A Brief Introduction
to Online Organizing
by
Garlin Gilchrist II

Organizing As We *Knew* It
 Paper and pen
 Phones and spreadsheets
 Reliance on press to generate energy and attention
 Lost files, MIA volunteers, drive-by data collection
 “Internet team” was stuck in a basement fixing printers

Big Changes in 2004
Political campaigns (i.e. Dean and
Kerry) and large nonprofits (i.e.
MoveOn, Greenpeace, etc.) made
better use of the web
 General public more aware of the
internet (online shopping, online
banking, etc.)

Even Bigger Changes in 2008
Millions of dollars from
small-dollar donors
Creativity in fundraising,
mobile outreach, and
communications
Integration of online
organizing into every
corner of a campaign

What Does it Cost to
Not Participate?
Who could you be
engaging?
Who are you
currently missing?

Online Organizing...Now
 Integrated into all corners Communications
 Complements and improves: Web Presence
☐ Fundraising
☐ Communications
Organizing Fundraising
☐ Voter contact
☐ Field plans
☐ Volunteer programs/capacity
 Must still have an offline connection

Message
or Video
Credit: Larry Huynh, Blackrock Associates
Old Media Ecosystem

Message
or Video
• Email supporters
• Blog outreach
• Live-blogging
• Online Google ads
• Social networking
Credit: Larry Huynh, Blackrock Associates
New Media Ecosystem

Media
increases
coverage
Allies email
their own
Message Viral supporters
or Video
Blogs build
• Email supporters more buzz &
• Blog outreach deepen story
• Live-blogging
• Online Google ads
• Social networking
Credit: Larry Huynh, Blackrock Associates
Results of New Media Ecosystem

Why do people respond to the web?
 Story
 Timeliness
 Sense of urgency
 Connect with others
 Meaningful action

Website Basics
 Clean and clear design
 Guide users
 Up-to-date, dynamic content
 Highlight stories on site
 Emphasize user experience
 Put organization’s emphasis front and center
 Test, test, test

Your Campaign site MUST have:
 Email signup form
 Big red donate button
 Contact form
 Bio
 News & Events
 Issue/policy statements
 Press page

Email Basics
 Make sure you have something to say
 Keep an email calendar
 Invest in a blast email tool
 Create an inviting landing page for email visitors
 Peer-to-peer viral tools
 Focus on organic email list growth
 Test, test, test

Online Fundraising Basics
 Same principles as offline fundraising
 Be creative
 Make it simple
 Be consistent with messaging
 Be ready
 Be secure

Organizational Culture
 New media ecosystem means a new
organizational ecosystem
 New organizing needs collaboration
 IT staff are not online organizing staff
 Be ready to show results – quantitative and
qualitative

So Where Do You Start?
 Map out your current online presence
 Take stock of your goals
 What can you do, vs. what should you do?
 What tools do you need vs. what tools do
you want?

Next Steps
 Think about existing connections – national arm
of your org or local networking opportunities
 Train staff vs. hire consultant?
 If you hired someone, where would that
person fit into your organization?
 Scour job banks for “norms” in salary and
responsibilities

Keep in mind before
starting:
o You are not Barack Obama.
o Most campaigns stop before starting
o Campaigns “go viral”
0.01% of the time
o Be OK with failing
o Find parallels between
traditional organizing and
new organizing
o Success is a slow slog –
there is no silver bullet

What are you going to do tomorrow?

Contact Garlin:
garlin@garlin.org
(425) 244-5423
twitter.com/garlin
New Organizing Institute
www.neworganizing.com