1. Give them love – fast!
How quickly you engage a new list member after he/she has joined your list is critical to turning them into a long-term activist and/or supporter. Strike while the iron’s hot – leverage your recent joiners’ newfound interest in you and your work by sending them meaningful ways they can get plugged in to your cause right away. Cross promote your other communication platforms – mobile, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
2. Care about why they are with you.
Use targeted content that directly relates to how your new activists joined your file. Did they contact Congress on health care? Sign a petition to save polar bears? Update new activists on what is happening or has happened as a result of their action, then ask them to take the next step to help on that issue or on your next campaign. On the flip side, don’t forever put them in a box (e.g. “These are the people who only want to know about our work on healthcare.”) Your activists should know about the breadth of your work and hopefully be inspired to take action on many issues because they support your mission and your organization.
3. Avoid the wonk.
Everybody does it. But going into lengthy, technical, inside baseball detail about an urgent issue is not the way to win friends and influence people. You may think that your audience wants a lot of detail and perhaps “needs” to be educated about why you are doing what you do – but in fact, your activists need to know just three things:
1. What do you want them to do? (Click, call, donate, text, signup, etc.)
2. How will it make a difference? (Is it meaningful and relevant?)
3. And how will you follow up? (Did they help? How did they help?)
4. Be a storyteller.
People are interested in stories – stories that offer drama, emotion, and human connection. Keep your messaging focused on telling your story and make sure your new activists can see their place in that story. Avoid sending them press releases, policy statements, or lengthy treaties and only send a communication when you have something meaningful and compelling to say. Each message you send, or each tweet into the twitterverse creates an impression of who you are as an organization. Are those messages contributing to your overall story?
5. Give them something to do!
The best thing you can do with a new activist is ask, ask, ask. And not just for money (but yes, sometimes for money!). Be thinking of creative ways to continue to engage your new recruits. Can they tell their friends about you? Become a fan on Facebook? Take a quiz? Answer a survey? Volunteer? Attend an event? Take another action? Donate? The possibilities are endless, but remember: the more “passive” communications you send (i.e. “Dear New Activist - Read this, but don’t do anything”), the more you train your list not to respond. That doesn’t mean you should never send passive communications– it’s always good to thank your activists and update them on your successes or follow up on something they showed interest in.
On Monday, Madeline and Jen will share their best tips for converting these new recruits into donors. Stay-tuned.