Looking for something specific? Skip ahead:
Be sure to use Akismet securely
If you’re subject to the EU GDPR, you’ll need to evaluate the compliance of Akismet separately from your Data Processing Agreement with us. Akismet is not an authorized GDPR subprocessor under our agreement with you.
The decision maker tools are a set of features that allow organizations, petition creators, and signers to engage with a petition's decision maker. With these tools, organizations can evolve a single petition into an ongoing conversation with the decision maker. There are a few ways for organizations to use this tool:
- to send regular signature count updates (with selected reasons for signing) to the decision maker; or
- to allow signers to send full messages to the decision maker.
Before using the decision makers tools, you'll want to decide which method will work best for the individual campaign. Regardless of which method you choose, you can ensure the decision maker is notified of the campaign's existence, sent regular email updates, and asked to respond to the petition creator and your organization.
These tools are optional and must be turned on at the petition level.
To add a decision maker to a petition, follow these instructions.
Decision Maker Settings
Once you've added a new decision maker, go to the petition's Settings tab and expand the Decision Maker Communication section.
From here, you'll have a few options. First, you need to decide which type of campaign you want to run.
- If you want to collect signatures and send the decision maker regular updates about new signature totals (with a collection of reasons for signing), choose the "sign a petition" option; or
- If you want to collect messages from users to the decision maker, choose the "send a letter to the decision maker" option.
- If you decide to collect messages, you'll also need to choose the Message Delivery Mode. You can choose to either send a daily aggregate notification or you can send individual messages to the decision maker.
Either way, you'll need to turn on notifications by clicking the Enable button on this page.
The Notifications link on this page allows org admins to review the list of notifications that have been sent to the decision maker. If the decision maker unsubscribed from notifications, that information will be included at the top of this Notifications page.
Collect Signatures Notifications
If you choose to Collect Signatures, the decision maker will receive an initial notification that the petition has been created, followed by a series of updates informing them of the current signature total and including a collection of reasons for signing.
The first of these emails – the initial notification email – will be sent as soon as an org admin enables notifications to the decision maker from the petition's admin settings page. This email will include a link to the petition, a link to the petition site, and a link allowing the decision maker to respond to the petition. (To update the content of this email, go to CMS > Content > Decision Makers.)
Each day, if new signatures are added, the decision maker will receive an update telling them how many new signatures and comments have been added to the petition and providing them a selection of comments. These comments are signers' reasons for signing.
All updates sent to the decision maker will also allow the decision maker to respond to the campaign creator and unsubscribe from notifications.
Collect Messages – Notifications
Upon choosing the send a letter to the decision maker option, you'll be asked to choose a delivery method and enter default text for the signature form.
The default text that you're asked to enter is used to update the signature form and personalize the decision maker experience. Because collecting messages is a different ask than collecting signatures, the signature form will be updated to include a 'message to decision maker' section.
While we still collect the usual signature information, including any custom fields, the default text you enter here will be used as follows:
- The Instructions information will be included in a popover that appears when the user clicks the "show tips" link.
- We'll automatically pre-fill the subject line and message boxes with the Default message subject and Default message text. (If you do not want supporters to change the message's subject line, check the Signers cannot edit subject box.)
- The Introductory Text for Letters to Decision Maker Page will be displayed on a page that allows decision makers to view a digest of all of the messages that have been sent to them.
After entering default text you'll also need to choose a delivery method. We offer two options: individual message delivery or daily aggregate notifications. For most campaigns we recommend using the daily aggregate notification, not the individual message notification. We prefer this method for a few reasons:
- The daily digest is easier for the decision maker to interact with. They receive a single email directing them to a page with all of the signer messages. From there, they can reply directly to the decision maker.
- Inundating the decision maker with messages will usually not lead to an effective dialogue with the decision maker.
- Sending individual messages for each signature may lead to reports of abuse or spam, which prevent other organizations from using the tools effectively.
More details on each method are below.
Individual Message Delivery
The Individual Messages option allows supporters to send their messages directly to the decision maker when they sign the petition. (This is in contrast to the Daily Aggregate option, which creates a daily digest of messages and sends a single daily notification to the decision maker.) We DO NOT recommend individual message delivery for most decision makers.
