2. Contents Introduction
Campaignable actions page 4 The digital revolution continues apace. Mobile and web are changing so fast, the
implications for an organisation’s brand, product or campaign are not always
Deputise to the willing page 6
clear. Which social media should I use? Which conversations should I listen to?
Case study: Airplot! page 8 Should I create my own content or let others do the work for me? How can I
Cherish your database page 10 control my message?
Be nimble and reactive page 12 At Public Zone, we’re committed to helping our clients change the world for the
better, and we believe digital has an important role to play in this. Of course, we
Develop real relationships page 14
don’t have all the answers, but we are always searching for them on behalf of the
Case study: Colalife page 16 people we work for. That’s why we have written this booklet. We’ve based it on
Know your audience page 18 our own experiences and conversations with some expert campaigners. Inside
you will find 11 insights that we think can contribute to the success of an online
Make it easy page 20
campaign, and some examples that we have found really inspiring.
Reward people page 22
We hope you find them useful.
Case study: Atheist bus page 24
The Public Zone team
Link your name with an issue page 26
Keep track of what you’re doing page 28
Be ready for your close-up page 30
Thank You page 34
This handbook was written in 2009 and is the first in the series.
2 thisiszone.com/public-zone It was reprinted in 2012 using our new branding. 3
3. Campaignable AIM
actions
we want to end
knife crime
Case study
ActionAid GOAL
an amnesty on
Most campaigns start with an Faced with the world’s problems, we ActionAid’s aim is to eradicate all knives
ambitious goal: to end bullying, reform all have moments of thinking, “But child poverty worldwide
education, reduce CO2 emissions or what can I do about it?” Answer that – a big goal by anyone’s
change public opinion about the NHS. question for your potential supporters standards. ActionAid has
by giving them clear, appropriate tasks successfully broken down MILESTONE MILESTONE
But how to reach that goal isn’t
to carry out for you. Actions such as this goal into actions that
immediately obvious to the individuals 500,000 people 1,000 letters
passing your message on, embedding everyone can work towards. to wear amnesty
you are trying to mobilise. to every
a link or writing a letter make your Well known for championing t-shirts police station
So you need to break your strategy supporters feel useful and give them child sponsorship, the charity
into milestones – the ‘campaignable’, a personal, emotional connection with highlights this as one of the
smaller actions that supporters can your campaign. best ways to help, but also
features ‘top five actions to ACTION ACTION
help you achieve. These actions need
to be clear, motivating and relevant to do now’ and ‘priority projects’ please sell send a letter to
local groups or specific audiences. that appeal to a variety of five t-shirts your local
different audiences. ActionAid to people you police station
Your typical internet user won’t honour know
you with their attention for long, so makes it very clear how you
“No one backs something can help, what you have to
show people quickly how easy it is for
unachievable; people only do next and what you will
them to contribute.
want to join something they receive by supporting its work.
Multiple milestones and actions think will be successful.
will lend your campaign a sense of actionaid.org.uk
Breakdown the campaign
urgency; you can keep up momentum Tip
into steps, make it clear how
by stimulating your supporters,
reaching a milestone, congratulating
people can help by outlining Ask the people you’re trying
them and moving on to the next. realistic goals.” to influence if you have chosen
Cathy Mahoney, Comic Relief the right milestones
4 thisiszone.com/public-zone 5
4. Deputise to the
willing Case study
Freecycle
Treat your devoted supporters like the Treat these people like friends. Keep Freecycle is an environmental
VIPs that they are, as they’re the key to in touch regularly, be honest with campaign with an ambitious
unlocking a wider support base. them about how things are going, and goal: to build a worldwide
reward them (sometimes publicly) for gifting movement that
Many people are on a mission to build
their support. Encourage them as they reduces waste, saves
big support bases, focusing time and
create their own actions and bring precious resources and eases
energy on signing up members, then
people to the cause. Empower them to the burden on landfills. It
sending them blanket messages with
adopt the issue as their own and they encourages local activists
generic actions.
may start to discuss your issue publicly, to set up groups in their area,
But often a far more effective strategy talk to the media, and comment online. trusting them to work towards
is to target a smaller supporter base This is how your campaign will gather the organisation’s goals in
that you can cultivate – supporters strength and credibility – by nurturing a way that suits local needs
who will connect you to others, take those who already share your goals. and habits. At the last count
action and invent actions themselves there were 4,860 groups with
that appeal to their peers. 6,784,000 members.
