K Street Cafe

In the final push preceding the health care vote last week, the Democratic National Committee’s “Organizing for America” Web site provided activists with health care talking points to encourage them to write letters to their local papers in support of the legislation.

The site even provided a comment box that  gave people the opportunity to write directly to their local papers without leaving the site. They encouraged users to utilize the talking points just for informational purposes. “Do not use these points verbatim,” the site read in bold. “Your letter must be original and should focus on your personal views and experiences.”

Well, not everyone listened carefully to the instructions.  Over the course of the next few days, newspapers across the country printed the talking points verbatim.  In all, 72 newspapers reprinted the exact words from the campaign Web site.

While you could argue that this is really the fault of a lazy press (some already have), it is certainly an example of successful messaging for any organization interested in advocacy.

Here’s what Organizing for America did right:

1) They provided clear information to help activists write their letters.

2) They made it as easy as possible to write letters to their local editors. You will lose a lot of people if they must actually find the newspaper email address and pen a separate letter. The site provided all of that information for them, and even included an internal email system that would send people’s letters directly into the email box of newspaper editors.

3) They coordinated the campaign with other social media outlets. President Obama’s Facebook page directed activists to the online form and encouraged them to write letters.