FOOD & WATER WATCH
Online Organizing 101
Meredith Begin
Organizer, Education & Outreach
Food & Water Watch
p) 202-683-2537
f) 202-683-2538
c) 202-449-0401
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org
Know Your Target
Do they respond to emails?
Who answers the phone, when and
do they have a voicemail?
Are they on Twitter?
Are they on Facebook?
How else can
you reach them?
Know your audience
• Surveys, questionnaire
• “Listen” on social media
• Track your data
• Tag actions
• Create groups
• Set up queries and reports
Use tags or groups to
segment list for more targeted
ask
• Environment
• Recreation
• Fitness
• Efficiency
• Inexpensive
Example: Why does your supporter ride?
Send the email that is most compelling for that supporter
Every email should…
• Have an action; and only one
• Be trackable
• Be compelling, tell a story
• Convey Theory of Change
• Provide a way to unsubscribe
Actions!• Sign a petition
• RSVP to an event
• Social media:
• “Like” or “Follow”
• Share
• Twitter campaign
• Facebook blitz
• Email your legislator
• Tell friends to take action
• Make a donation/become a
member
• Do something offline
An action is a
tactic. Doing what you can with
what you have.
Ladder of Engagement
- Increase commitment to
organization’s goals and
campaigns
- Create offline leaders that can
organize and build grassroots
efforts in their own communities
Goals:
How:Start with an easy ask,
then ask the people that
do that to do something a
little more difficult. Repeat.
Real Life
Example
• Long-term goal: Stop expansion of untested,
unlabeled, potentially dangerous genetically
engineered foods
• Intermediate goal: Stop GE sweet corn from
being planted this spring
• Short-term goal: Grocery stores to agree
that they will not sell GE sweet corn
• Target: Walmart, largest grocery store chain
in the United States
• Our supporters:
• Approx. 350,000 email subscribers
• Approx. 3,000 text message subscribers
• Approx. 30,000 FacebookLikers
Tools:
Email and advocacy
software:
Salsa Labs
http://www.salsalabs.com/
Text message and phone
service:
Mobile Commons
http://www.mobilecommons.c
om/
Facebook, Twitter
Tactics:
• Petition (online or offline)
• Welcome emails!
• Questionnaire
• Social media (Walsanto)
• Petition delivery
• Call-in day
• Nationwide Day of Action
• Virtual Rally
First Email:
Introduction
to the
campaign
Action:
Petition to
Walmart
Share the online petition!•Facebook
•Change.org
•Care2
•Blogs
•Other networks!
Tell-a-friend
pages makes it
easy to share
via email or
social media
Welc
om
e E
mails With new petition
signers, send a
welcome email!
• Questionnaire
• Get to know
supporter
• Supporter feels
engaged
Sign up to Host a
Call-in Day!
•Auto-responses
•Toolkit
•Flyers
•Conference Call
•Tags, groups, queries
•Regional organizer follow-
up
Call Walmart Day of Action
1. Field organizers and volunteers
2. Email alert
3. Coalition partners
4. Facebook
5. Text message
Tracking:
•Challenges
•Solutions
Click to Call
Action Page
Text Message Alert
More actions!Petition Delivery
WalmartStore Action
Virtual Rally
Rule violation: inactives get an option to share,
call, attend virtual rally
Follow-up:
• To hosts
• Second and third attempts
Last attempt Call-in Day
Campaign wrap-up: Did we win?
Benchmarks
Email Rates by Message Type
Source: http://e-benchmarksstudy.com/
FOOD & WATER WATCH
Online Organizing 101
Meredith Begin
Organizer, Education & Outreach
Food & Water Watch
p) 202-683-2537
f) 202-683-2538
c) 202-449-0401
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org
Food & Water Watch
• ~52% of list was “active” within the last 6
months
Metric FWW 2011 Average M+R Benchmark
(Environment)
Open rate 18.1% 17%
Click-through rate 5.2% 2.7%
Unsubscribe rate 2.1% 0.28%
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