People bring power and value to campaigns with vision, collaboration, data and nimble action.
Every campaign starts with a strong vision of where we want to go.
Exceptional campaigns do more than tell a compelling story. They
value every individual’s unique potential to achieve something
greater than they ever could manage on their own, and they build
collective power in the process.
These campaigns give people the information they need to inspire
others, react quickly to changing times, avoid obstacles and seize
opportunities.
Campaigners need a mix of these four ingredients to build successful people-powered campaigns:
Beating
Heart
Story
Supporters are the heroes of our campaigns, embarking on journeys that truly impact issues over time. Organizations play a strategic role in defining challenges and presenting clear theories of change, but the story of our campaigns is ultimately created and told by individuals—through the words, pictures, videos and actions that they share with their networks and the world to influence targets and grow campaigns. Therefore, our communications should consistently reflect our role as mentor, enabler and aggregator of supporters’ action.
Effective narratives are built to travel and are carried by people who validate our message using their own words and take them to places we could not reach directly or on our own.
Many Hands
Real Work
People-powered campaigns can only succeed with strategic contributions by individuals, activists and volunteers—online and offline—that shift the balance of power in our favor. These campaigns would literally be impossible to win with staff efforts alone. We embrace the notion that while staff contribute unique and essential expertise to campaigns, the collective skills and talents among millions of volunteers and supporters can be far greater. One of the most valuable roles staff can play is enabling and empowering activists and volunteers to contribute their greatest talents to create change.
Wide Eyes,
Open Ears
Data
We use all available data to make our campaigns smarter and to build better relationships with supporters, activists and new audiences. We determine what data we need to make decisions, and if it’s not being captured yet, we figure out how to get it. We analyze data in order to understand the best points of entry and trends for an online and/or public dialogue; to engage with supporters based on their complete histories and influence; to test our hypotheses; and to evaluate our performance.
Fast Feet
Iterative
We run our campaigns at the speed of the internet—responding to
real-world events as they occur, and adapting to changing times to
meet people where they’re at. To do this, we embrace nimble,
lightweight and low-friction structures and processes that enable
talented staff to seize opportunities as they arise (and more quickly
than our targets), supported by responsive, accountable management.
Successful people-powered campaigns emulating these four principles above are typically achieved through “integrated” mobilization teams or efforts—individuals coming together from a cross-section of skills, expertise or departments to plan and execute campaigns that put people at the center. For more, see the Mobilisation Integration Toolkit.
Use this checklist to assess your team’s readiness to campaign in the modern landscape.
It takes a continued focus, resources and time to build strong
advocacy campaign teams and engagement cultures that are up to the
task of creating change in the modern landscape.
Strategic Vision
We have identified the root causes
of problems we want to change. Whether we tackle them directly or
indirectly, we know the beast we’re fighting.
We recognise the crucial role
people power will have in transformational change to achieve our
mission. We create opportunities for people to help shape the future
in both the short and long term.
We have a long term Theory of
Change that identifies the role people play in our mission; it’s
easily communicated and inspires commitment.
We know who we have to reach in
order to grow our organisation and have impact on our issues, and we
understand the differences between these groups and their role in
our work.
We have clearly defined objectives
for engagement that are based on the role of people to strengthen
the organisation and achieving change.
We regularly draw on research from
supporters to inform decisions and to develop / create campaign
projects.
We monitor changing opinions and
events about our organisation and the issues we work on. We adapt
our work to reflect current trends and take advantage of
opportunities for change.
People Power
Building participation starts with a strong vision of where we
want to go. The effective engagement need to have a clear and
credible vision of the role people will play in making change happen.
Everyone in the organisation has a
common understanding of the strategic role and potential of people
power to contribute to our mission.
Everyone in the organisation
recognises the role of people power to grow and strengthen the
organisation.
Everyone in the organisation feels responsibility for
achieving engagement objectives and milestones.
Storytelling
Stories have the power to shift attitudes, values, behaviors and societal norms. If we want to change the world, we need the stories by which we make sense of the world and inspire others to join with us taking action.
The stories we tell debunk old
stories that aim to control people through fear and maintain the
status quo.
The stories we tell provide
evidence, hope and belief that another world is possible.
The story we tell about our work
clearly states why we work for change, what we believe in, and what
that mission is.
The story we tell puts people at
the centre as the heroes of our work and reinforces the power of
participation.
We provide opportunities,
encouragement and tools for supporters to retell the story in their
own voice and with their own pictures, videos and actions.
We add weight to and amplify the stories and actions of
others using our organisational channels.
Engaging People
Creating change in the world requires courageous acts. Signing a
petition will not alone be enough to stop climate change. Making a
donation will not save all the forests. Every one of us will need to
find the courage to do things we have never done before to shape the
future.
We identify actions that
supporters can take to leverage their power and influence.
We regularly use the engagement
pyramid or a similar tool to plan “asks” that encourage
supporters to step out of their comfort zones and take more
courageous acts.
We know what actions supporters
have already taken, and we tailor communications and asks to
recognise prior contributions.
