Digital Strategies to Identify Your Advocates

Advocates are an integral part of any non-profit and their mission. But…how do you find them?

Advocates are an integral part of any non-profit and their mission. But…how do you find them?

In cases like this, Care2  and similar organizations can be a resourceful platform for many organizations.

Last year, in collaboration with one of our clients, we launched a petition for one of our clients to increase their phone, email and address database. With a goal of 5,000 advocates who supported their mission, specifically crafted copy and microtargeting to the geographic area, we were able in attain just over 5,000 emails and phones numbers for individuals within 500 miles who supported this non-profits mission.

As a cost of approximately $0.50 per new name added to the database, online petitions are well worth the investment.

Care2 is a web-based, social enterprise, that uses the web to engage social and political change for good. Working with thousands of non-profits and mission-based brands, they strive to help spark grassroots movements.

Their business model connects organizations and supporters who are passionate about the causes they support.

Whether it’s growing your supporter base, driving comments during public comment periods, starting letter-writing campaigns or driving signature counts on petition campaigns, this could be the right platform for you and your organization to find advocates for your cause.

The process is very straightforward. But there are some things you need to take into considerations before you get started.

What is the purpose of the petition?

Be specific! Is what you’re asking for something your audience can actually make an impact in? The copy and imagery should be brief, but informative. This is online – so if you don’t grab the reader in the first 5 seconds, they will move on to the next thing on their social media feed.

What is your goal?

Online petitions can be a great way to add names, addresses, phone numbers and emails to your database. However, you need to be realistic. For example, you don’t want your goal to be 1,000,000 signers of your petition. You will scare people away. I would suggest you think of it in terms of percentages. Do you want to increase your organizations eNewsletter list by 20%? Then go for that number. You can always extend or adjust the campaign as it goes.

Get the word out!

While Care2 and other similar organizations can help target likely advocates for your cause, there is still more work to be done. Get on social media! Share your campaign on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even Instagram. Use every tool you have to find the most advocates for your cause.

In the end, you should easily be able to sizably increase your email, phone and address list.

But then comes the tricky part…how do you turn advocates into donors?

Stay tuned!