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Today:
Millions online
Tomorrow:
Billions online
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Information wants to be free.
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Volume 2, Number 2 February 20,
2002
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Designing Flexible Web Platforms for State Grassroots Campaigns
One of the most daunting tasks for a grassroots manager is to
orchestrate a state level grassroots program. This is because issues emerge
unexpectedly and often simultaneously in multiple states, each battleground
with its own political culture and process. Success depends on thorough issue
intelligence and quick mobilization of network members and other grassroots
resources within those particular states. Traditionally, this required an enormous
commitment of time and money to be able to move on a moments notice. It is not
surprising, that many organizations decided simply to focus only on federal
grassroots, instead. Now, with the advent of the Internet and all of its tools,
managing a fifty state grassroots program is quite feasible.
One Web Site, Many Points of Access
The first step in building an online resource for a multiple state grassroots
program is to build a permanent, general policy issue Web site that educates
policymakers, journalists and citizens about the importance of the issue. Since
this is a general issue resource, it makes sense to pool resources with your
federal program, and perhaps even with your public relations department. Within
this site, create a subsection for each state that is key to the success of
your organization's policy goals, each with its own unique Web address. This
creates the effect of having many Web sites while only having to pay for one.
Such a site could be built for under $15,000, though, as is always the case
with Web development, the more you spend the more you get.
Collecting Issue Intelligence
It is also possible to use the Web site to supplement your more formal information
gathering resources. Email feedback forms and message boards provide communication
channels for your grassroots to share inside information about their states.
While intelligence gathered through the site would need to be verified, this
platform would provide an extremely inexpensive supplement to other intelligence
efforts. If a message board is used, it also creates a low-labor method for
keeping content on the site fresh, and thus increases the likelihood that people
will return to the site whenever they want more information.
Convert In Times Of Need
If, at any time, the need arises to run a grassroots campaign in any state,
that state's subsection can easily be converted into a grassroots tool. When
a specific need arises for a grassroots campaign, the section of the site devoted
to that state could be converted quickly to a grassroots tool, with policy pitches
and advocacy tools for grassroots resources to take immediate action on behalf
of your policy goal. Once in place, launch a multi-media marketing campaign
that drives people to your site to learn more and take action.
Once the campaign has run its course, take the advocacy tools
off the site and save them for the next campaign. Converting the site back to
an issue education site prevents the tools from being co-opted by the opposition,
as the longer the tools are publicly available, the more likely they will be
used for other's goals.
Online Advocacy Tips:
Flexible Grassroots Platforms
1. Build a general issue Web site, with subsections for each state
2. Create Web addresses to access general site AND for each state subsection
3. Use the site to educate and collect intelligence
4. Convert the site to a grassroots tool, as needed
5. Market the grassroots campaign using all media
6. Deactivate the grassroots tools when the campaign is over
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