Sign Up for the Mailing List!

So you’re at a presentation by some kickass organization. You’re convinced by their analysis and the work they do. The rest of audience seems fired up, too. But by the end of the question and answer period it’s getting late and the energy has started to wane. Half the crowd has already trickled out by the time someone asks, “How can I get involved?”

Only then does it come out “Oh yeah, can anyone pass around a piece of paper to get everyone’s email addresses?”

But by then it’s almost always too late. The crowd has dispersed or is too busy talking to each other.

I’ve seen this happen again and again and again. In fact, I’m guilty of it myself.

Enough! Say it with me:

“Sign Up for the Mailing List!”

It’s such a basic thing. And so very, very powerful.

While maintaining a Web site does require some special skills, maintaining an email list is easy. Whether publishing a newsletter, sending out an action alert, announcing an event, raising funds, building solidarity, or generally spreading the word, the costs for maintaining an email list are minimal. And the impact can be great.

For example:

• Using email and the Web, dockworkers in Liverpool mobilized workers around the world in a successful action against the Mersey Docks & Harbour Company
• Working for Equality & Economic Liberation used a free database tool and email to increase voter turnout in low-income neighborhoods and change welfare policy in Montana.
• The Zapatista National Liberation Army successfully resisted the Mexican military by publicizing the attacks to journalists and sympathizers in Mexico and around the world.
• Subscribers to Amnesty International’s Urgent Action Network have helped free thousands of prisoners.
• With their enormous email list, MoveOn has raised millions of dollars from their subscribers, registered tens of thousands of voters, and organized hundreds of meetings with elected officials in the U.S.
• SMS text messaging (a kind of email for cellphones) has helped topple heads of state in Spain, South Korea, and The Phillipines.

I’ve also seen four job descriptions in the last two weeks from large non-profit organizations recruiting online organizers. While these large organizations may be able to afford expensive online activist tracking database software, there are several free listserv services available to individuals and small organizations.

Steer clear of “free” services from big corporations, though. Not only are these often padded with advertisements, but Yahoo! and Topica don’t much care for the privacy or security of your users.

Below is a list of organizations that provide free email list services. They are run by activists for activists, generally staffed by volunteers and funded by donations. They generally do not include advertisements on their email lists. Many have specific policies about the types of groups they support and the types of email messages they do not. Visit: autistici.org/inventati.org, cat.org.au, communitycolo.net, interactivist.net, mutualaid.org, resist.ca, icomm.ca, nodo50.org, sindominio.

You can also set up a free announcement list on very your own Web server with phpList. It manages bounces and multiple lists very well and seems perfect for folks who are not yet ready to tackle a full-on Mailman installation.

If you do have a Web site, make sure it’s immediately clear that you do have an email list. And make it very easy for people to sign up. No need for pop-up windows — a prominent link or sign-up form will do.

Here are a couple of links to tips and tricks on using email for advocacy:

• A very basic introduction to email lists
• A more extensive list of techniques for email campaigns
• Notes on email newsletter usability
• Drafting effective subject lines
• Writing effective email action alert text

I also appreciate when an organization lets you know how an action went. Following-up an action with a brief update is a good way to build good will. MoveOn is particularly good at this.

And please only send email to people who have agreed to receive it from you. Spam from activists is sometimes called “tofu.” It’s just as nasty.

So please, please:

• Put out the sign-up sheet ahead of time. In fact, put out a couple of them.
• Pass them around early, while the event is still taking place.
• Before the end of the event, ask if everyone has signed up.

And if you don’t mind my saying so, be sure to add the email addresses you’ve collected to your listserv soon after the event. Then send your participants an email message thanking them for participating and letting them know about upcoming activities.