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Capwiz Best Practices: Action Alerts:
As you learned in Basic Training, the Action Alert is comprised of two parts -- the Alert, where you
describe your issue and put the call to action, and the Message, which you provide for your activists
to edit (or not) and send to the people you wish to influence. As you're creating your Action Alerts,
here are some best practices to consider so you can make sure your efforts have the greatest impact:
Define your Goals
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Who are your targets?
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What type of Action Alert are you going to create?
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The Basic Alert[?] affords you the broadest range of targeting options – from the
President down to local officials. By default, the Basic Alert is set up as a "One Step"
– the Alert and Message are displayed on the same page so your users don’t have to
click to see the Message.
Alternatively, the Smart Alert is always a "Two Step" – the alert requires information
about the sender so the appropriate Message is shown. With a Smart Alert, you can
create different messages based on an official's bill cosponsorship status[?], vote
outcome[?], or any custom group of officials[?] that you select. We've found that
Smart Alerts encourage people to send out more Messages than Basic Alerts.
How do you want your Messages to be delivered?
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With Capwiz·XC, your grassroots activists can send messages to anyone -- from the
President of the United States to local officials, from federal agencies to weekly
community newspapers, and a myriad of choices in between.
You can also add in a custom recipient if that target is not currently included in
Capwiz·XC.
By default, your Action Alerts are set up as e-mail campaigns, with activists printing
their letters to drop in the mail as a backup option. Contact Customer Service to set up
faxing as a delivery option or use our hand delivery service to Capitol Hill.
Additionally, any Action Alert to elected officials can be set up as a Call Alert[?].
Who do you want to take action?
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Consider these different audiences as you develop the language in your Alert,
determine if you’re going to add your Alert to Alert Stickers[?] to post on others’
sites, or publish your Alert to the Capwiz·XC media network through Alert
Blaster[?]. You will also need to plan what subscribers will receive an e-mail about
your Alert.
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How many Messages would you consider a success?
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This is an important number to keep in mind as you monitor your campaign – you’ll
know when to conduct additional outreach or take down your Alert when your goal is
achieved.
Stick to One Topic - Part 1: The Alert
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A compelling, timely issue and well-written Alert will encourage the most action.
When using "One Step" Alerts (the default setting for Basic Alerts), don’t write too much text otherwise, your users won't see the Message Compose form!
If you would like to include an issue brief or other background information with your Alert,
link to it! Capwiz·XC has an HTML editor and page-hosting capabilities, so you don't need to
know HTML or ask your webmaster to get your information online.
Stick to One Topic - Part 2: The Message
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When you're writing the Message portion of your Action Alert (the letter that your activists edit
and send), keep it brief. In your Messages to elected officials, including the following elements
will help offices catalogue and respond to your activists’ letters:
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Name, address, ZIP Code (automatically included from the Capwiz·XC form)
Reference to bill, if applicable
Bill number & title, if applicable
Impact on district/state
Constituent’s reasoning
Name of your organization
E-mail address (automatically included from the Capwiz·XC form)
Summary of issue
Personal story
Phone number (some offices require this)
(Source: The Congressional Management Foundation)
Encourage Your Activists to Personalize Their Messages
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Personalization makes a big difference. In just one or two lines, your activists can show their
passion for the issue – as listed above, staffers would like to know how the issues affect your
activists and where they live (Source: The Congressional Management Foundation).
Use the features on the Create/Edit message page in Capwiz·XC reach out to your site visitors
and encourage them to take the time to personalize their Messages.
Note: Capwiz·XC allows you to have parts of your Messages that are not editable by your
activists (required beginning text and required ending text) so if there is information that
you don't want your activists to accidentally delete, please include it there.
TEST your Action Alert
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As soon as you save your Action Alert, take a look at it on the public side of your Capwiz·XC
site. Take action on it and check the confirmation page, as well as the CC:s and thank you emails you receive. Is your Message getting sent to the right targets?
Help Your Campaign Go Viral
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By its networked nature, the Internet can do a lot of your legwork for you. With the various
features in Capwiz·XC, you can encourage your activists to share your Alert with their friends
and post your Alerts to some of the most highly-trafficked media portals online!
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E-mail your Action Alert to your activists through Mail Manager.
Customize the Tell-A-Friend message so it directly addresses the topic of your alert.
Overall, among Alerts with Tell-A-Friend turned on:
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Forwarding rate: 7% of people who took action on an Alert forwarded it to friends.
On average, senders forward the Alert to 3.3 friends.
56% of people who received a Tell-A-Friend message click through to see the Alert and send
the Message.
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Share your Alerts with other Web sites with Alert Stickers[?].
Post your Alert on some of the most highly-trafficked media portals online with Alert
Blaster[?].
Alert Blaster publishes your Action Alerts to a network of media websites, including Yahoo,
AOL, and Congress.org.
In 2005, Actoin Alerts published to the Capwiz·XC Media Network were viewed more than
500,000 times.
Almost half of those viewing Action Alerts also clicked through to view the description of the
organization posting the Alert.
Announce Your Results
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Check the Alert Activity Report to monitor the progress of your campaign and explain the
results of your efforts to ALL your members. Thank those who participated, and encourage
everyone else to take action next time!
Share your results with the press through the Capwiz·XC Media Guide.
Also check the Mail Manager Tracking Report to see who opened your e-mail message and
then took action on the alert.
Plan Your Next Actions
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What do the results of your campaign mean to your organization?
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What type of Action Alert campaign will be most effective next?
Improve the effectiveness of your efforts by ensuring timeliness - don’t let old Action Alerts sit
on your site. Archive your Alerts and Messages when your campaign is over.
Hire a professional! This best practices outline is based on advice from 720 Strategies, who can
make all these steps happen for you.