Thanks to social media and digital tools, it has never been easier to reach a lot of people. This is particularly convenient for activists and people seeking to better their society and environment. Many forms of activism and local issues used to be extremely difficult to break through into the mainstream sources of information. Nowadays, all it takes is a well-crafted online petition and a few tricks to make them go viral.
Here we will show you how to create an online petition that is guaranteed to make a change and reach its goal. First, take a look at this template (you can use it if you want) and then let’s dive into details.
The template is based on a real, successful petition by James Bisset on Change.org. Click here to check it out.
Are online petitions worth it?
In your lifetime, you’ve probably run into hundreds or even thousands of online petitions. Some of them may have sparked your interest, or even got you to sign them. Others may have seemed ludicrous.
But it is a fact – online petition is no longer a scream into the void. Nowadays, it is considered a legitimate way to put social and political issues on the agenda of decision makers. In the United States, the administration created an online petitioning system called “We the People” in September 2011. Petitions with 100,000 signatures were redressed by the White House, and several of these initiatives produced palpable results.
However, similar petitions to parliament in the United Kingdom produced little to no impact – and mostly served as a way to vent citizens’ frustrations on certain political issues.
So how do you make sure your online petition does not fall on deaf ears – both by potential supporters and decision makers?
7 Tips to Create a Successful Online Petition
If you are passionate about a certain issue and you want to make a positive change, setting up a petition has never been easier. However, it takes way more than that to make your online petition resonate with anyone who matters.
Your online petition needs to be meaningful, concise, straightforward and prompt people to action. Here are x questions you need to ask yourself to make an effective online petition.
1. What is my mission?
First, it is important to determine your mission. There is a difference between a goal and a mission. Mission is a journey – goal is a milestone.
However, even a mission needs to be specific and achievable. “End world hunger” might be a nice sentiment, but as a petition mission, it is vague, broad, and involves too many factors to make a meaningful change.
On the other hand, “let’s feed homeless people in our town” is a big mission, but it is achievable – you can count homeless people in your town, you can come up with an actionable plan and find people who can be in charge of executing it and measuring its success.
An online petition asking network executives to bring back beloved TV show makes sense. Online petition ranting and asking a network to reshoot billion dollars worth TV show final season doesn’t.
2. What is my goal?
When you think about the goals, you think about the immediate effect. For petitions, a goal is usually a number of signatures that guarantees decision makers’ redress.
It is important to be realistic when you set a goal – if you are solving a relatively localized problem, it would be unrealistic to expect 100,000 signatures. Your goal should be based on your mission’s needs and abilities.
3. Who is in charge?
Which decision maker, by name, department, and institution could be in charge of solving your problem? Identifying the person who has the power to put your plan in action is at the core of every meaningful, efficient online petition.
If you want to address the problem of excessive littering in the local park, you won’t ask the U.S. president to deal with it. Vice versa, if you want to address excessive littering of the river that flows through several states, you will have to address upper decision-making levels.
Having a person in charge immediately shows potential signees that there is a clear path towards the solution.
4. Do I have all the information I need?
If you are passionate about a certain issue, it should be a given that you are well-informed about it. However, a staggering number of petition makers tend to be well-intentioned, but clueless people. Bad online petitions are often written by people who are not acquainted with the root cause of the problem, legal regulation surrounding it, and the scope of possibilities for decision makers.
So, if you want to make sure your online petition is efficient, make sure you know:
- What or who is causing the problem
- How it can be solved within the existing legal framework
- Who can solve it within the existing legal framework
- What are the realistic expectations within the larger social and political framework
5. Why should people care?
If you want your online petition to garner any attention, you have to communicate clearly why people should care. Explain how the problem affects them, and how solving it will make their lives better.
Sometimes, especially with more complex issues (such as environmental problems), it is hard to explain how they affect an individual. An effective online petition will communicate this in simple terms that can be understood by anyone.
Your petition should contain a personal, warm story or approach to an issue, effective images or videos, and a strong call to action.
6. How am I going to be heard?
According to scientific research, successful petitions tend to peak early and continue receiving attention for a longer time. This means that apart from the initial boom, you need to engage with your target audience and signees throughout the entire process.
This is why it is incredibly important to find the right channel to promote your online petition using the right tools. Although there are plenty of petition websites at your disposal, using marketing tools instead can be a great way to get ahead in terms of promotion.
Using LeadQuizzes software, you have access to an online form builder, split testing options, and reporting and analytics. Petitions you create this way can be easily embedded into your emails, sent via email campaigns.
Also, you can run these petitions as sponsored ads on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media. At the same time, LeadQuizzes is a great way to collect petition supporter’s email addresses, allowing you to build a targeted email list and re-engage with them.
When you are running paid ads, keep in mind that your money will go to waste if you don’t target your audience based on relevant factors such as their location, age, interests, and preferences.
7. What happens next?
Your online petition does not end when people sign it. As noted in the previous section, successful online petitions keep the audience engaged throughout the process.
Make sure you collect contact info from the signees and keep them informed about developments via social media accounts or regular newsletter (do not spam them though, limit the communication to weekly updates and emergency news).
If there is an option, contact media and see if they would be interested to report about your cause – it is great for boosting signatures and raising awareness beyond your interest group. It also creates a stronger pressure on decision makers.
Conclusion
Are you ready to create your first online petition? All you need to do is click below. You can either make one of your own, or you can use our simple template and customize it based on your needs.
You can try LeadQuizzes for free – two weeks is plenty of time to discover its form building features which include adding images and videos. You can also create quizzes that can boost awareness about your cause, keep your audience engaged and grow your email list!
