In today's crowded online world, biking and walking advocacy organizations have access to an enormous array of communications channels. It's easier than ever to reach potential members directly, but competition for attention, involvement, and dollars is at an all-time high. How can our organizations grab the attention of potential supporters in this crowded landscape? How can we successfully convert casual supporters to advocates, members, and donors in the active transportation movement?

We talked about all this and more during our January Distance Learning Webinar (formerly known as Mutual Aid calls), “Clicktivist --> Member: Building a Strong Ladder of Engagement.” Alliance members can access the full call recording by logging in and visiting our Resource Library page on Communications and Identity Strategy.

Featuring Steph Routh, Content Manager at NTEN: The Nonprofit Technology Network, and Jessie Gray Singer, a freelance communications consultant and the Staff Writer and Marketing Manager for Transportation Alternatives in New York. 

Top tips from Steph Routh

Print or e-newsletters offer a one-to-one relationship. Since social media is all about sharing, you can engage many more people. To do that, you need to build your network and have real-time, fast-paced conversations with your Twitter followers.

To do that, you need to get good at active listening. Create Twitter lists. Host online forums.

Look for the people who are most engaged on online channels and invite them to contribute in other ways. Do they want to contribute content? Convene an online Tweetchat? Organize an in-person event? You can do this with fundraising, too: Ask your biggest champions to go beyond RTing and to commit to a dollar amount they’ll raise for your organization.

Use Analytics to see what content is popular and Sprout to see where they’re coming from.

Hashtags can encapsulate a movement – #BlackLivesMatter, #YesAllWomen. They can also be an activism mechanism themselves: In Philly, people tweeted pictures in real time of illegally parked vehicles under #UnblockBikeLanes, which helped the Philadelphia Parking Authority identify specific spots to target parking enforcement:

Top tips from Jessie Gray Singer

The idea is to craft online activism to inspire "In Real Life" (IRL) activism. First, you need to meet them where they are.

People check email on their phones when they’re bored. Think of that bored person in line at the supermarket when designing your campaign. You want them to look at and say, “I have time for this.” Get them to 1) read it, 2) take action online and then 3) take action IRL.

Here’s how:

1.         No more than 250 words. If you can’t convince the reader it’s important in 250 words, perhaps it’s not?
2.         No more than one ask. Only ask your reader to do one thing at a time, and be sure to repeat it.
3.         No “we.”Tell your reader “You can change the world,” and never, “We at This Organization are changing the world.”

-- using this email formula:

Dear [YOUR NAME HERE],
Paragraph 1:              THE PROBLEM.
Paragraph 2:              THE ASK.
Paragraph 3:              Elaborate on THE PROBLEM
Paragraph 4:              Elaborate on how the ask will solve the problem. ASK AGAIN.
Sincerely, [EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR]

When Transportation Alternatives sends an email action alert, it sets off a chain of “positive feedback” events: After a person clicks “Take Action” on the email, they immediately land on a page to send a letter to a city official. After they hit the submit button, they land on a donation page. They also have an email waiting for them asking them to “make their action count for more” by sharing it on Facebook or Twitter. When they click to share, they’re taken to a compelling, shareable image that spotlights the campaign’s message.

Once someone engages with your organization online, invite them to an in-person event. Once they have a real relationship with you, they’ll always read your email; they’ll always take action.

Online activism is fun and sexy and easy to quantify. But: the only success is in IRL activism.

Alliance members can access the full call recording by logging in and visiting our Resource Library page on Communications and Identity Strategy.