Online advocacy has a bad name.  Specifically: slacktivism (or clicktivism).  Seth Meyers put the prevailing opinion into funny words on SNL:

“Look, if you make a Facebook page we will “like” it—it’s the least we can do.
But it’s also the most we can do.”

This frames the debate well.  Is online activism  a prelude to future action — a way people signal they are interested in your cause and are working to do more?

Or,  is it simply a way people do little yet feel good about themselves?

What does behavioral science say?

The short version: good advocacy campaigns help boost future action. Campaigns that suck don’t.

I’ve summarized these research findings at the end of this post.  But, let’s start with the details:

Study 1: Lee and Hsieh.  People who signed a petition were more likely to donate to a related nonprofit afterward.

They also found that people who did not take an advocacy action were more likely donate to another unrelated nonprofit thereafter.  The idea is that people feel a bit guilty that they didn’t take a prosocial action, so they want to balance this with an unrelated prosocial action.  I’m not sure what practical effect this has, but the study is interesting in that it shows that people perceive an online petition as a positive thing that they generally should be doing.

Study 2: Kristofferson, White, and Peloza. Actually, the authors performed five different studies, but my favorite involves poppies for war veterans.

The study offered one of three experiences to participants at the beginning of a hallway:

1. participant given a poppy to wear in honor of veterans
2. participant given that same poppy in an envelope so it would be for private support
3. participant given nothing

At the end of the hallway, the groups were asked to donate.  Those who showed private support (poppy in the envelope) gave an average of $.86, public supporters gave $.34, and the control (given nothing) gave $.15.

The researchers further refined this study in other ways and found that generally:

• people who gave private support were more likely to donate in the future;
• people who gave public support were either no more likely or less likely to support the cause than those who did nothing.

Study 3: Lewis, Gray, and Meierhenrich.  Facebook activism (perhaps because it is public) doesn’t often translate to any further activity.  Looking at a Save Darfur campaign, 99.7% of people did not donate and 72.2% didn’t recruit anyone else.  Of those who donated, 95% did only once.  This is because, on Facebook, you are looking to advertise your best self.

There was a committed group of people on Facebook; it was just very small.  The top one percent of advocates were responsible for 63% of membership recruitment and 47% of donations (Pareto was a wuss).  The study also found that recruits were more likely to donate and donors more likely to recruit.

So,  once someone reached  very high threshold, they would work wonders.  However, these were unicorns in a world of horses.  (Another reason to cultivate an Advocate Identity.)

Study 4: Lacetera, Macis, and Mele.  First, the downside.  In a Facebook campaign, “the campaigns reached approximately 6.4 million users and generated considerable attention in the form of clicks and “likes,” only 30 donations were made.”  Use this anytime someone tells you direct mail response rates are too low.

They also studied 3500 pledges for donations made through an online social media/donation facilitation platform. People who broadcast their pledges on social media were more likely to delete and not fulfill their pledge donations.  This fits the thesis of people who pledge do so largely to look good and are less likely to follow through.

SUMMARY.

So here are the implications that I see for advocacy campaigns:

• Do them. A properly run advocacy campaign can increase the likelihood that someone will donate and take other actions for your organization.

• Make them private. Public petitions appear to satisfy a person’s desire to manage their reputation, so they were less willing to take other actions. Remember the poppy in the envelope!

• By extension, don’t do them on social networks. Not only are they public, but you do not have the easy wherewithal to communicate with them to get the first gift or convert to other activities.

• Make the ask. It can be as easy as making an ask for the donation on the confirmation page or acknowledgement of receipt for a petition.  Folks who take private actions want to help and are in a mindset of helping.  I personally have seen advocacy campaigns with a soft ask made right after receiving the petition raise more money than a hard ask to a email full list.  Seems, crazy, but true.

This summary is specific to online advocates.  Remember, however that Donor Identities transcend channel.

Tomorrow, we’ll cover finding and converting advocates across channels.

Nick