How advocacy can transform engagement Ruth Ruderham, Prince s Trust International & Oxfam
Becoming a Fundraising Activist in 1 hour Case studies from the Amazon to the Antarctic, stopping over in London Key learnings about how advocacy can transform your charity s fundraising as well as the world Practical steps you can take back at your desk to: Create powerful campaigns Break down silos and achieve more with colleagues from other departments Demonstrate financial returns from integrated approaches But first why this even matters
Brave (scary) New World
The Hero s Journey
The Hero s Journey
The Hero s Journey
It doesn t have to be this way 2 classic case studies
Case study 1: A law to protect the rainforest
TARGET
HOW? STRATEGIC CONCEPT / IDEA As Senators are not voting for this law, let us, Argentines, Vote it ourselves Let s raise 1 MILLION votes for the FOREST LAW SO THAT Maybe then Cristina will do it as well
STRATEGIC CAMPAIGNING PRINCIPLE Your constituency puts pressure on your target.
FULLY INTEGRATED & COLLECTIVE EFFORT
WEB HOME PAGE
THE NEW CAMPAIGN Targeting Cristina We reached 1 Million votes in 51 days And 1,5 m in 65 days
CAMPAIGN FACT: FOREST LAW APPROVED
GROWTH: ASSETS FOR THE NEXT CAMPAIGN More than 70K financial supporters (monthly donors) 800K cyber-activists Over 250K mobile activists (people 20+) A new BRAND / Identity not only whales 500% increase in income in 3 years
KEY LESSONS Focusing the entire organisation on a specific, shared goal created alignment and momentum Getting fundraisers to campaign motivated them People were inspired by a successful campaign and wanted to make a financial commitment This became an archetype for a new way of doing engagement
Level of Engagement Supporter Journey - Traditional FR ASK 4 FR ASK 3 FR ASK 2 Time FR ASK 1
L. of Eng. Alternative Supporter Journey FR ASK 4 FR ASK 3 FR ASK 1 FR ASK 2 Action appeal 1 Action appeal 2 Action appeal 3 L of Eng > ZERO Time
Case study 2: A law to halt climate change
Friends of the Earth UK Friends of the Earth is one of the most extensive environmental network in the world with almost 1 million supporters across 5 continents and more than 70 national organisations worldwide In the UK it is a network of over 225 campaigning local groups It is supported by 100,000 financial supporters and 250,000 campaign activists If you want to support Friends of the Earth there are over 75 different ways in which you can get involved
Considering integration In order to: engage far more people in both supporting and taking action on our campaigning agenda we are committed to working towards: a unified Friends of the Earth membership that provides a clear set of options for member involvement, appropriately supported at every level.
Our supporter spectrum
Integration principles We value all forms of support and create a spectrum of campaign opportunities for people to take action with FOE. We segment people according to what motivates and interests them and we develop campaign plans and messages to take account of this. We monitor what action people take, give them feedback and opportunities for increasing their involvement with us, both within their chosen type of involvement and into other areas.
Step by Step Progress Introduction of a single contacts database Agreed a single multi-purpose Data Protection statement and standard tick boxes that are now used on all our materials Implementation of welcome process for all new supporters, not just financial supporters Retrospective mailing to all supporters adjusting their data protection and offering them a range of options scheduled Agreement about how to measure activism alongside fundraising
Welcome process All new supporters now receive a welcome within one month of joining Friends of the Earth. This does three jobs: Thanks them for supporting us and lets them know what difference they have already made Informs them of which list they have been allocated to Offers them a range of other options that they may like to consider Complies with our legal requirements This gives us the opportunity to outline the breadth of ways that you can support us but also ensures that we base our communications on what each individual chooses
Retrospective mailing Integrated, permission based marketing plans Contact our entire database to update their Data Protection status Use this opportunity to offer them the options to diversify their support of our work Maximise the potential of our new flexibility by developing tests that offer people who support us in one way the opportunity to support us in another
Measuring activism Key questions we wanted answered What is worth more: a postcard action or a one-off donation of 25? If a local group member leaves their group but sets up a regular gift in support of our work instead are they worth more or less to us? Can we prove that people who campaign with us stay financially active for longer? And how does their lifetime activism value compare to an activist who does not give money?
Measuring activism Environmental Measuring Units URN: 00001 This is the starting point for a supporter with both financial and non-financial value. URN: 00001 One year on, ideally both values will have increased. URN: 00001 It is possible that one form of value will increase while the other decreases.
Measuring activism Some EMU values Local groups Local group member: Local group officer: Local group coordinator: Individual activists Campaign online action: Campaign champion action: 20 points 40 points 100 points 5 points 20 points
And the results?
More money, more action Campaigners wanted to give Cold lead calling to campaigners created a 8.5% conversion, compared to an average of 3.8% across the cold files and a target of 5.5% 72/year average gift, compared to 70 average gift from cold leads and a target of 54 Donors wanted to take action During the Big Ask Big Push Autumn 2007, of 646 MPs 38% were personally lobbied by financial supporters during autumn 2006
Some conclusions
Some conclusions
Integration is the new normal As consumers, we expect to be treated as whole people and think about our interaction with charity as how to create change not give change You can start from the campaign or from theoretical principles but you will achieve more if you cut across silos Creating change externally can drive change internally You can track and monitor campaign actions as well as income and this is essential
Making it happen 1. Get your systems and processes right. 2. Think long-term not short-term, integrity not gimmicks 3. Disprove misconceptions in your own context: small results go a long way. 4. Whatever you do, don t do nothing 5. Stay within the rules http://www.cra- arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/chrts/plcy/cps/cps-022- eng.html
One last story: Creating an entire new country
Founding a new nation
Passports / Embassies
Phase 2: Agitating for legal change
May 21st: Presidential Speech: Pledges protection Impact: 79 days of campaigning 130K citizens 73K email supporters Media impact Campaign objective achieved
Donors and Income Growth
Key Campaign Insights Be creative and aim high See the opportunities in the problems Fully integrate across the organisation Build momentum towards the ask Have a relentless focus on public engagement Have fun
Thank you and questions