We know what supporters expect of
us and what they need from us to maintain their current level of
commitment and take on more courageous acts.
We provide connection between supporters so that they can
find greater courage from being part of a community working for a
better world.
Working With Allies
By working in collaboration with allies and partners, we can
achieve more than we would be able to achieve on our own. Our allies
bring different perspectives, knowledge, skills and networks, and
this diversity makes us stronger as a movement. Also by working with
diverse partners, we will be more effective at addressing the root
causes of problems that have diverse impacts on society.
While coalition work can often be challenging, building strong
relationships, trust and agreeing clear roles and responsibilities
will create a foundation of cooperation that will last beyond
individual projects and demonstrates living our values through shared
responsibility.
We work with allies and partners
at a strategic level identifying common and complementary
objectives, including seeking potential partnerships outside of our
‘comfort zone’ to tackle the root causes of problems. While we
may take different paths, we recognise that we all have a unique and
important role in bringing about change.
Working with partners and allies
takes work, collaboration and compromise. We work with allies to
find solutions that strengthens both of our work to achieve our
common purpose.
Co-creation is the primary way we
plan and implement projects with allies, including strategies,
activities, communications and engagement asks. We do not take
decisions that would affect the coalition without consultation.
We have clear and specific
agreements when working with allies and partners on projects about
responsibilities, contributions, data sharing and decision-making
and we live up to these agreements.
We are transparent with our allies
and understand this is key to building trusting and lasting
coalitions. We invite allies to internal meetings, skillshares and
trainings and are open with them about our own needs and challenges.
We are there for our allies when
they need us most, either helping behind the scenes, amplifying
their work or standing beside them adding our voice to theirs as
needed.
We play to our strengths when working in coalitions. This may
mean dedicating staff time, equipment or resources. Or it could be
contributing expertise, skills, networks and knowledge. While
contributions may vary, we recognise the unique contributions of all
our allies and give credit where it is due.
Experimentation and Innovation
We run our campaigns at the speed of the internet. It is not
enough to merely follow trends; we need to consistently develop new
ways of engaging more people for greater impact. We need to disrupt
the old systems that are holding people back. We need to support new
forms of collaboration that will create a radically positive future.
Leadership recognises that
engagement is an evolving area of expertise. They support innovation
through experimentation and learning.
Our team identifies opportunities
for experimentation and learning as part of planning.
We allocate adequate time, space
and resources to create and develop new ideas for engaging people
with greater depth and breadth.
Our team has defined areas where
risk is encouraged. There is a clear process for evaluating risk and
weighing these against the potential learning and benefits.
We regularly create lightweight or
zero cost prototypes to get immediate feedback before we start
designing or building anything.
We get new ideas out the door quickly with minimum fuss so
that we can measure results and learn from them.
Communications Channels
This is where our work comes to life for audiences and supporters.
It is a living interconnected ecology of communications channels
where we interact with audiences, adapt to changing technologies and
trends and evolve to take advantage of opportunities and engage
audiences.
Our team has a good understanding
of the strengths and weaknesses of different channels and matches
projects and tactics to complementary tools for reaching and
engaging target audiences.
Storytelling is planned,
coordinated and consistent across channels over time while content
is adapted for effective outcomes by channel and project.
Each channel used by our team has
a clearly defined target audience by project and role for
engagement.
Content is written and/or designed
for target audiences in a human voice and personalised for audiences
based on their potential or past contributions.
Our team is responsive to
supporters and potential supporters across channels encouraging
conversation with and among audiences.
Our team is responsive to current events and changes within
campaigns with timely content across appropriate channels.
Data
We use all available data to make our work smarter and build better relationships. We determine what data we need to make decisions and analyze data to adapt and improve performance.
We have identified and track metrics that reveal the quality of engagement as well as growth.
Project teams have identified and track metrics that reflect their theory of change and measure progress.
We conduct regular A/B testing across digital channels that starts from a hypothesis; results are based on conversion and account for statistical significance.
Our senior management and project teams have access to dashboards that track KPIs for the organization and campaign projects.
We have a regular process for analyzing, discussing and applying results including data visualization techniques to aid analysis and the results of these are regularly reported to senior management.
Decisions are based on multiple sources of data and testing, and we adapt our work based on real time data to be more effective at reaching and engaging people.
Senior management regularly assess the metrics we’re tracking to ensure that we’re incentivizing behaviors that lead to meaningful results and impact.
Digital and Data Infrastructure
Digital technologies are constantly evolving. We provide a
reliable foundation that allows us to explore and evaluate
opportunities to improve engagement while having the flexibility to
experiment with new technologies before mainstreaming them.
We track KPIs related to campaign and organizational goals.
We share reports across all departments via dashboards or other easily accessible formats.
We have access to 360 degree supporter data and are using analytics tools to track supporter activities from entry point through to different conversion levels.
We regularly test new technologies and tools to assess their potential and share the results with leadership and project teams.
We track industry trends and standards and keep pace with technology advances relevant to our work (e.g. mobile responsiveness, search engine optimization).
Data collection is consistent and syncs across all key systems.
