Turning strangers into super-activists

Unless you're lucky, most people don't know that your organisation exists. Those that do, probably don't feel any personal connection to it. Even the people you've connected with, don't respond to every request you send them, be it a call to write to their MP, or to send you some cash to help you do more good work.

You know you need to be turning strangers into super-activists. But how?

Cue Seth Godin's Permission Marketing and the relationship metaphor. When you first meet someone, you wouldn't propose marriage straight away. It might start with going for a drink, then maybe a dinner date, and a hundred other steps of increasing intimacy before you popped the question. At each stage, Seth tells us, you're asking for permission to strengthen the relationship. And so it is with organisations. Asking a stranger to chain themselves to the railings on your behalf is like asking them to marry you. Instead, you need a series of steps that people can take to become more involved with your work.

These steps start small: reading your blog, watching your YouTube videos, looking at your website

Then they become more involved: signing up to an email newsletter, following you on twitter, signing a petition

And more involved: writing to their MP, starting a facebook group, putting a poster in their window

Until they get really meaningful: going to a protest, starting their own blog, joining their local campaigning group

Those four stages aren't a strategy, they're just examples. Working out which steps you need to have and in what order will be specific to your organisation. The key thing to remember is that the effort required to go to the next level should be small enough to let lots of people progress, but big enough to be significantly more useful. Find the optimum.

Photo credit: ittybittiesforyou by-nc