Advocacy is essential for anyone working to ensure that this nation’s resources are shared by everyone. The struggle may be for housing that’s affordable to people of all incomes, secure jobs and accessible transportation to reach them, or healthy communities with clean air, parks, and supermarkets that offer quality food and produce. Whatever it may be, we, the people, have the right to take action when our rights are threatened or denied.
Now more than ever, people are coming together—in coalitions or organizations—to harness the power of technology for policy change. This new Internet-based approach to advocacy—electronic advocacy (e-advocacy)—is a multifaceted process that uses an array of technology tools, tailored to specific campaign goals.
Click Here for Change: Your Guide to the E-Advocacy Revolution cites examples of organizations that have used e-advocacy to reach “hard to reach” communities; organize for mass mobilization; strengthen their offline tactics (such as tabling, rallying, and protest marches); reach out to media; connect to more supporters for online donations; and target decision-makers, rapidly and forcefully, to pass or defeat proposed legislation.
In addition to case studies, this report is loaded with technology tips to create an advocacy website, format emails and newsletters for maximum effectiveness, and connect to audiences and enable supporter action. It also examines barriers and opportunities for organizations that want to integrate technology into their communications strategies, and a detailed list of technology vendors.
E-advocacy is a revolutionizing force for advocates to increase pressure for policy change. And it’s happening, one click at a time.
Be the change you’d like to see, download Click Here for Change: Your Guide to the E-Advocacy Revolution. (pdf)
A core set of technology tools are at the heart of successful e-advocacy campaigns. These include databases for storing contact information and data about audiences and supporters; websites and content management systems for presenting information and updating it on a regular basis; email tools for conducting outreach communications to online audiences; and a variety of supplementary technology tools that facilitate different ways of engaging supporters to put pressure on decision-makers.
We want to help you quickly retrieve some helpful technology tips, with just a couple of clicks. That’s why we’re providing section three, Technology Tools: What They Are, What They Do, Where to Get Them, to help you get started in the e-advocacy revolution. The chapter describes each of these components:
Check out the tools, download section three of the report.