The website of Congressman Sander Levin was awarded a Gold Mouse by the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) today.  Over the past year, CMF analyzed all 620 congressional websites, including those of all Senate and House Members, Congressional Committees, and official leadership sites. 

“Providing information to constituents and encouraging back and forth discussions online is an important part of my work,” said Rep. Levin. “We had a lot of fun finding creative ways to improve our website and I’m pleased with their recognition.”

Congressman Levin has expanded the information on his website and integrated new tools to foster communication with constituents.  Features include:

•      My Schedule – a daily posting of the Congressman’s schedule;

•     Assistance with Federal Agencies – step by step instructions on how constituents can seek assistance with a claim or address a problem with any federal agency;

•     The Congressional Connector – an E-Newsletter sent out every week that Congress is in session with updates on legislative action and community activities;

•     Health Care Hub – a one-stop location to learn about the new health care reform law, how it may affect you, and view video health care stories from constituents;

•     Recovery Map – an interactive map detailing how funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is spent in the district;

•     Government Oversight – a page devoted to transparency with information on financial disclosure, project requests, and office disbursements;

•     Facebook, YouTube, Flickr

The 111th Congress Gold Mouse Awards are part of CMF’s Partnership For A More Perfect Union, which seeks to improve the quality of communication between Members and their constituents.  For this project CMF partnered with researchers from the Harvard Kennedy School, Northeastern University, University of California–Riverside, and the Ohio State University to study how Members of Congress can use the Internet to improve communications with their constituents and to promote greater participation in the legislative process.

Websites were graded on how well they incorporate five core principles that CMF identified through extensive research as critical for effectiveness:  know your audience, provide timely and targeted content that meets their needs, make the site easy to use, foster interaction both on and offline, and add value through innovation.

Of the 620 websites evaluated, 135 were awarded a Bronze Mouse, Silver Mouse, Gold Mouse, or Platinum Mouse.