These dedicated, informed individuals freecycle.org
are the foundation stones of your
campaign, so you need to work out
how to identify and attract this type of Tip
“Personal letters from just a
supporter. Make sure you understand handful of my constituents
what drives them to campaign for you
Empower your core base to
are far more valuable to me amplify your message through
and how you can reward them.
than hundreds of impersonal established networks, for
emails that all look the same.” example, horsesmouth.co.uk
Derek Wyatt, former MP or Facebook
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5. Airplot!
Case study
airplot.org.uk
Airplot! has all the hallmarks of a Airplot! appeals because it gives
fantastic grass-roots online campaign. individuals a way to make their
It’s clever – supporters are encouraged opinions felt, by coming together
to throw a spanner in the works by with other like-minded people. It
investing in a piece of land on the doesn’t hurt that the link between
planned new Heathrow runway site the campaign action and its goal is so
– and simple – web users can sign sparklingly clear. Buy land, save land.
up online and find all the information You get the idea in a couple
they need in one place. It looks like an of seconds.
inventive one-off, but in fact Airplot!
Greenpeace UK used the considerable
was set up by Greenpeace UK.
moral cachet of its brand to gain
This vast charity has stayed light on support for this radical intervention.
its feet and continued responding It reached out not just to die-hards
creatively and quickly to environmental but to newcomers, by designing its
threats. communications with different levels
of engagement in mind.
8 thisiszone.com/public-zone 9
6. Cherish your
database Case study
Christian Aid
In activism, your supporters are Your database is a powerful Christian Aid carried out a
everything. They give you legitimacy, campaigning tool, so you should treat health check on its database
spread your message, carry out actions it like one. Invest time and energy and unearthed a number of
and even fund your campaign. Yet making sure your data is accurate, issues. The first names of
so many organisations are rubbish at clean and duplicate-free. Work towards 100,000 people were missing,
keeping their database of supporters a point where you can segment your 30,000 contacts were
up to date. According to a recent data into audiences groups, regions or duplicated and only a quarter
Advocacy Online e-Campaigning level of engagement, to enable you to of contacts had the right
Review, half of organisations have send out targeted campaign messages. demographic data to make
databases with 40% of supporters targeted communications
Remember that the size of your
inactive, and only 9% have a strategy possible. Christian Aid found
database is not an indication of
for re-activating those who are a solution in a software
how successful you are; a good
dormant. Surely it is easier to get package that got rid of
campaign measures engagement,
back in touch with someone who has existing duplicates and
not membership.
already been part of your campaign stopped them re-occuring.
than find someone new who cares in It also recognised it would
the same way? have to manually check the
new data once a week.
christianaid.org.uk Tip
“CRM databases and captured If you need a CRM, try
data are not indicators of Salesforce (software for
success, they are an key customer relationship
ingredient to enable success.” management) – not-for-profits
Emma Harbour, Make Poverty History get up to 10 licences free
10 thisiszone.com/public-zone 11
7. Be nimble and
reactive Case study
MyBO
Paul Revere, the famous ‘midnight The cheap, easy, fast communication The 2008 Obama campaign
rider’ of the American Civil War, offered by the web is your friend. used text messages to update
reacted swiftly to an impending But sometimes the culture within an supporters with news minutes
British attack by riding from village organisation is not. Many organisations before it was announced
to village to rouse the countryside miss opportunities to react to events publicly. 2.9 million people
to arms. His is the story of a reactive or mobilise supporters because received the campaign’s text
campaigner, and if he’d been alive the culture and processes for message announcing Joe
today he could have left his horse in communicating are labour intensive, Biden as Barack’s running
the stable and spread his message risk averse and expensive. Helping mate. The campaign also
electronically to thousands of people colleagues see the value in being relied on email delivering
in a matter of seconds. transparent, reactive and less contrived news faster than the media
in their communication will reap could distribute it. ‘I have
Breaking news increasingly appears
benefits for your campaign. just finished my first debate
on sites like Twitter several minutes
with John McCain’, ‘I wasn’t
before conventional online news
planning on sending you
sources. There are more ways than ever
something tonight but if you
to get your message out there quickly
saw what I saw’, and even
and responsively, yet organisations
‘John McCain just accepted
still spend days preparing direct mail
“Your phone is with you all the Republican nomination.’
