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Today: Millions online Tomorrow: Billions online		Information wants to be free.

	Volume 1, Number 4 August 29, 2001

Who Is "Taking Action" Online?

Across the Internet, issue advocacy Web sites are creating "Action Centers" that use district matching email software to facilitate communication with policy-makers. Read about a pressing policy issue, enter your zip code or address and you are whisked away to a page listing your elected representatives. Check the box next to the one you want to send a message to, fill out your name, address, topic, and the message field, click send and the message is sent directly to that policy-maker. Some of these "Action Centers" will let you choose how you want the message sent: email, fax, or even print out a letter to mail the old fashioned way. Some of these email systems include state representatives, in addition to federal policy-makers, for an additional fee. This type of tool has become one of the cornerstones of online advocacy, making policy position statements found on Web site immediately actionable.

Several vendors make district matching email software. Capital Advantage developed the first product of this type, CapWiz. Other companies have since released competing products. Among them, are RepConnect, from Legislative Demographic Services; CapWeb, from Votenet; Capital Connect, from Democracy Data & Communications; and Vocus Government Relations, from Vocus. These services range in prices, starting around $8,000 per year for a federal, plus 50-state package. Some of these companies offer a suite of products that integrate with the email software. These companies charge considerably more for their products, but with the extra expense comes additional and powerful capabilities. For example, while the lower priced products send email to policy-makers and provide copies of the email to the organization providing the service, the higher priced products integrate a fully searchable database into the system that can help coordinate vast grassroots organizations. Email sent through these integrated systems are dumped into this database, allowing government relations managers to keep track of who among their supporters are writing what messages to which policy-makers. Choosing the right product among these depends on both budgetary and strategic considerations.

Many organizations use this type of software on their Web sites. Associations, issue coalitions, and advocacy organizations of all ideological perspectives are among these. Some have had great success mobilizing support to influence policy. Others have yet to truly tap into this potential, despite having installed the software system. Still other sites are not the proper venue for these tools. For example, corporate sites are generally better used for product marketing, not advocacy.

One small measure of how this type of software is shaping the policy landscape is to run a Web search for "Take Action," which is the most common name for the link to the Action Center on these Web sites. Using Google.com, a search engine that ranks sites returned on a search based on popularity, it becomes clear that Action Centers on pro-business sites are not as popular as social-, environmental-, consumer-, and health-oriented sites. The top twenty sites returned by my search for "Take Action" on Google.com are:

These sites use a variety of tools. In fact, some Web sites do not use the email tool at all, opting to simply provide visitors with essential contact information for key policy-makers. The advantage for using the tools, of course, is that they can help people who do not know who their representatives are to find them. In some cases, however, the target of a Take Action campaign may be a single executive branch administrator; so all messages would go to the same address. In this case, there is no need to spend money on expensive software.

One important observation regarding the results of this search is that the text returned from these sites was usually devoid of specific references to the policy issue. It is important that when incorporating an Action Center into your Web site that you use easily identifiable language like, "Take Action to promote fiscal responsibility" when referring to the Action Center on your homepage. Then, when search engines return a link to your site, the user can easily identify what type of action is being promoted.

Finally, in order for your Action Center to place high on search engines, it must be popular. Driving traffic to your site using a variety of online and offline marketing efforts will improve your ranking. Targeting these marketing efforts to audiences that are likely to support your issue, for example, the members of a trade association, increases the likelihood that when visiting your site they will take action. Publicizing the successes of your action campaigns will also drive more traffic to your site and improve your rankings.

In the end, Action Centers are successful only if people use them. Make the access to action tools side-by-side with your policy pitches to minimize the number of clicks to action. If you are going to have an Action Center on your site, it is essential that you develop a strategy to promote its success.

Online Advocacy Tips:
Creating a Successful Action Center

1. Choose the action tools best suited to your needs and resources.
2. Clearly identify the purpose of your Action Center in the link to it on your homepage.
3. Make the Action Center easy to use.
4. Promote your Web site to likely supporters.