The Perfect One-Pager

Distill Data and Passion Into One Page

In advocacy, attention is the most limited resource.

You may have the data. You may have the lived experience. You may even have moral clarity on your side. None of that matters if the decision-maker never makes it past page one.

That is why the one-pager exists.

A one-pager is not a summary of everything you know. It is a precision instrument. When done well, it gives staff exactly what they need to understand the issue, explain it to their boss, and take action, all before their next meeting.

When done poorly, it becomes recycling.

What a one-pager actually does

A one-pager serves three audiences at once.

• Legislative staff who need quick facts

• Decision-makers who skim

• Advocates who need a leave-behind that survives the meeting

It must educate, persuade, and prompt action without requiring context, explanation, or a follow-up email that says, “Just to clarify…”

If your one-pager requires narration, it is not finished.

The most common mistake

Trying to fit everything on one page.

A one-pager is not about compression. It is about selection. You are choosing the most compelling facts, the most relevant context, and the clearest ask, and letting everything else go.

Yes, letting go is hard. Advocacy is an emotional sport. But clutter is the enemy of influence.

The anatomy of an effective one-pager

There is a reason strong one-pagers start to look similar. They work.

1. A clear, plain-language title

Your title should answer the question, “What is this about?” in under ten words.

Not clever. Not poetic. Clear.

Examples:

• DIC Parity for Military Survivors

• Fixing VA EHR Deployment Delays

• Supporting the Caring for Survivors Act of 2025

If a staffer cannot explain it to their boss after reading the title, rewrite it.

2. A brief issue statement

Two to three sentences that define the problem.

This is where you orient the reader. Assume they are smart, busy, and unfamiliar with the issue.

Example:
“Military surviving spouses receive Dependency and Indemnity Compensation at a lower rate than other federal survivors, despite similar service-connected loss. This gap creates long-term financial instability for families who have already paid the highest price.”

No acronyms without explanation. No footnotes. No fluff.

3. Key facts, not all the facts

This is where data earns its keep.

Choose three to five data points that make the problem undeniable. Use bullets. Use white space. Make it skimmable.

Good data points:

• Clear

• Verifiable

• Directly tied to the ask

Avoid data that requires explanation or debate. If you have to defend it, it does not belong on the one-pager.

4. Human impact, concisely stated

Policy is personal, but personal does not mean lengthy.

One short paragraph or a single sentence can anchor the data in reality.

Example:
“For surviving spouses, this disparity often means choosing between housing stability and healthcare, years after the loss of their service member.”

One story. One sentence. Purposeful.

5. The ask, unmistakably stated

This is where many one-pagers fail.

Your ask should be bold, specific, and actionable.

Examples:

• Co-sponsor H.R. 680

• Support inclusion in the committee markup

• Request GAO oversight

• Oppose proposed cuts

If someone reads the page and cannot tell what you want, the page has failed.

6. A credibility footer

End with who you are and why you belong in the conversation.

Organization name. Constituency. Contact information.

This tells staff, “This came from a real stakeholder, not the internet.”

Design matters more than people admit

You are not designing for beauty. You are designing for speed.

Use:

• Headings

• Bullet points

• Generous margins

• One readable font

Do not use:

• Dense paragraphs

• Tiny text

• Charts that require explanation

• More than one page, front and back included

If it cannot be read in under two minutes, it will not be read at all.

When one-pagers are most powerful

One-pagers shine in:

• Congressional meetings

• Committee hearings

• Coalition briefings

• Follow-up emails after a call

• Advocacy days and fly-ins

They are especially effective when multiple offices receive the same clean, consistent message. That is how narratives take shape.

The discipline of restraint

The perfect one-pager is an act of respect.

Respect for the reader’s time. Respect for the seriousness of the issue. Respect for the reality that influence is earned through clarity, not volume.

You can always attach more later.

Your one-pager is the door. Make sure it opens.