and fancy HTML emails. Meanwhile, Tip
plain text emails, SMS and social media the time. You’re texting with my.barackobama.com
updates can be prepared in a matter your girlfriend. You’re texting Keen on Twitter, but your
of minutes, for little or no cost. with your friends. Now you’re colleagues are unsure?
texting with Barack.” Prepare dummy examples of
Scott Goldstein, how your organisation could
Obama’s Director of Mobile respond to events
12 thisiszone.com/public-zone 13
8. Develop real
relationships
Case study
Action for
Children
There’s no great mystery to building a Unfortunately we’re only one-tenth of Action for Children
relationship with people online – treat the way to our target and we need personalises its regular
them exactly the same way as you your help to reach it. Could you please emails to subscribers, not
would offline. If you’re responsive and email five friends and ask them to just addressing subscribers
friendly with your supporters, their initial sign it too?”) by name, but (importantly)
passive interest can be converted into targeting content to the
Over time, you can add more involved
106cm
real, valuable engagement. audience and specific actions
actions, asking them to encourage
that are likely to appeal
The simplest (and often overlooked) others to join in, share content or hold
to individuals, based on
way to start a relationship is to say thank an event. Your supporters are your
what it knows about them.
50cm
you when someone completes an action closest allies – treat them like that,
Even the title of the email
for you, such as registering support for and they’ll reward you.
is personalised. This has
your cause. You can personalise this
resulted in a greater level of
thank you with an action that relates
“We used so much social engagement, generated more
to information they provide at sign
donations and reduced the
up, such as a postcode or their area of media during the presidential
unsubscribe rate.
interest (“We have a ‘Support Fairtrade’ campaign, but the initial
group in Chelmsford – why not sign up relationship that allowed it to actionforchildren.org.uk
to their Facebook group?”) Tip
work was email, it was the text-
Relationships flounder without regular heavy, narrative-based emails Make sure you follow up within
communication. It is vitally important to that kept people engaged. a month of first hearing from
send a follow-up email after the initial Our mantra has been, invest a new supporter – according
contact with a new supporter. This in your relationships online to an Advocacy Online
email should report back honestly on
via email.” e-campaigning review, only
the first action you sent them. (“Thanks
again for signing our online petition. Thomas Gensemer, Blue State Digital 31% of organisations do
14 thisiszone.com/public-zone 15
9. Colalife
Case study
colalife.org
Ever travelled down a dusty, pot-holed The idea became a campaign, ColaLife,
road in the middle of nowhere, arrived but Simon made hardly any progress
in a remote village, and recovered from for 20 years. Finally, in 2008, he had
your journey with a bottle of Coke? another go, this time using the power
Ever wondered: hang on a minute, of the internet. He talked about the
how did this fizzy drink get here? idea on his blog, set up a Facebook
group, and let his first few supporters
Us neither, but that’s because we
take the idea to friends, family and
don’t have Simon Berry’s brilliant
the media.
mind. He was working on a British Aid
programme in 1988 when he came up The campaign grew wings and led
with a simple idea. Why not use to radio appearances, a dedicated
Coca-Cola’s highly effective network website and, eventually, talks with
to distribute not just soft drinks but Coca-Cola.
also medicines? One compartment in
every 10 crates could become the ‘life
saving’ compartment, full of things
like rehydration salts.