We have a consistent and appropriate implementation of privacy, security and ethical data use policies across all systems and the office has a recorded history of permissions granted by individual supporters.
Engagement Capacity and Culture
Our team members possess a breadth of knowledge in engagement as
well as deep expertise in their area of concentration. We have the
ability to collaborate across disciplines and to understand and
interpret the context for strategic planning and implementation.
We have a collaborative culture in the team. We regularly build on each others’ ideas and provide constructive feedback to find better solutions that recognize the needs of all team members.
We take a creative approach to problem solving that brings everyone along and creates commitment to the solution at the same time.
We have a deep commitment to learning and broadening our skills. We embrace uncertainty and seek new experiences.
We are advocates for supporters and seek out ways to harness the collective intelligence of supporters, allies and other key audiences.
We have dedicated staff for data management and analysis. We review performance against KPIs and identify successes and opportunities for optimization in real time.
Teams that comprise engagement (e.g. fundraising, volunteers) are all represented equally in organization leadership.
Teams that comprise engagement (e.g. fundraising, volunteers) are all represented equally in campaign strategy and project planning.
Team members do not avoid conflict; we openly discuss competing needs and find ways to resolve problems together.
Facebook remains a social network that large segments of the population use daily and therefore cannot be dismissed as an organizing tool. For groups needing to reach out and build their base and mobilize people to come out to events, Facebook remains an important part of an organizer’s toolkit.
Given
that the conventional ways that organizations have used Facebook to
reach out (through a Facebook Page), are generating diminishing reach
(since Facebook changed its algorithm), it’s important to explore
how groups are making tactical use of the network through the
platform’s Groups option.
Impact
One of the big returns of using Facebook Groups, vs. Pages, is that it helps campaigners get around the changes to Facebook’s algorithm, which now offers very low reach to Page followers unless paid advertising is used.
In
terms of pure organizing benefits, using Facebook groups allows
campaigners to:
Recruit
new supporters by reaching out where people naturally spend their
time
Establish
a channel for rapid sharing daily/weekly actions and wins
Efficient
setup and management of events via Facebook Calendar
Rapid
member communication via groups and/or Facebook Messenger
When
this might not work for you
Privacy
and security issues
If privacy is a BIG issue given your campaigning context (see guide on digital security) then think twice before using Facebook.
Members with privacy concerns may not feel safe joining public discussions. In some areas, group members hesitate to use Facebook for fear of retribution by employers, local police or trolls who may see their Facebook activities.
If
you want all members to be able to weigh in, consider using other
channels.
If
group work is your main activity…
On Facebook, conversations tend to be cluttered and scroll off the screen quickly. For group coordination or planning, use a limited-membership mailing list or a collaboration tool like Slack.
What
this requires
Staff that can use their personal Facebook accounts to set up a group and moderate it
One
person with a personal Facebook account needs to initiate a Group
and serve as the Admin
Ideally,
a few people should share the ongoing posting and moderation duties
Setup
steps
Choosing
the right group option and activating your group
Closed Facebook groups can be found by search engines but they hide much of the group’s information, including posts, events, files and photos. However, the group’s member roster is visible. Members can post anything they want in the group without their friends and families seeing it. Closed groups are great for recruiting and for member communication and coordination. However, closed groups are poor for outreach because events and other information cannot be shared outside the group.
Secret Facebook groups cannot be found by search engines or by searching on Facebook and give an extra layer of privacy. The member roster, posts, photos and all other group information is completely private and only visible to members. This makes secret groups a good choice for groups that need extra security or for team leads to coordinate.
Public Facebook groups are easy to find and join, but members’ identities and posts are not protected at all, making it a poor choice for Indivisible groups. For example, when a member posts something to an open group it may be automatically shared with their friends and family on Facebook, potentially alienating those who don’t share their beliefs.
Consider a multi-group strategy. Many Indivisible groups have multiple Facebook groups for different purposes. The most popular strategy is to create a Facebook page for outreach and a closed Facebook group for members. Another approach is to create a closed Facebook group for members and a secret Facebook group for leadership. These are good strategies for groups that embrace Facebook but do not want to deal with other, less mainstream solutions like Slack. Keep in mind that managing multiple Facebook groups will require more dedicated Facebook admins, and will make some tasks more complicated, like posting the same event or action in multiple groups.
Set
up a group admin team responsible for management
Consistency is the key for groups of all sizes, and having the right team managing your group’s Facebook presence is essential. Every group should choose a Facebook admin or admins (using their personal accounts) and set the volume of Facebook activity to a level that can be maintained over time. The admin(s) will be responsible for:
Updating
page/group info
Publishing
content
Managing
the calendar
Moderating
group content
Vetting
member requests
Vet
New Members
It is vital that you vet requests to join your Facebook group. You may not want information shared within your closed Facebook group to be distributed externally and you certainly want to avoid internet trolls that seek to harass and bully people online. In some cases, exposing your group to a malicious outsider can even be a safety issue.
Here
are some strategies for vetting people who request to join:
Know
them. Only let people in who you or another member knows personally.
Meet
them. Only allow people to join after they have attended a local
meeting.
