1. I emailed my legislator, but do they care? Getting real impact from online advocacy #14NTCcare

2. Meet your panelists Jo Miles – jmiles@fwwatch.org and @josmiles Online Engagement Strategist, Food & Water Watch Katy Kiefer – kkiefer@fwwatch.org and @thekatykiefer Activist Network Coordinator, Food & Water Watch Michael Grenetz – michael.grenetz@sierraclub.org Director of Digital Innovation, Sierra Club (Sierra Rise) Jesse Bacon – jesse@environmental-action.org and @trayf Field Organizer, Environmental Action (@enviroaction)

3. Online advocacy as we know it

5. Scott Kirkwood/NPCA

6. What do we mean by “advocacy”? An organization mobilizes its supporters to put pressure on a target, with the goal of getting the target to do something specific....and that “something” should make the world a better place.

7. Advocacy comes in many flavors: Federal State Local Corporate Agency …and more?

8. Sometimes it works well!

9. Sometimes... not so much

10. The Advocacy Gap Survey of 4,000 activists Interviews with current and former Hill staff Key finding: A mis-match between what’s easy to do and what works Easy Meaningful

11. What activists want They’re most likely to sign petitions......even though they know calls and in-person meetings are far more effective.

12. What congressional aides want from us 1.Work smarter 2.Personal, meaningful contact 3.Quality beats quantity! More of this… And less of this.

13. So… where are we going?

15. A great campaign: Fighting fracking on NPR

17. For more creative petition delivery ideas: Check out my blog post with Melissa Byrne at PowerThru Consulting: http://powerthruconsulting.com/blog/effective-petition- delivery-offline-online-advocacy/

18. How do we maximize advocacy impact with limited staff and resources?

19. Local: Erie County fracking ban ●300 petitions ●900 more through SignOn.org "…the overwhelming and vocal public support for such a ban cannot be ignored”

20. Online, Long-term: Genetically Engineered Salmon ●Soft win: ○ Held off approval since 2010 ○ Over 203,000 comments submitted (even more with allies) ○ Ongoing online tactics to keep supporters engaged

21. Online-offline: Trans-Pacific Partnership ●140,000 emails ●4,000 calls ●100+ Constituent visits to district offices ●…so far “A group of 6 made the delivery on Wed, 1/15/2014, to Lisa Perrone, the staff person of Rep John Larson in Hartford, CT. We had almost an hour to make our points that the TPP is a very bad deal, much worse than the 20-yr old NAFTA. She agreed and took notes and our printed info.”

22. Lessons learned Evaluate resources ahead of time Make sure your messages are getting through Give them a way to opt-out

23. Can online actions still be effective with internet savvy politicans?

24. Follow

25. Thank

26. Listen

27. Respond “I don’t dispute the age and the amount of crap the No. Omaha plant emits into East Omaha. At this time, all I can say is the problem is being studied. When and to what extent, I don’t know.”

28. Offline “Over the last couple days, I have scheduled 14 separate coffee meetings with folks who want to volunteer… I’ve never called through a higher quality list, ever.” Quote from a grassroots organizer in Arizona

29. Why did these work?

30. Why is that?

31. Evaluate this session! Or, search by session title at www.nten.org/ntc/evalwww.nten.org/ntc/eval When you evaluate a session, you will be entered to win a prize! #14NTCcare