16 thisiszone.com/public-zone 17
10. Know your
audience Case study
Global Cool
We’re all different in how much we know Plan how you are going to move people Global Cool has been very
and care about an issue. Be realistic from along the journey from not caring to successful in making an
the outset about where each supporter passionate support, and from ignorance environmental campaign
is in terms of their level of commitment to deep understanding. Analyse cool. Targeting the ‘festival’
and understanding – this will help you the actions of individuals and the generation, it has driven its
tailor your messages. information they give you to understand campaign entirely through
where they are on the journey. youth celebrity endorsements
Some people may only have a passing
What content and actions can you tailor attracting thousands of
interest in your cause, but will be
for each stage of their journey? supporters and fans. The
open to explanations about why it’s
campaign has a personality
important. Some will feel passionate,
that feels very familiar to its
but need your help to understand the
audience; actions include
wider context of the issue. Others will
‘Eco geek to eco chic’, ‘Do it
already care deeply and know a lot, but
in public’ and ‘Get Swishing’,
may need persuading that your specific
which could be headlines in
campaign is a good solution.
Heat or Glamour magazines.
“Knowing your audience and
where you can be effective globalcool.org
is key. When people ask why
thesite.org is not on the front
page of the Times, I ask why
Tip
we would want to be – what’s
the point? Our audience is Not everyone shares your
young people.” deep knowledge of the issue –
Fiona Dawe OBE avoid jargon, or explain it
18 thisiszone.com/public-zone 19
11. ABC
Make it easy
Case study
Fix My Street
The easier you make it for someone
to do something, the more likely they
are to do it. Technology is very good
at making things easier – through
People do not switch between media
easily, so if you want people to do
something online, communicate the
call to action via the web. It’s easy
Fix My Street, run by
mySociety allows people to
report local problems such as
fly tipping, graffiti or broken
123
Kiva you can lend money to a for them to respond, because they’re street lighting by asking for
stationery retailer in Mexico, through already there. a brief description, entering
My Barack Obama you can find local a postcode, pinpointing the
Give people the warm glow of having
volunteers and through Amnesty exact location on a map
been able to help without going too
you can send emails to human rights and uploading any useful
much out of their way, and they
abusers. Effective campaigns make photos. Once a problem is
will have a positive memory of it next
actions simple. reported, mySociety contacts
time you ask them to do something.
the relevant council and
People are pressed for time and Remember, this is a relationship you
campaigns on behalf of its
the internet is a constant source of are building through good experiences.
followers to get it fixed. On
distraction. So enable supporters to
average, it receives 800 –
understand and act fast.
900 reports per week and
If you want people to write to their last month managed to fix
MP, give them a letter template, advice 985 of them.
on what to say and a searchable MP
fixmystreet.com
database. Better still, ask them to
send a personalised email from your
Tip
website, so they don’t have to bother
with printing it out and posting
Clarity is key – make forms as
it themselves.
short as possible and give
easy-to-follow instructions
20 thisiszone.com/public-zone 21
12. Reward people
Case study
SuperBadger
People like their support to be Rewarding is often related to sharing. Tearfund has developed
recognised. They want to be reassured Help your supporters let others a Facebook application
that their help makes a difference. know about their involvement in that incentivises people to
your campaign, whether that’s by spread the message about
There are simple things you can do to
putting a link on Facebook or adding global poverty and ‘badger’
keep things ticking over, like thanking
your campaign slogan to their email key decision makers. Called
your supporters and updating them on
signature. Your supporters enjoy being SuperBadger, it enables you
your progress. But there are countless
able to associate themselves with a to send pre-written emails
other ways to reward supporters. Live8
good cause. Meanwhile, the campaign direct from your Facebook
handed out tickets to a big concert;
gains by the boost in web traffic and profile. The more people
350.org put activists’ photos on the
the potential for new recruits. you ‘badger’, the more ‘sett’
web, and Wikipedia has built a hugely
points you gain, increasing
successful movement by allowing
your rank and moving you
the best contributors to become
closer to Super Badger status.
community leaders.
