15 Steps to Launching a Successful E-mail Petition Campaign on Change.org

by Heather Mansfield

Published June 03, 2009 @ 12:07PM PT

If you follow the 15 steps below, your nonprofit can use e-mail petitions on Change.org to recruit thousands of new supporters to your Change.org profile, and in the process, secure hundreds of new e-mail addresses to add to your database… often in just a few weeks. You’ll be astounded by the ROI (Return on Investment), especially if your petition wins our weekly contest where the top three petitions are featured on our Action Center and in our weekly e-mail newsletter sent to almost 500,000 changemakers!

Please Note: Change.org e-mail petitions are very unique from other online petition services in that they also generate e-mails to "targets". That's why I call them "e-mail petitions"!

1) Make sure you are logged into your Nonprofit Admin Account when you create the e-mail petition.

For signatories of your petition to become “Supporters” of your nonprofit on Change.org, make sure that you create the petition in your Admin Dashboard under “Post an Action”. This also ensures that your nonprofit name is hyperlinked on the petition, and that it shows up in all nonprofit feeds on Change.org. Some nonprofits mistakenly create petitions while logged in to their individual accounts on Change.org.

2) Brand your Change.org profile so your e-mail petitions are also branded.

Nonprofits on Change.org can brand their own profiles in the Admin Dashboard > Edit Profile Branding. You can upload a banner and customize the colors of your profile to match your organization’s Web site. Branding your nonprofit profile also brands all your petitions. Petitions often go viral and having your organization’s branding ensures higher opt-in rates.

3) Limit your e-mail petition description to two paragraphs.

A short and succinct description not only looks better on your petitions, but it is also easier on the eyes for Web readers. A lot of text can easily overwhelm your readers. Also, make sure you use the chainlink tool in your description to link to your Web site at least once.

4) Select a target(s).

Whether it is President Obama, an elected official, your local supermarket, or a CEO of fortune 500 company, the Change.org petition tool allows you to virtually target any individual or institution in the world. The word “target” often gives the impression an of an aggressive attack, but you can also use petitions to thank a target, such as Thank President Obama for Easing Travel Restrictions to Cuba.

5) Keep your letter short, respectful, and include a clear call to action.

The is especially true when creating petitions that target elected officials. Use words like “Dear, Sincerely, Sir, Madam, Respectfully Yours, Please, etc.” Individuals in general will not sign on to petitions that are not respectful and courteous. Also, make sure the letter is short and to the point, and always include a clear call to action, such as Call on Investors to Stand up for Human Rights in Darfur.

6) Use a video over a photo if possible.

If you have a good video related to the subject of your petition, definitely feature the video on your petition. Video consumption on the Internet is high all across all demographics, and videos are much more engaging than one photo. You can’t upload videos to Change.org, but you can grab the embed code of your video on YouTube. Each time someone watches the video on your petition it also increases your “Video Views” on Change.org and your YouTube channel which is very important if you are using YouTube’s Nonprofit Program.

7) Set your e-mail petition goal at 1,000.

That’s a fairly easily target to reach and individuals are more likely to sign on if you have an attainable goal. When you get close to reaching your goal, you can always login, edit your petition, and increase the goal number.

8) Send “Supporter Requests” to our Top Activists and Recruiters, then invite them to sign on to your e-mail petition.

Now that the Change.org premium service is free, all nonprofits can now send “Supporter Requests” to top recruiters and activists on Change.org. Login in to your Nonprofit Admin account, visit their profiles, and you will see a “Send a Supporter Request” button just under their photos. Recruiters and activists can bring in hundreds of new signatories for your organization within a few days.

9) Subscribe your signatories to your e-mail newsletter list.

Petitions on Change.org have an average opt-in rate of about 10%. So for every 100 people that sign on to your petition, you can download approximately 10 e-mail addresses into an Excel spreadsheet from your Admin Dashboard, and subscribe them to your e-mail newsletter. Sponsored petitions on Change.org have an opt-in rate of 75-90%. Contact Ben, our CEO, at ben@change.org for more information about sponsored petitions.

10) Message your supporters at least twice a month.

Since individuals that sign on to your petitions also become “Supporters” of your nonprofit on Change.org, you can send them bulk messages in your Admin Dashboard > Message Supporters. As a general best practice, don’t use this function more than twice a month and don’t always use it to ask for donations.

11) Tweet your e-mail petition.

An ideal Tweet: Take Action :: Put a stop to the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel!: http://bit.ly/iQhUM Please RT!

12) Post your action as an “Ask”.

After you have sent your Tweet, copy, paste and post it as an “Ask” on Change.org. Asks show up on your nonprofit profile and in nonprofit feeds.

13) Post your e-mail petition as a “link” on Facebook.

Posting “Links” is the secret to getting your nonprofit to show up in feeds on Facebook. Post the link of your petition on your Facebook Page so your fans can sign on and take action.

14) Create an Action Center on your Web site.

Be like the Natural Resources Defense Council and create an “Action Center” on your Web site. It’s a great way to engage your supporters. An “Action of the Month” on your Web site and in your e-mail newsletter is usually pretty popular with supporters as well.

15) Send compliments to your recruiters and signatories.

Individuals on Change.org love receiving “Compliments”. It’s absolutely necessary that you send compliments to donors, but sending compliments to your recruiters and signatures also makes a great impression. It pretty much assures that they will continue to recruit for your organization, and participate in future petition campaigns.