Campaign 2008 And The Internet

June 19, 2008

If you are a fundraiser or communicator for an advocacy group, here’s another "must read" report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

As they summarize:

Fully 46% of all Americans have used the internet, email or cell phone text messaging to get news about the campaign, share their views and mobilize others.

Further, the proportion of Americans going online on a typical day at the tail end of the primary season to get political news or information has more than doubled since a comparable point in the 2004 race-from 8% of all adults in spring 2004 to 17% of all adults in spring 2008.

Pew’s recent poll found, among other things, that younger voters are among the most active and intense internet users. These online voters are more likely to support Obama.

Three online activities have become especially prominent as the presidential primary campaigns have progressed:

First, 35% of Americans say they have watched online political videos - a figure that nearly triples the reading the Pew Internet Project got in the 2004 race.

Second, 10% say they have used social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace to gather information or become involved. This is particularly popular with younger voters: Two-thirds of internet users under the age of 30 have a social networking profile, and half of these use social networking sites to get or share information about politics or the campaigns.

Third, 6% of Americans have made political contributions online, compared with 2% who did that during the entire 2004 campaign.

A significant number of voters are also using the internet to gain access to campaign events and primary documents. Some 39% of online Americans have used the internet to access "unfiltered" campaign materials, which includes video of candidate debates, speeches and announcements, as well as position papers and speech transcripts.

Get the full report here.

Where online politics goes, so follows online advocacy.

Tom

Posted by tbelford | Filed Under Hot Research, issue fundraising, online advocacy, online fundraising, pew internet project, research | Leave a Comment 

This Brave Nation

June 9, 2008

Dear Reader,

Permit me a personal moment. Like you, I often wonder why I do what I do. And because I’ve done it for so long, I sometimes wonder whether it all was worth it. Well, make no mistake. It was and is. Especially when the reasons are so graphically and emotionally recorded on film. Let me explain.

Last night I watched — online — the second episode in a remarkable series co-produced by The Nation magazine and Brave New Foundation. The site where you’ll find all this is This Brave Nation. At a time when nearly everyone’s blaming the internet for sapping civic spirit and the desire to learn, rather than play games, on the part of today’s young folks, here is a remarkable counter argument.

This Brave Nation, in the words of The Nation editors, "brings together the most intellligent, passionate and creative voices of one generation with the activists, journalists and artists of the next to dialogue on loves, lives, politics and history."

Here at The Agitator we write a lot about techniques, trends, accountability and other important stuff for non-profit CEOs, comms people and fundraisers. But, at the end of the day our intention is only to offer the insight and advice necessary to support missions and content. And, regardless of whether you’re a die-hard leftie like me or some other form of zealot (you’re forgiven in advance), here’s a classic example.

Print married with film. Film and print married with the internet. Internet married with text, audio and video. Text, audio and video married with ACTION.You don’t need a user’s manual to get the beauty of all this integration. Beginning on June 1 the first episode of a five part video series — eventually to be produced in a DVD boxed set — aired.

Regardless of your ideology — or maybe especially because of your ideology — I urge you to watch ‘em all. Last night’s episode was a moving interchange between singer-songwriter-activist Bonnie Raitt and union organizer-humanitarian-feminist par excellence Delores Huerta.

For the next generation — today’s 18 to 35 year olds– it’s important to understand the roots and motivation of modern social change and why the agitators and sparkplugs behind that change do what they do. You’ll find it here, especially in the conversation between Bonnie Raitt and Delores Huerta. Not only is their colloquy of how they got into the movements and what drove them emotionally moving; their explanations will surely attract the next generation.

 

And to make sure there’s an opportunity, This Brave Nation is sponsoring a contest to name today’s future movement leaders — limited only by age. Past 30 you’re out of luck. Featured in these five episodes are Carl Pope longtime leader of the Sierra Club, Van Jones, founder of the Ella Baker Center, of course Delores Huerta and Bonnie Raitt, activist and folk singer Pete Seeger, along with environmental justice organizer Majora Carter, ACLU executive director Anthony Romero along with teenage peace activist Ava Lowery, and activist/politician Tom Hayden along with Nation columnist Naomi Klein.

Whoever at The Nation or Brave New Films came up with this concept, so beautifully executed, to inspire us all, you deserve a raise!!!!

Roger

Posted by rcraver | Filed Under Don't Miss these Posts, You Deserve a Raise, communications, demographic trends, innovation, issue fundraising, latinos, online advocacy | 1 Comment 

Seniors online

June 3, 2008

Last week was devoted to the up and coming world of social networking and the younger demographic active in that area.

But here’s some equal time for seniors, who are typically online 44 minutes a day.

From a report prepared by Focalyst and Dynamic Logic, here’s a profile of what seniors age 62+ are doing online these days:

  • Search engines: 59 percent
  • Contact family and friends: 59 percent
  • Gather information: 47 percent
  • News/current events/weather: 43 percent
  • Travel planning/reservations: 41 percent
  • Health and health-related information: 38 percent
  • Exchange photos with family/friends: 33 percent
  • Finance/online banking: 24 percent
  • Paying bills: 23 percent
  • Single/multiple-player games: 21 percent
  • Investment/transactions: 17 percent
  • Education/training: 13 percent

Note that financial stuff hangs around one-in-four senior netizens. If they’re not doing online banking or paying bills online, they’re not likely to be making online donations either.

But still, nearly half gather information online, and more than four-in-ten follow news and current events online … important from a cause fundraising standpoint … trust me, if they have a online subscription to the NY Times, they’re donors!