Reward doesn’t have to be
complicated or expensive. London’s “Recognition and the
2012 bid campaign provided instant opportunity to be listened to
gratification by flashing the names of is one of the best incentives
those that supported the bid across you can offer your supporters;
the homepage of the website. It was it’s a common misconception Tip
simple, effective and contributed to the
that incentives have to
campaign’s huge success – more than
cost money” Thank supporters publicly
two million people signed up.
Daniel Ritterband, on Twitter and Facebook,
Greater London Authority as well as your website
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13. Atheist Bus
Case study
atheistbus.org.uk
The Atheist Bus Campaign began as Atheists, grateful for the opportunity
a joke, or at least a tongue-in-cheek to publicly defend their beliefs, gave
moment. Comedy writer Ariane the campaign so much momentum
Sherine, a regular Guardian blogger, that it dramatically exceeded its
wrote an article about Christian ad original target of £5,500 and ended
campaigns that promised hellfire and up raising £150,000. The extra money
eternal damnation for non-believers. funded bus campaigns across the
She imagined a series of counter-ads, UK, adverts on the London
reassuring atheists that everything Underground and two animated
was OK. screens in central London.
Her army of regular readers picked it
up and ran with it. Political blogger
Jon Worth loved the idea so much that
he set up a pledgebank page asking
people to support the campaign by
donating £5 towards the cost of an
advert on a bus. 877 people signed
up, word spread and within days The
British Humanist Association (BHA)
offered support, and celebrity atheist
Richard Dawkins publicly endorsed
the campaign. The BHA set up a Just
Giving page for donations, and the
money kept rolling in.
photo: British Humanist Association
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14. Link your name
with an issue Case study
NSPCC
Child abuse? NSPCC. Animal cruelty? If you invest in search engine The NSPCC is a great example
PETA. Human rights abuse? Amnesty. optimisation, creating good content of smart thinking around
The most famous and successful and distributing it around the web search engine optimisation –
campaigning organisations have made to other sites, you can make it easier google ‘child cruelty’ and it
their name synonymous with a specific for people to find you online and comes top.
issue. They might do all sorts of other increase the conversion rate of offline
Child cruelty
things, but they encourage the public to online supporters.
Google Child cruelty Search
to have a clear, definite idea of what
Linking your name to a particular Stop child abuse - support the children’s charity - the NSPCC
they’re about. Support the NSPCC children’s charity and help wipe out child abuse. FULL
issue might involve focusing on one STOP. Thousands of people are helping us to end child abuse and cruelty to
Get people thinking about you idea at the expense of others, but www.nspcc.org.uk
Catalogue of cruelty | Society | Society Guardian
alongside your key issue and you’ll it’s worth it for the increase in public Her mother, Maria Brown, was jailed for 18 months for child cruelty. The girl’s
social worker, Norma McDevitt, visited the family 27 times in the 10 weeks ...
find that it’s your press officer who support it brings. www.guardian.co.uk/.../jan/.../childrensservices.childprotection
journalists call when there’s a big BBC NEWS | UK | England | London | ‘Witch’ child cruelty trio guilty
3 Jun 2005 ... Three people are found guilty of cruelty charges for ill-treating
news story in your area of interest. a girl they believed was using witchcraft...
Better still, you’ll start to attract people “Obama and McCain made news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/.../4607435.stm
‘Jekyll and Hyde’ father jailed for child cruelty » Communities ...
through search engines – they might good use of search... yet none 1 Dec 2009 ... A “Jekyll and Hyde” father who was found guilty of a string of
not be able to remember your name of the three major UK political
from a fleeting glimpse at an ad, but parties appear to have a paid
they remember what your campaign
or SEO search strategy. Type
is about.
