Nonprofit Resource

HOW TO GROW YOUR EMAIL LISTAuthored by Francesca DeAnda (/about/staff/francesca-deanda) - Last Updated: Dec

12th, 2014

Don't Buy & Sell Email Addresses

A lot of nonprofits swap lists of supporters, or buy and sell email addresses likeintrigue-less intelligence agents.

We strongly discourage that practice. Not only does it annoy your supporters, itbackfires - filling inboxes with so many messages that yours then get lost in thenoise.

So how can you bring more supporters on board who really do care about your

cause?

Well, like almost everything under the sun, there are websites for that—thefabulous Care2 (http://www.care2.com) or Change.org (http://www.change.org).

You’ve probably signed a petition, or even created your own free petition on oneof these sites, but perhaps you aren’t aware of these sites’ potential to augmentyour supporter base and email list. Here’s how:

Action Builds Loyalty

People start feeling involved in causes when they take action.

Care2 (http://www.care2.com) and Change.org (http://www.change.org) are aboutas action-packed as you can get. They make it easy for people to act on issues theycare about which in turn fosters a sense of connection and appreciation for theorganizations that give them that opportunity. We all feel good when we knowwe’ve done something to help others, and signing a petition to the right personcan change lives.

We encourage all nonprofits to look for their specific issues that lend themselvesto compelling petitions or targeted actions that people will connect with and careabout. Once you’ve gotten them to sign your petition, you can begin to buildrelationships.

Change.org

At Change.org (https://www.change.org/) you can create a petition for free andthen download the names, city, state and zip code of all your signers. Yournonprofit can also download all email addresses for supporters who opt-in toreceive more information from the organization, also for free.

The trick then becomes driving enough people to Change.org to sign yourpetition. This can be a real challenge for small organizations, so we recommendusing Google Adwords (http://www.google.com/adwords/?sourceid=awo&subid=ww-ns-g-awhp_nelsontest3_nel_p&clickid) (as part of aGoogle Grant (http://www.google.com/grants/)) or mobilizing your entire network

(staff, board members, current supporters, friends, family) to go gangbustersgetting the word out.

The more compelling the issue and the wording of the petition, the more likely itis to be shared. But again, if you’re a small organization your reach may be limited.

If you have the resources, you can also pay Change.org to promote your petition.This means signing a contract with them for a minimum number of supporters youwant to opt into your email list. They will then promote it to their more than 70million users in 196 countries – or target it only to users in your state or district,depending on the nature of your organization. The people at Change.org will giveyou an accurate estimate of how many people they think they can draw in withyour petition, and even work with you on the wording to make it more compelling.They’ll keep promoting your petition until your goals are met.

The cost hits somewhere around $1.75 per email address, and a bit more if you’reinterested in acquiring names from a specific region or demographic area.

Take a look at this blog post from NetRoots Foundation to estimate the costs ofacquiring email addresses (http://www.netrootsfoundation.org/2012/09/whats-it-cost-email-acquisition-change-care2-signon/) through these sites. The true costmay be a bit different for each organization, so for an exact number contactChange.org directly.

Here’s what your promoted petition might look like:

Change.org Promoted Petition

Care2

Like Change.org, you can also create a petition for free on Care2.com(http://www.care2.com/). But while you’re granted access to names and addresses,email addresses are hidden unless you sign up for a paid plan.

Despite this caveat, Care2, with its massive following of 27 million members is aformidable venue for advocacy. Just know that with a free petition you’ll need todo all the promoting yourself.

Neck and neck with Change.org, the starting price for a small campaign on Care2is $1.75 per email address (note: if you present a price quote from Change.org,Care2 will beat it). For paying clients, Care2 has established an impressive networkof media partners they use to expand visibility of their petitions, including MotherJones and Huffington Post.

Care2 Promoted Petition

Care2 also offers other great services to get the word out about your organizationand increase your profile. You can contribute articles as a guest blogger that, ifapproved, are published on the site.

They can also help you garner more Facebook likes or outfit you with display ads. Ifyou’re doing a paid acquisition campaign you can tack on a donation page andbutton, so once people have signed, they have the opportunity to donateimmediately to your organization through your website’s donation page.

MoveOn.org

Another option worth exploring is MoveOn.org (http://petitions.moveon.org) withmore than 8 million members. This site offers the free petition service found onChange.org and Care2, without the option of paid acquisition.

Check out some of their success stories(http://petitions.moveon.org/victories.html) to get an idea of how they could helpyour organization.

Should You Do It?

If you’ve been struggling to grow your base of supporters, these sites might giveyou the shot in the arm you’ve been hoping for. All of the people these platformscontact for your petition are already active, care about your issues, and will bereceptive to what you have to offer.

If you’re an online petition novice, start with a free petition to get a sense of howit works and how well you can promote the petition left to your own devices. Thiswill give you a benchmark for just how far your dollars have catapulted you if youmove to a paid acquisition plan.

Read this article from the Netroots Foundation(http://www.netrootsfoundation.org/2012/09/whats-it-cost-email-acquisition-change-care2-signon/) and take some time to peruse the websites of Change.org(https://www.change.org), Care2 (http://www.care2.com) and SignOn(http://petitions.moveon.org) to see for yourself how they could benefit yourorganization.

Gail Guengerich and Elizabeth Beachy also contributed to this article.