March/April 2005

Online Advocacy: How Online Constituent Relationship Management is Transforming the Way Nonprofits Reach, Motivate and Retain Supporters

by Vinay Bhagat, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Convio

Although nonprofit professionals and pundits increasingly celebrate the Internet as a strategic tool for fundraising, there has been much less recognition of the Internet's transformative impact on grassroots advocacy. High profile online campaigns have proven how quickly organizations can recruit and mobilize large numbers of supporters via the Web — one of the best recent examples is the Dean for America presidential campaign, which in less than 12 months, grew its online support base to more than 650,000 constituents.

But online advocacy can have a significant impact beyond political campaigns. Large and small nonprofit organizations focused on issues from health research to social services can benefit from today's advanced Internet tools and the latest strategies to build their support base and drive online advocacy programs that influence policy.

In particular, the advent of online constituent relationship management (eCRM) as a strategy and technology has had a profound impact. eCRM is a systematic approach to using the Internet to build strong and sustainable relationships with constituents. Using an eCRM method, an organization interacts frequently with constituents to learn about their motivations and interests. The organization then leverages that knowledge to communicate in a personalized, relevant manner with constituents, which drives participation and loyalty. While many fundraisers have adopted the eCRM approach, fewer public policy professionals have followed suit. However, eCRM can significantly impact grassroots advocacy programs by:

• Building a large constituency — Advocacy campaigns are, by nature, viral — that is, they can spread from person to person. eCRM tools increase the "viral effect," encouraging people to forward messages to their friends and making it easy for them to do so. Typically, an organization adopting an eCRM approach will find that at least 10 percent of people taking action on each alert/campaign are new to the organization. These additions are prospects for future advocacy efforts and also have the potential to contribute in other ways, such as donating.
• Mobilizing constituents effectively and at low cost — eCRM tools allow advocacy groups to mobilize constituents quickly and cost-effectively through email, far more so than through postal mail. eCRM tools make it easy to increase response rates by targeting appeals to specific audiences based on their interests, their previous actions or where they live. eCRM tools also make it easy to test messages (subject lines, content in the body of emails, etc.) to optimize response rates. Email campaign functionality makes it easy to create and send automated sequences of messages, encouraging non-responders to take action with secondary "asks," or to prompt responders to take follow-on actions, such as referring friends.
• Increasing response rates through easy response mechanisms — eCRM tools make it easier for advocates to respond. Online response forms on Web sites recognize returning advocates, pre-fill their information, and map legislative targets to individuals based on their ZIP codes. These forms allow constituents to modify their messages and can automate message delivery via email or fax, or make it easy to send letters or log phone calls.
• Increasing delivery rates by using multiple channels — With eCRM tools, an organization can send messages via email, fax, letters or Web form submissions on a legislator's Web site. Multi-channel message delivery options increase message delivery rates.
• Improving tracking — Traditionally, it has been difficult to track information beyond the number of people taking action in a grassroots campaign. One of the major benefits of an eCRM approach is more granular tracking of each constituent's activity as well as aggregate response levels.
• Fostering development of strong and loyal relationships — eCRM makes stewardship of advocate relationships easier by keeping constituents informed about the impact of their efforts. Sending a targeted email to update people who took action is quick, simple and cost effective. Content personalization also makes it easy to acknowledge a constituent's previous actions when he/she returns to an organization's Web site and encourages him/her to engage in new campaigns.
• Providing a single, complete view of each constituent — eCRM tools typically combine support for advocacy programs with fundraising and general communications, making it possible to better coordinate relationships with all constituents (e.g., news subscribers, volunteers, clients, donors, advocates, media). For example, a constituent might be a donor, but not an activist. An organization can use eCRM tools to encourage the constituent to join the activist network or take action for/donate to a specific campaign based on his or her profile, or past interaction with the group.

How Online Advocacy Impacts Functions in Addition to Public Policy
A grassroots advocacy program can be a great source of prospects for fundraising and other forms of participation. However, fundraising and advocacy functions historically have hesitated to share lists, fearing that advocates would be turned off if asked for money, and donors would be turned off if asked to advocate. Based on Convio's research, alienation of advocates is rare when they are asked to donate, and vice versa. Consider, too that any tactic that helps build involvement or affinity aids donor retention and keeps the cause or group top-of-mind, and therefore online advocacy can be an effective method to further involve supporters.  Most donors can and will give only one to two times a year, but they can advocate for an organization multiple times annually.

An organization also can use advocacy as a strategy to build its brand. Branding is an important factor in driving donor preference. Studies show that brand especially influences older constituents. Successful grassroots advocacy campaigns reach and touch many people, including members of the general public (current and prospective donors) and the media. Such contact boosts awareness, reinforces the organization's message, and can produce editorial coverage.

In summary, the Internet has already transformed advocacy for many organizations. New advancements in eCRM technology and strategy push the potential even further. Nonprofit professionals in functions other than advocacy should not only support the role of online advocacy within their organizations, but also should determine how to most effectively integrate efforts — key for maximizing constituent involvement.

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