Make
sure they’re local. Many groups want to keep membership restricted
to their city, district, or region. Ask applicants for their city or
zip code and redirect them to other local groups if necessary.
Ground
rules. Post the criteria for joining the group and a Code of Conduct
or Posting Guidelines. You can make accepting the Ground rules a
prerequisite to joining a group. As in, users must answer question
fields when they select “request to join”. The answers are
then given to mods to approve/disapprove.
Maintain
High Quality Posts & Post Regularly
Group admins are responsible for creating and editing group posts and events, and making sure they are high-impact and capture the attention of members.
Facebook
Etiquette / Code of Conduct.Clearly
state the type of information that your group should and should not
post. For example, many groups instruct members not to post fake
news, not to vent, not to “go low,” and sometimes even not to
post mainstream news articles. Trigger warnings and content warnings
have become super commonplace in feminist/anti-racist community
organizing groups.
Include photos or images in posts whenever possible because they are statistically more engaging and Facebook’s algorithm values them higher, which means more people will see them. Photos are great but you can also create custom images with text and graphics with a simple design tool such as Canva.
Videos get the most views and engagement. Some groups have found that they get the most engagement by creating short action videos, like a 15-second clip of people speaking out in response to a local elected official’s question or position on a topic. Facebook’s algorithm promotes video and Facebook Live above all other forms of content. If possible, include subtitles in your posting since many users view Facebook videos with audio turned off. Try to upload the video files to Facebook rather than posting a link to the video on another platform, like YouTube. Facebook prioritizes natively-uploaded videos rather than links to videos on other sites.
Post daily. Post at least one new thing per day to keep things fresh and active. It is essential to be consistent. Facebook’s algorithm rewards consistent engagement—the more your members like, share, and click on your posts, the more they will be seen.
Be relevant. Above all else, post items that your members will love. Celebrate your successes and actions.Connect emotionally with your members and they will engage.
Post
Clear Calls to Action (CTAs)
CTAs lead to action. Ideally your posts will ask your members to act. Sharing information is good; inspiring action is better. This is just like when you call your elected officials —voicing an opinion is good but presenting an “ask” is better.
Make CTAs stand out. Make sure your CTAs are always extremely obvious and clearly visible. For example, use simple text formatting: “CALL TO ACTION: …” or “TO DO: …” If possible, create a standard visual treatment (graphic) for “Action” or “Let’s Show Up” requests so they stand out from everything else.
Place important info at the top. Put the time, location, the action requested and other important details at the very top of the post so it won’t get clipped (Facebook only shows a couple lines of text by default).
Keep to a schedule. Many groups post CTAs once a week, like on Sunday, and post additional “red alert” CTAs as needed. Other larger, more active groups may post daily actions.
Small
Facebook Group Management Best Practices
These
recommendations apply to Facebook groups with less than 100 active
members.
Group Admins. Appoint at least one group admin to manage the group’s Facebook account (using their personal accounts).
Always have a backup. Make sure someone else has account access and can run the group in the absence of the main Facebook admin. Some groups have been devastated when a group admin unexpectedly lost contact with the group without transferring the account.
Tactics
for Making Sure Members (and Others) See Posts
Facebook uses a complex, ever-changing algorithm to determine which posts each user sees, and how high up they are on their feed, and when they get sent out. You can use some simple tactics to increase how often your posts are seen.
Add comments to posts/ Sharing your posts. Encourage members to leave a comment on CTAs (“done” or “called”), events or other important posts, or share the post itself. The Facebook algorithm will see the activity, assume it must be an interesting post, and then send it to more people.
Cutting & pasting posts. Some groups instruct members to cut and paste posts and repost them. This makes it much more likely that members’ friends who don’t follow your group will see them.
Remind members to visit the group’s page. The group’s page contains time-sensitive information about events and actions that may get lost on members’ feeds. Actively encourage members to check back regularly with the group’s page.
When it’s really urgent, don’t rely on Facebook. The tactics above will increase your success rate, but you can never reach everyone—and even if you do, they won’t see your post until the next time they happen to check Facebook. For rare, truly urgent messages, you still need a mailing list or another communications solution.
Large
Facebook Group Management Best Practices
These
recommendations apply to Facebook groups with more than 100 active
members.
Group Admins, Editors & Moderators. At a minimum, have 3-5 people to manage the group’s Facebook Group:
1-2
people managing publishing and moderating the group
1-2
people vetting new recruits
1
person managing the group’s calendar
To
learn more about the differences between Facebook admins, editors
and moderators, see the Facebook tutorial: Facebook
roles andpermissions
Control posting. Limit members’ ability to post items and/or create an approval workflow involving admins approving new posts. For very large groups, only allow admins to post to prevent “flooding.” When a group is “flooded” with messages, Facebook does not always show posts in members’ feeds which may prevent important posts from being seen.
Heavy
moderation. Larger
groups are more in need of heavy moderation to shutdown
the spread of fake news, bickering and other negative online
behaviors. Moderators play an important role in keeping
conversations friendly and should immediately intervene when people
start arguing, imposing “purity tests,” or other negative
interactions. For groups leading discussions on sensitive topics,
some choose to set all comments to “require approval” by a
moderator to keep the space safe for its users.