Tom

 

 

Posted by tbelford | Filed Under General Post, communications, issue fundraising, media usage, online advocacy, online fundraising | Leave a Comment 

Words That Work

March 5, 2008

If you’re in the communications side of the biz, or spend time writing copy, here are two books you should peruse … from opposite sides of the ideological spectrum. The advice from both is superb … but for such prominent communications experts, the books are, well, wordy!

From the progressive side, George Lakoff, Don’t Think of an Elephant.

And from the right, Frank Luntz, Words That Work.

I’m reminded of them by Colin Rowan and his Rowan Report. If you’re too cheap or busy to buy the books, Colin at least provides a brief rundown of Luntz’ "Ten Rules of Successful Communications."

Worth a peek.

Tom

Posted by tbelford | Filed Under Don't Miss these Posts, communications, copywriting, issue fundraising | Leave a Comment 

Check Out Unity08

September 12, 2007

Unity08 is an online political movement that aims to offer the American voters an alternative choice to the major party candidates on Election Day 2008.

They plan to conduct an online nominating process — over 100,000 delegates have signed up so far — and then to get the selected Presidential and Vice-Presidential nominees on the ballot in each state in November 2008.

In others words, this isn't just another interesting but no-impact online polling exercise. Folks participating in Unity08 will be launching an alternative candidacy in the real world.

Who are these Unity08 delegates and what are their issue interests? If your nonprofit plays in the issue advocacy arena, you should probably take a look at this movement.

Not your average crackpots … these delegates are well-educated (61% college grads), older (but not ancient, 60% age 50+), higher income (63% earning $50K+), highly engaged voters … just the sort of people who form the core donor constituencies of advocacy nonprofits of all political stripes.

Here are the results of Unity08's recent delegate survey. Some highlights:

Top 10 issues deemed “crucial to the safety and well-being of the country”:

1. Terrorism
2. Integrity/accountability of elected officials
3. Global climate change
4. Involvement in Iraq
5. Education
6. Illegal immigration
7. Energy supplies
8. Family values
9. Health care
10.America's role in international affairs

Asked which 3-5 of these self-selected priorities they most wanted the next Administration to address, delegates selected, in top down order: health care, terrorism, Iraq, illegal immigration, and education.

And to peak your interest, their favorite news/political pundit is … Jon Stewart (!!), picked by 52% of delegates. Compared to 35% for the venerable Jim Lehrer. The times they are a-changin!

Check out Unity08.

Roger & Tom

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Emotionomics

September 5, 2007

Boy do I hate that mash-up!

But I persisted in reading this fascinating commentary on a new book by the title, Emotionomics: Winning Hearts and Minds, by Dan Hill. I read a ton of stuff on the topic of how people process things, and I'll definitely add this to my reading list.

Till we're blue in the face, The Agitator will bang away at the importance of emotion to effective persuasion … whether your objective, as a nonprofit fundraiser or communicator, is to raise money or to sell your advocacy POV.

Hill gives his five reasons why emotions matter in selling to consumers:

  • Consumers feel before they think, and feelings happen fast (have you read Malcolm Gladwell's Blink?).
  • Emotions act as a gatekeeper, such as to ads.
  • Believeability is based on a “gut feeling.”
  • Emotional connections help consumers “jump over the fear” of being sold to, which fear is rampant in today's skeptical marketplace.
  • And of course, emotional connections build the foundation for loyalty.

We tend to think of emotion as something we should deal with in our marketing communications. And that's certainly true.

But the role of emotion goes further and deeper into the very operations of a business or nonprofit.

The author of the commentary used to run a business that facilitates and aggregates customer feedback online (planetfeedback.com). As he observes, much of consumer-generated content on the internet — millions and millions of comments — is generated by really unhappy customers! Other marketers commonly believe that for every disgruntled customer who does speak out, dozens or more lurk silently and angrily in the weeds.

For his part, Hill writes that nothing else is more emotional for the customer — and potentially dangerous for the company — than customer service.

Think about that the next time you're reviewing the quality and tenor of your nonprofit's various “help” channels … in-bound call lines, online “help” and “order” and “donate” forms, whatever.

Read the commentary. Check out the book.

And by all means, get emotional!

Tom

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“Times A Million” Doesn’t Work

July 10, 2007

If you can't interest a prospective donor in one needy child in Africa, what do you do?

If you answer: multiply that child by one million to underscore the gravity of the situation … you're wrong!

If you can't interest a donor in saving $400 or $800 or $1000 a year, while polluting less, by driving a more fuel efficient car, what do you do?

If you answer: show them the billions of gallons of gas saved if all Americans drove the more efficient car … you're wrong again!

So says primo marketer Seth Godin in this post.

His point is that consumers and prospects get lost, lose interest when gaps in space and time appear. They only respond to the here and now.

As he puts it: “All marketers who whine about the distant do is annoy people. At least the people who don't care about the distant. They don't get “times a million” math, and repeating it with frequency isn't going to help much.”

So, he advises: “The closer an issue is to the purchaser, the easier it is to use it with impact … The way to sell the distant is to make it immediate.”

We agree 99% with Godin's advice. Just one addendum.

Yes, “here and now” problem+solution+personal impact is the best approach to prospects. But when the scale of the problem is indeed huge, as the prospect well knows, many donors will be additionally motivated by feeling a sense of solidarity and community with others.

We'd say, lead strongly with here and now, but don't neglect most donors' desire to belong to something bigger.

Roger & Tom

Posted by admin | Filed Under Don't Miss these Posts, Seth Godin, communications, issue fundraising | Leave a Comment