‘credit crunch’ or ‘knife crime’
Tip
You may also get the attention of into a search engine in the
people who don’t even know you UK and the first page listings Put yourself in your audience’s
exist – people who care about an issue
are dominated by media” shoes – what would you type
and are searching for a campaign that
focuses on it. Noelle McElhatton, Marketing Direct into Google if you were them?
26 thisiszone.com/public-zone 27
15. Keep track of what
you’re doing
Case study
Share your
knowledge
Effective monitoring and evaluation can Social media means that you can now In the last few years, several
make the difference between an average track, in real time, exactly who is saying independent organisations 15%
and an amazing campaign. Monitor and what about your campaign online. Use and networks have emerged
evaluate as you go along and you’ll keep this to understand what your audiences that encourage the sharing
finding new opportunities to optimise are interested in and allow these insights of campaigning case studies,
your campaigning. to influence your communications. evaluation statistics and
Scanning blogs, message boards and benchmarking reports. 5%
The trick is to design your evaluation
before you start, paying close attention
social networking sites (daily during Fairsay and Engaging 2%
peaks in your campaigning activity) Networks are leading the way.
to how you are going to collect data. Too
takes time, so factor it in when you By supporting networks such
often, charities leave evaluation to the
are planning. as the e-campaigning forum,
end, only to discover they can only form
they are ensuring charities March April May
a patchy picture of their campaign due Monitoring and evaluation means
can share knowledge from
to an absence of data. planning your milestones from the
which others can learn.
beginning, continually tracking your
Ask your contacts at other organisations
impact, analysing information and fairsay.com
if you can see their campaign data and
feeding it back in to your campaign. engagingnetworks.net
learn from their experiences. Everyone
The web is an amazing source of insight
in the not-for-profit (indeed, any) sector
– use it to your advantage.
can benefit from learning from each
other’s successes and mistakes.
Tip
Share your campaign
evaluation data – you’ll
reap rewards in return
28 thisiszone.com/public-zone 29
16. Be ready for
your close-up Case study
#welovethenhs
Building a movement on the web If you build your campaign on Comedy writer Graham
can be unpredictable – a news story committed local supporters, Linehan was angered by
might break, a video might strike communicating with them regularly US right-wing attacks on
a chord, a celebrity might publicly and allowing them to build their own the NHS. But instead of just
declare their support… If this happens, networks, you can react when the complaining about it to his
your traffic levels might suddenly go chance comes. Following the guidance friends, or working it into
through the roof, and all eyes will be in this handbook doesn’t guarantee a comedy routine, he took
on your campaign. This is your fleeting that your magical moment will come his anger to Twitter. His
opportunity to capitalise on the along when you want it to, but it does tweets about his experiences
attention. mean that you’ll be prepared for it. of the health service,
tagged ‘we love the NHS’,
It sounds like a miraculous moment.
snowballed into a full-blown
But many organisations let
Twitter phenomenon, with
opportunities like this pass them by,
thousands of messages
and those who use them to create an
zinging back and forth.
explosion of support don’t do it by
Linehan’s campaign gave
accident. Behind them lie campaigners
voice to tens of thousands
who are set up to be quick and
of people who wanted to
reactive, exploiting opportunities as
express their support for
soon as they appear.
“Timing is everything. Some the NHS, but didn’t know
of our clients punch far above how. The enthusiastic public
their weight by exploiting response, facilitated by
Twitter, turned the campaign
opportunities presented by
into a phenomenon both
the news cycle.” online and off.
Jonathan Simmons, Public Zone
good.ly/tckhu
30 thisiszone.com/public-zone 31
18. Thank You
Public Zone would like to thank the
many people who contributed their
time and campaigning wisdom to
this report, including Emma Harbour,
Daniel Ritterband, Derek Wyatt,
Fraser Hardie, Cathy Mahoney, Nicola
Cadbury, Fiona Dawe OBE, Dave
Russell and Sue Fidler. With special
thanks to our very own campaigning
expert, Joanna Shaw.
34 thisiszone.com/public-zone 35
