Engaging Advocates (and their cash) at American Cancer Society

Many thanks to my friend Lisa Junker at Associations Now magazine for forwarding me this tid-bit about the American Cancer Society's online Relay for Life campaign. For those who don't know, several years ago ACS started offering a "Virtual Relay for Life" in Second Life as part of its efforts to raise funds for cancer research. The traditional relay for life campaign involves real people together coming together in real communities all across the nation and raises millions of the organization.

The online version is similar -- except that it's pixels coming together on computers across the nation. I first wrote about this in an Association's Now article titled "Breaking the Rules of Engagement." Well, ACS clearly continues to be an inspiring example of how to use the web effectively for fundraising and member involvement -- this recent article notes that during its recent Second Life effort, the organizaton raise $115,000, far exceeding its goal of $75,000.

Can anyone out there use $115,000? I thought so -- maybe something like this will work for you!

Wizarding Your Way to Advocacy Success

A certain bespectacled wizard who we all know and love (or are tired of) is one of the best activists in the world! How? Because he applies five important rules for effective advocacy in every encounter with the "Dark Lord" (a.k.a. Congress).

Specificaly, he believes what he's doing is right, he has the right allies, the right tools, he perseveres and, well, he makes his own luck -- and its generally good!

If you're wondering how the seven books of Harry Potter and the seven year cycle of the legislative process connect, check out my latest tipsheet. And while you're there, sign up!

Grass-roots, Grass-tops -- Or Grass-middles?

Somewhere along the way, the idea of "grassroots" (i.e., citizens communicating with elected officials) became synonymous with "mass e-mails." Conversely, "grasstops" became synonymous with personalized communications.

I'm not sure why or how that happened. In my opinion, "grasstops" communicators are those that have some sort of relationship with an elected official or are opinion leaders in the community. "Grassroots" are people who are connected to an elected official's office through constituency and are generally more "rank and file" citizens.

But that doesn't mean that "grassroots" citizens should be consigned exclusively to mass e-mail campaigns -- they can develop personalized, thoughtful messages as well as anyone else. In fact, they SHOULD develop personal messages because, well, they work!

Check out this interesting article from Politico.com on grassroots / grasstops (grass middles?) techniques.

Breaking the Rules of Engagement

As a special reward (or perhaps punishment) for reading this blog, you now have access to an upcoming article from Stephanie Vance, the Advocacy Guru. Entitled "Breaking the Rules of Engagement," this piece looks at how Associations must reframe their view of how members expect to interact with their organization.

The article outlines four rules for quality engagement, which are:

Cultivate the Powerful 1%: In other words, stop tyring to actively engage all members in every project. Find the few that really care and cultivate their interest. Let them join you in finding new recruits.

Stop Using Carrier Pigeons to Reach a Tech Savvy Audience: Some organizations are still deciding whether to deliver their newsletter electronically. "Nuff said.

Get Members Talking: The new generation of advocates expects to have a conversation with the organizations of which they are members. It's not enough to push information out. You must pull them in through an open and respectful forum.

Give Up Control: Without a doubt, the most difficult, but the most important rule for Associations to follow. To truly engage your members you must release your stranglehold over the conversation -- only then will the ideas (both good and bad) begin to flow.

Click here to access the article

Politics Imitate TV

Anyone watch the "Sopranos" finale? Hillary Clinton is betting on it! Her new campaign ad spoofs the "Sopranos" ending to introduce her campaign theme song. Who knew campaigns even had theme songs? I sure didn't! (Hint: It's by Celine Dion.)

American Library Association and Second Life

Our clients are so cool! Check out this recent article about the American Library Association and its adventures in Second Life, the online virtual world.

According to the article "ALA will have one half of ALA/Arts Island, which will be utilized as a new method for disseminating ALA news and information. It will also be used for reaching out to new audiences, holding events, interacting with members and the public, and exploring the future of library services."

How cool is that? I know many of us think of our local library as a dusty old place with a bunch of books -- ALA's adventures in Second Life prove that the library is moving to a whole new level (or world!). If your local librarian can have an avatar in SecondLife, don't you feel a little behind the times if you don't?

I'm just hoping that libraries will be inspired to start charging virtual late fees as well :)

Advocacy Circle Webinar

Advocacy Circle members are invited to join us online on June 5th at 4:00pm to discuss basic principles of effective advocacy. The session will provide an overview of the factors that influence elected officials as well as the unbeatable power of constituency. We will look at the four components of message development and delivery as well as the top 10 things that elected officials and staff HATE to hear.

For more information about the circle, go to http://www.advocacyguru.com/the_government.htm

For more information about the June 5th webinar, go to https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/206850938