Editorial calendar. Some large groups find it useful to set up an editorial calendar to organize and optimize what posts go out when.
Get another event management / calendar tool. You can only send event invites to all members of your Facebook group if it has less than 250 members. Otherwise, it will only send the invite to members who are your friends (you can manually add more individual names but this is impractical). When your group grows above 250, consider using a more robust calendaring tool like GoogleCalendar or, Eventbrite.
Address
Privacy Concerns Proactively
Privacy ground rules. Clearly state the group’s privacy rules in the group’s information page and have moderators make sure members do not share each others’ personal information or share each other’s posts without permission.
Remind members about privacy, even if your group is secret. Moderators should remind group members periodically that no matter how “private” or “secret” their group is, they should be careful of what they post.
Example: We
treat Facebook as more-or-less private, but nothing is ever100%
secure, and being political activists makes us more of a target
than the average person. So, as a personal rule, please “assume
it will leak and be on the front page of the New York Times.”
Educate members. Encourage members to learn about Facebook’s privacy settings and adjust them. Facebook Tutorial: Facebook Privacy Checkup.
Tricky
parts/ fixes
Your
members could miss important posts.
You cannot guarantee that a post on Facebook will be seen by all your members! Even those who use it constantly will miss posts because of how Facebook’s feed works. For critical communications that you want delivered promptly to every member of your group, use an email list.
For every 1,000 email subscribers, the average nonprofit has 428 Facebook fans, 141 Twitter followers, and 39 Instagram followers. On average, a nonprofit will reach just 8% of its fans on Facebook with a post that isn’t promoted.
Email offers a long-term relationship with your supporters. But know this: On average, people receive 76 emails per day. Yes, they’re in multiple relationships with multiple organizations at any one time. Take them for granted or send them the same calling cards as their other dates? They’ll dump you as fast as they can hit the unsubscribe button!
Let’s take a look through our email behaviour:
In 2016, Nonprofits sent 10%
more email than 2015. On average, nonprofits sent 24 fundraising
emails, 20 advocacy emails and 11 e-newsletters per subscriber.
Advocacy email action rates
average 1.6%. Open rates average 13% & click-through rates
1.91%.
Fundraising email action rates
average 0.05%. On average, nonprofits receive one donation for
every 2,000 fundraising messages sent. The average donation is $36.
Fundraising email open rates average 13% while click-through rates
average 0.38%.
Advocacy landing page completion
rates average 74% and fundraising completion rates average 17%.
Email accounted for 26% of all online revenue in 2016.
From who? Keep it personal
Almost two-thirds of readers open emails based on the “from” address, whereas only a quarter opened based on the subject line.
The person who “sends” the email from your organization – the “from” address, and personalized name – needs to be recognizsable and, ideally, reputable. Always use a personalized email that people can reply to. For example use: “tabatha@nullorganiseus.com.au” not “noreply@nullroganiseus.com.au”.
Subject Lines
The first goal set by the Obama digital team during his election
campaigns was to grab your attention long enough to get you to open
the email. Toby Fallsgraff, Obama’s 2012 campaign email director
explains, “The subject lines that worked the best were things you
might see in your inbox from other people. ‘Hey’ was probably
the best one we had over the duration.”
Consider the lifetime value of your supporter (and email list)
and how they meet with your content, brand, story and actions.
The most effective subject lines evoke one or more of these
themes and emotions:
Self-interest
Curiosity
Novelty
Urgency
Humanity
News
Social proof
Story
And how do you figure out what works? Test! Test! Test!
They opened the email. Now what?
Here are three core principles that form the basis of a
successful email. (Success = the action you want them to take is
taken).
1. CRISI-TUNITY
The crisi-tunity is what creates the tension in an email that
leads the reader to act. Just like a good story, an email needs
tension to create a sense of momentum. “We’re working night
and day to protect the earth”. What does this sentence lack?
That’s right – tension.
For example: <crisis> Early this morning President Bush vetoed the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, cancelling lifesaving care for over 3.8 million children.</crisis> <opportunity>But a large, bi-partisan majority of Congress strongly favours the health care expansion. If we speak out now, Congress could overturn Bush’s veto — restoring care for millions of children and ending Bush’s assault on the programs vulnerable Americans depend on.</opportunity>
2. READER-FOCUSED THEORY OF CHANGE
By putting the supporter at the heart of the
theory of change in the email, the reader is able to see
how by taking the action, the change you are describing will actually happen. Paint a picture in which they can see
themselves as a vital figure.
This theory of
change is too abstract and has no tangible urgency for the
supporter “Climate change threatens our very way of life.”
The supporter is
completely missing in this theory of change “Child poverty
is terrible, and we’ve launched a petition to stop it.”
This theory of change is totally
impossible “Tony Abbott has staked his leadership on
stopping the boats. So we’ve launched a petition to change his
mind.”
