FULL NAME" followed by each line of the district official's street address. Add your contact information as a return address to the top left-hand corner of the envelope.

Tips & Warnings

• Use professional language when writing your letter. You'll get a better response if you avoid slang and highly emotional language.

References

• Duluth Library: How to Address Letters to Government Officials

Resources

• Congress: Elected Officials