CHALLENGE:
The goal of the Congress Online Project is to give congressional offices guidance to improve online communications between Members of Congress and the public they serve.
SOLUTION:
The report is the heart of the effort. By identifying the best Web sites on Capitol Hill and delineating the practices that make them the best, the report aimed to motivate many more offices to improve their Web-based communications.
The Congressional Management Foundation and the George Washington University jointly conducted the research with funding by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Over the two-year project, Emerald Strategies, Inc. founder Kathy McShea Erville served as one of the expert panelists which made the final selections of the Gold Mouse winners and assisted CMF staff throughout the evaluation and selection process. She also assisted in media outreach and planning efforts.
RESULTS:
The Golden Mouse awards and the reports on how these websites perform have been a staple on Capitol Hill since they were first published. Lawmakers and their staff look to these documents for best practices on how to shape their web communications.