3. AUTHENTICITY
Be authentic. Be genuine. Your supporters joined your cause for a reason. You are in a relationship with them based on shared values. Connect with them on that basis. Remind them how important they are. Make it about them and what we can do together, not just about you and what you need from them.
How to structure an email
Good email is highly structured. Good email is focused. Good email creates a flow that engages the reader in the issue and inspires them to take the action you’ve designed.
After you’ve nailed the structure, and are
following these simple principles, your email program will start
writing itself.
Establish a suite of ‘’active voices’’– campaign manager, CEO, the person closest to the action, trusted surrogates. Your email should come from a human.
What’s your user-centered theory of change? Spell out why supporters should spend their time on this ask. Prove it’s plausible and worth it for them (not for us). It’s about “you”, “we” and “us” doing things – not them supporting x org to do things for them.
Develop a tone that suits the voice of the organization/issue – personal, casual, as if written to a friend, not formal.
And remember – only use bolding to highlight key phrases of the text but not entire paragraphs. Italics can emphasize the odd word, be conversational.
A good email structure example
[The Sender – First name, last name, org] Simon Brand, CCAC [The Subject line – keep it short. Goal is to get email opened. One to eight words] Are you in?
[The Salutation – casual, first name, ‘Hi’ not ‘Dear’] Hi Tabatha,
[The Challenge – what’s the problem, refer to antagonist, what’s the barrier to change? Be succinct, aim to describe the challenge, solution and ask in 150 words before the first link.] We knew it was coming. On Monday, a $10 million industry-funded “Say No” campaign will launch. This means a Say No advertisement running in almost every prime-time advertising slot. On top of this, sections of the media remain hostile when it comes to putting a price on pollution.
[The Solution – plausible, starts with us, share the strategy, include other protagonists/supporting actors] So, how are we responding? Before you say “not another rally!” don’t worry, we’re not repeating the same tactic. This is all about grassroots – our biggest strength and what the naysayers like to pretend they have, but don’t. We’ll be connecting with the community. We’re pretty sure people trust their friends and neighbours more than scare from mining magnates and shock jocks.
[The first link – needs to be visible without scrolling down. Should be a hyperlinked text, button or image] Are you with us? I’m in!
[The Ask – simple, key to the ‘solution’, winnable, believable theory of change] We’ve got community action planned across the country in August, starting with letter boxing our neighbourhoods. We want hundreds of you who are reading this email to volunteer to work with others to letterbox a neighbourhood. Are you in? [The second link – should be hyperlinked, active text like this can also be a friendly url link to copy & paste like this www.acfonline.org.au/I’m_In] I’m in.
[The Back up – why now, if not before? Further develop antagonist] We’re building a peak in our campaign bigger than the last, to show the depth of support for the price on pollution. And it’s happening soon – before our MPs return from recess to begin debating the package.
[Further illustration of the ask – personal stories, target, # of actions, urgency, deadline, show don’t tell] Can letter boxing make a difference? Check out this story from our “Camp Yes!” graduate, Jarren: “A friend came over last night. He told me when he arrived at work that morning, everyone was talking about the carbon tax. He was dragged over to the noticeboard to look at a letter. The letter had my name on it. One girl was so impressed by the letter that I’d delivered to her house, she took it to work and posted it up for everyone to see. Our boss read it, and loved it so much she requested all her employees go read it. This sparked up a big conversation in support of the carbon price.”
Will you join Jarren and letterbox in your neighbourhood? [The third link – repeat the link at the end of the email] I’m in.
[The Sign Off – use a friendly word like ‘Regards’ or a phrase like ‘Thanks for being part of this’, not formalities like ‘Yours sincerely’] We’ll support you all the way, Simon Brand, Climate Team, CCAC
[The PS – fresh take for a different audience, add a final link if possible] PS. Last week, you called for carbon capture to be kept out of the clean energy finance corporation. We flooded MPs with messages asking them to “keep it clean.” It worked! The $10 billion finance corporation could unlock $100 billion of investment in clean energy. [The fourth link – repeat the link at the end of the email] Let’s keep it up!
One hyperlink
That’s right – only ONE link destination,
rinsed and repeated two or three times. More than one hyperlink
destination? Ask yourself, why am I sending this email? What’s
the ONE thing I want to engage my audience to do? Then ask them
to do that one thing.
Your best friend – the A/B test
A/B split testing is the comparison of two
components with a single variation. A portion of your list receives
one variation, the other portion receives another. The winning
result is then sent to the full list.
Campaign communications can be fast and furious,
but even in the frenzy of quick-turnaround actions, testing is
still your friend. When testing is baked into your daily work, you
can optimise your content, and your conversion and engagement will
be all the better for it. Testing will help you increase
deliverability and keep your list active.
Make sure you are selecting your sample randomly
from your list and only conduct one test at a time (one variable at
a time – a subject, or an image test, not both) so you can be
crystal clear on the winning variable.
But! Know when to ignore your test result!
The metrics (what you’re measuring) that you
pay attention to will depend on the function of each email. First
ask yourself: what’s the purpose of this email? To get your
supporters to take an action? Raise brand awareness? Acquire a
donation? Base what you’re testing on the desired outcome you
want. You asked them to sign something – measure your action
rate. You’re working on brand awareness – measure the
open/click through rate.
