U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop "rejecting" messages volunteers send through Blackbaud

Brian Rubenstein

One of our volunteers received a concerning message from U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop's office. In response to a volunteer sending his office message through the Luminate Online Advocacy tool, Bishop says:

I recognize that you have used a third-party vendor to direct your message to my office. Every constituent message is important to me and I take pride in responding to all of them. Due to the increasing threats of destructive malware and other cybersecurity threats, however, I have taken precautions to address the risk, including limiting third-party exposure, affecting my mail system. Therefore, if you have a specific concern that needs to be addressed, please contact my office directly.

Clearly, this runs contrary to the work between the U.S. House and the Communicating With Congress initiative. And, of course, in his response, Bishop didn't actually provide a way for the volunteer to contact his office directly.


I've reported this to Blackbaud in the hope they and their partners will address this problem before it spreads to other members of Congress. I think we all share the concern that a volunteer receiving this message will be much less likely to send messages to any lawmakers in the future.


Brian Rubenstein

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network

Ryan O'Keefe

Brian Rubenstein:

One of our volunteers received a concerning message from U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop's office. In response to a volunteer sending his office message through the Luminate Online Advocacy tool, Bishop says:

I recognize that you have used a third-party vendor to direct your message to my office. Every constituent message is important to me and I take pride in responding to all of them. Due to the increasing threats of destructive malware and other cybersecurity threats, however, I have taken precautions to address the risk, including limiting third-party exposure, affecting my mail system. Therefore, if you have a specific concern that needs to be addressed, please contact my office directly.

Clearly, this runs contrary to the work between the U.S. House and the Communicating With Congress initiative. And, of course, in his response, Bishop didn't actually provide a way for the volunteer to contact his office directly.


I've reported this to Blackbaud in the hope they and their partners will address this problem before it spreads to other members of Congress. I think we all share the concern that a volunteer receiving this message will be much less likely to send messages to any lawmakers in the future.


Brian Rubenstein

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network

Brian,


This is something we have addressed with our partners at CWC (Communication with Congress). They are escalating this issue with Rep. Bishop as it really contradicts the confidence we've placed in the CWC as our tool for sending messages to Congress. I was recently told that they are scheduled to have meetings with those officials as soon as possible and hope to have some follow up soon.

Brian Rubenstein

That's great news, Ryan. We really appreciate Blackbaud's leadership in this area.

- Brian