Our goal throughout the platform is to enable our customers to organize more effectively online. While the individual messages option may be useful for some decision makers, we strongly encourage organizations to not use this option simply to 'crash the decision maker's email provider' or otherwise simply inundate the decision maker with messages. We recognize that showing a broad base of support is an important tool in online organizing. However, we're concerned that indiscriminately inundating decision makers with individual messages is not necessarily an effective theory of change and will lead to reports of abuse and spam that will prevent other organizations from using the tool effectively. We therefore strongly encourage organizations to carefully consider whether individual message delivery is well-suited to your campaign.
If you decide to use the individual message delivery option, the decision maker will receive an initial email informing them that a petition has been started. It will include links to the petition and petition site and will ask for the decision maker's response. (To update the content of this email, go to CMS > Content > Decision Makers.)
As signatures are added to the campaign, the decision maker will receive emails that include the name of the campaign, the name used in the signature, and the message that the signer has entered.
As an admin, you can view all of the messages sent to decision makers by going to the Letters to Decision Maker tab on the petition's admin page. Click the message's subject to expand the field and view the message.
The messages are automatically filtered to exclude spam and profanity. (Currently our filter is mostly targeting American profanity. If you want to know what will be blocked by the filter, or if you want to add words to it, please email us at support@controlshiftlabs.com.)
To view the messages that have been rejected by our spam and profanity filter, go to the Automatically Rejected tab. Click the message's subject to expand the field and view the message. If you'd like to send the message to the decision maker, click the Approve button.
All updates sent to the decision maker will allow the decision maker to respond to the campaign creator and unsubscribe from notifications.
Daily Aggregate Notifications
The daily aggregate notification allows you to send a daily email to the decision maker linking them to a page where we've aggregated all of the signer messages. We prefer this delivery method to the individual messages delivery method because it's more likely to foster an ongoing relationship with the decision maker. In addition to being easier to interact with, the daily aggregate is less overwhelming.
When you enable the daily aggregate notification, the decision maker will receive an initial email informing them that a petition has been started. It will include links to the petition and petition site and will ask for the decision maker's response. (To update the content of this email, go to CMS > Content > Decision Makers.)
Each day, if new messages have been added, the decision maker will receive an update informing them of the new messages and linking them to a page where they can read all of the messages.
If the decision maker clicks to Read The Letters From Members, they'll be brought to a page displaying all of the messages. (The Introductory Text for Letters to Decision Maker Page is displayed at the top of this page below the petition's title. Admins can override the text that's shown here. If no override is entered, we'll use default text.)
As an admin, you can also view these messages in the Letters to Decision Maker tab on the petition's admin page. Click the message's subject to expand the field and view the message.
The messages are automatically filtered to exclude spam and profanity. (Currently our filter is mostly targeting American profanity. If you want to know what will be blocked by the filter, or if you want to add words to it, please email us at support@controlshiftlabs.com.)
To view the messages that have been rejected by our spam and profanity filter, go to the Automatically Rejected tab. Click the message's subject to expand the field and view the message. If you'd like to send the message to the decision maker, click the Approve button.
All updates sent to the decision maker will allow the decision maker to respond to the campaign creator and unsubscribe from notifications.
Decision Makers' Responses
All messages sent to the decision maker will prompt the decision maker to respond to the campaign. If they click to respond, they'll be able to write a message which will be sent to the petition creator and org admins.
Copies of their responses will also be included in the Contact Messages tab of the petition's Admin page. These responses will have a Decision Maker tag.
All messages sent to the decision maker will also allow the decision maker to unsubscribe from notifications.
Unsubscribe
All notifications sent to the decision maker include an unsubscribe link. We've chosen to allow unsubscribing to help protect your organization's sending reputation. If the decision maker is unable to unsubscribe, they'll probably mark the notifications as spam – this can lead to other emails being automatically marked as spam.
If the decision maker chooses to unsubscribe, we'll ask for some information about why they're unsubscribing and allow them to send a message to the organization. They'll only be unsubscribed from that campaign's notifications and may continue to receive notifications about other campaigns.
A list of all notifications sent to the decision maker, any information about their subscription status, and information about clicks and opens are available by going to the petition's Admin > Settings tab and clicking the Notifications link in the Decision Maker Communications section.
The Decision Makers tools are an ongoing project. If you have any feedback or suggestions, please send them to support@controlshiftlabs.com.
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.