SEGMENT
A good, engaging email program segments every
single email to a selected, defined list. How you segment
your data list is dependent on a variety of factors that are unique
to your supporter base and your goals.
Ask yourself:
Who is your
audience?
Where on their
journey are they with you?
How will you meaningfully track engagement?
If you respect the individual and tailor your
communications based on their engagement and activity with your
cause, they will love you more!
PLAN, CHECK, CHECK AGAIN
You’ve drafted your email, looked at the data,
segmented your list, tailored your content accordingly, and are
feeling confident your email has a reader-focused theory of change
with just one clearly defined ask/call to action.
Before you hit send!:
Read your email out loud. You will hear mistakes you can’t see and improve your written conversational style.
Develop an email draft, proof, approval process: use two different proof readers, reading the test email on different browsers, proof for final errors (not rewrites) before sending.
Test all links.
Preview your subject line.
AB test? Send, wait, analyze, send highest performing email.
Remember – sometimes it will go wrong. Don’t
panic. Instead, see if you can make your mistake work for you.
Apologies can be a great opportunity to get real and personal with
your supporter.
The apology email below is a great example from our
friends at Greenpeace
Australia Pacific. They turned a simple mistake – calling
everyone the wrong name – into a follow up apology donation ask,
that brought in more revenue!
Here are some email tips and a worksheet to help you plan when writing to or asking something of your supporters.
Write an email asking people to do something specific
Sending emails to a list of people is a great way to keep in contact and ask them to specific things like signing petitions and coming to events.
Plan your email
Before you start writing, make sure you know what you’re asking for and why:
Before you press send
Ask someone with fresh eyes to proofread your email
Check all the details (dates, times, contact details) are correct
Make sure all hyperlinks work
Other rules (only to be broken with good reason!)
Good email is highly structured! Follow this guide.
Think about what makes life easier for the reader, not what makes life easier for us!
If we are trying to get someone to do something, we should ask them clearly to do that thing, and the fewer different asks the better. Lots of options is easier for us but overwhelming for the reader, and the more options we provide the less likely the reader is to do any of them.
Only ONE hyperlink destination, which may be repeated two or three times.
This is not a newsletter, with lots of different options, it is a single ask email. ○ The exception is if there’s a step-down ask – something to do if the person can’t do what we most want
Use the email to say what you want to say – don’t put the content in an attachment. That forces the reader to open a second thing just to read what you have to say!
Emails come from a person, e.g. Helen, ACF Community Darebin
Is there a user-centered theory of change? Spell out why our supporters should spend their time on this ask. Prove why it is plausible and worth it FOR THEM (not for your group). How will it make a difference to what they care about?
For the same reason, it’s about “you”, “we” and “us” doing things – not them to doing us a favor.
Tone is personal, casual, to a friend, not formal.
Yes you really do have to tell the challenge, solution and ask in 150 words before the first link.
Use bold letters to highlight key phrases of the text but not entire paragraphs. Italics can emphasize the odd word, like you would if you were talking.
NO HEADLINES in an email – there is a subject line for that.
This is an excerpt from Pastor Rick Warren’s bestselling book The Purpose Driven Church.
The book’s core premise is that you must ensure your organization (and every department, budget sheet and staff member in it) is driven to achieve the core purpose of the organization/ movement. Sounds easy and self-explanatory, right? Yes, but it’s harder to implement than you think. Too many nonprofits are being pulled in so many different directions that they aren’t really kicking goals in their core purpose any more; and some can’t even remember what that purpose was in the first place!
Nothing precedes purpose. The starting point for every organization or movement should be the question ‘Why do we exist’?
If you serve in an existing organization that has plateaued, is declining or is simply discouraged your most important task is to redefine your purpose.
If the leadership can’t even agree on why the organization exists, conflict and disagreement on everything else is inevitable. A clear purpose builds morale.
A clear purpose not only defines what we do, it defines what we do
not do. Once your purpose is set, decision making becomes far easier
and less frustrating.
There is no correlation between the size and the strength of your organization. An organization can be big and strong, or big and flabby. Big is not necessarily better – better is better.
Share strategy
A clear purpose attracts cooperation – people want to join an organization that knows where it is going. When an organization clearly communicates its destination, people are eager to get onboard.
If you want your members to get excited about the organization, actively support it, and generously give to it, you must vividly explain up front exactly where the organization is heading.
Clearly explain your strategy and structure- this will keep people from joining the membership with false assumptions. Explaining your organization’s purposes to people before they join will not only reduce conflict and disappointment in your organization, it will also help some people realize they should join another organization because of philosophy or taste.
This is especially important when going through change – or when recruiting people who have been part of other organizations.
Focus
Focused light has tremendous power. Diffused light has no power and all. Like a laser beam, the more focused your organization becomes, the more impact it will have on society.
Don’t fall for the trap of ‘majoring in the minors’. This is when your organization becomes distracted by good, but less important agendas, crusades and purposes. The energy of the organization is diffused and then dissipated; the power is lost.
