Action Alerts
Remember your advocates are more likely to take action at critical times when they are involved in the whole process and are kept up-to-date on your work and the campaign.
Remember your advocates are more likely to take action at critical times when they are involved in the whole process and are kept up-to-date on your work and the campaign.
Your existing database of supporters is perfectly positioned to become engaged grassroots activists.
By joining your email list, these individuals have already indicated they want to learn more about who you are and the issues important to you. The next step is converting their interest into a deeper level of commitment to your mission—and to helping communities across America—by getting your supporters to complete an action, such as signing a petition, communicating directly with policymakers and other decision makers, or attending events. Remember to develop action alerts in the relevant languages spoken in the community.
As you begin a conversation with your supporters through email, keep these goals in mind:
- Educate them through issue updates or updated web content. Communications like this allow you to:
- Provide advocates with information and cultivate their interest in an issue.
- Identify the message areas that resonate best with subsets of the audience, allowing you to better tailor outreach.
- Keep individuals engaged and updated during periods where critical action is not required, making it easier to activate them when the appropriate time comes.
- Engage them in efforts to deepen their activism through surveys, “share your story” opportunities or social media engagement. These interactions give people actions to take that help you:
- Learn more about what type of participation people want to have.
- Train activists how to be good stewards of issue messages.
- Expand your reach by amplifying your message through individuals’ social networks.
- Show activists the importance of their participation, so they are ready to respond in times where urgent action may be needed.
- Activate them with new and varied calls-to-action based on the way their unique voices can make a difference. Your advocates can reach the public through:
- Participation in public dialogue on key issues by commenting on news articles, blog posts or polls.
- Recruitment of new individuals to join the cause.
- Attendance at public meetings, town halls or hearings in support of your position.
- You can also activate your supporters by asking them to contact decision makers via email, phone, postal mail or in person to contribute their opinions. If your request reflects a view on specific legislation, asking advocates to contact their legislators will be lobbying.
- Email action alerts also allow you to communicate with supporters personally, measure their interest through open rates and track their support through clicks on the links in your email. Because email communications have the capacity to be uniquely micro-targeted to recipients, sending alerts to your audience can be one of the most powerful ways to inspire action in support of your campaign.
Key Takeaways
- There are many ways to engage your volunteers over email—action alerts can educate, motivate and activate.
- Keep advocates interested by offering updates and new and varied ways for them to participate.
- Surveys or requests for feedback can make your email program even stronger.