Most organizations try to do too much – dabble in forty different things and miss being good at any of them.
The older an organization gets, the truer this becomes – programs and events continue to be added to the agenda without ever cutting anything out.
The question to ask is ‘Would we begin this today if we were not
already doing it?’
Restate
purpose at least monthly
It is amazing how quickly human beings – and organizations – lose their sense of purpose. Vision and purpose must be restarted every twenty-six days to keep the organization moving in the right direction.
This is the foremost responsibility of leadership – if you fail
to communicate your statement of purpose to your members you may as
well not have one.
The vision of any organization always fades with time unless it is reinforced. This is because people become distracted by other things. By continually fanning the figure of your purposes you can overcome the tendency of your organization to become complacent or discouraged.
Ways to communicate vision and purpose
Symbols
Slogans
–
‘History
has proven that a simple slogan, repeatedly shared with conviction,
can motivate people to do things they would normally never do’’.
Stories
Use stories to dramatize the purpose of your organization.
Share actual testimonials or letters from real people.
Organizational legends (historical within the org).
Specifics
Always give practical clear, concrete action steps that explain exactly how your organization intends to fulfill its purpose. Offer a detailed plan for implementing your purpose.
Remember nothing becomes dynamic until it becomes specific. When a vision is vague it holds no attraction. The more specific your organization’s vision is, the more it will grab attention and attract a commitment. The most specific way to communicate the purpose is to apply it personally to how each member lives.
Personalize
Member at the center of the story.
Be purpose/mission driven. Don’t be driven by:
Tradition
The seven last words of an organization are: ‘We’ve never done it that way before’.
Personality
Where the agenda is determined more by the background, needs
and insecurities of the leader.
Finances
Finances must never be the
controlling issue.
Rick Warren notes that many churches are driven by faith in
their early years and by finances in later years. This is applicable
to non profits!
Programs
Often the program-driven organization’s goal subtly shifts from developing people to just filling positions. If results from a program diminish, the people blame themselves for not working hard enough. No one ever questions if a program still works.
Buildings
The tail ends up wagging the dog
Events
Meetings! What is the purpose
behind them all?
Attendance becomes the sole measurement of success.
Seekers
Should be seeker (new recruit) sensitive, but not seeker
driven.
Considering whether you are really achieving your mission
Are you being faithful to your mission if you insist on communicating in an outdated style? Are you being faithful to your mission if you insist on doing things in a way that is comfortable for you even though it doesn’t produce any results? We must be willing to say with unreserved commitment, ‘We’ll do whatever it takes to reach people’.
Apply purpose principles throughout the organization
A purpose driven organization must rigorously apply its purposes to every part of the organization – programming, scheduling, budgeting, staffing.
When thinking about finances, people give to vision.
For the 2013 federal election, an ask was put out to the GetUp list asking for donations to fund election advertising. The list was split into three groups:
those
who have never donated,
those who have donated large
amounts (over $400) before,
and other donors.
The group of people who have given
large amounts is quite small, and thus the focus was on the other two
groups. In both cases, we split the
lists
in half (roughly). All recipients received the same email, but
the default donation ask on the page they clicked on was different.
One confounding factor was that donation pages had very slightly
different page names. All other content was consistent.
For
non-donors, the amounts were either $5 or $30.
For donors, the amounts
were either $30 or $70.
There is evidence that the
increased default ask was effective for previous donors. While
the number of members to donate was less for the $70 ask (14.7% of
clicks, as against 15.1%), the average amount donated was higher ($71
vs $51), and the total amount raised was higher.
The
$70 ask resulted in $10.50 raised per person who clicked on the
page.
The $30 ask resulted in
$7.70 per click.
There was a hope that reducing the
default ask for non-donors from $30 to $5 would result in a larger
number of donors giving money, which would hopefully result in an
increase amount of money raised, even if the average donation was
smaller.
However, non-donors
were slightly less likely to donate on the page with the $5 default
ask (3.2% of clicks) as compared to the $30 default ask (3.3%). The
average donation was also lower for the $5 default ask ($37 vs $47).
The
$30 ask resulted in $1.55 raised per person who clicked on the page.
The $5 ask resulted in
$1.16 per click.
This experiment shows evidence for
the idea that pre-existing donors
have the potential to increase their donations with a relatively
small impact on the number of donors giving money. No evidence is
apparent that a very low default ask on the donation page is
effective at broadening the number of donors.
There are a couple of design
elements which may be hindering any potential for this to be more
effective:
Flagging default donation asks in email – Non-donors may not be clicking on the link, as the email does not refer to the default ask, and someone who may be more willing to donate if a smaller ask is made may already be deterred before getting to the page.
Changing position of donation form so person selects their dollar amount before giving credit card details – at the moment the form asks for the dollar amount at the end, and on a 13-inch laptop screen this part normally does not appear without scrolling. May result in people being deterred before realizing that the ask is for only $5.
It is also possible that more sophisticated division of the GetUp list could be helpful in effectively differentiating GetUp members to determine the ideal default ask.
By Ben Raue, Online Progressive Engagement Network
