Resource Type: Experiments

The Lab’s Digital Strategy Deep-Dive workshop is a 1-day immersive experience to help digital folk work through everything from defining your digital goals to measurement and evaluation of digital programs.

Long-form, “deep canvass”-style door to door climate conversations may not be more effective at generating activism than a standard, more direct, canvass approach.  In an experiment involving 1,449 canvass conversations with voters conducted by Minnesota 350, voters were randomly assigned to either a long-form or standard script, and then asked to sign a postcard to lawmakers and recruited for future activism. Future activism rates did not differ between those receiving the two scripts, though the standard script may have produced slightly higher postcard signature rates. Conversely, there is some evidence that volunteer canvassers preferred delivering the long-form script, which may have led to higher volunteer participation in the canvass program. (Supported by a grant from the Climate Advocacy Lab)             

How did the alliance behind the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) move a visionary idea from concept to groundbreaking reality? In this webinar, the Climate Advocacy Lab was joined in conversation with members of the PCEF Steering Committee for an “under the hood” look at the campaign’s insights, challenges, and lessons learned –– also captured in a new, interview-based report that captures the “anatomy” of the campaign. This campaign secured a landslide ballot measure victory in Portland in November 2018, establishing a multi-million dollar municipal fund that will address climate, economic, and racial justice by providing funding for renewable energy projects, job training and apprenticeship programs, and regenerative agriculture.

Highlight people engaging in advocacy actions, to encourage others to do the same. People who see someone else engage in a “prosocial” behavior (helping or benefiting others) are more likely to do the same. This is called prosocial modeling. Witnessing prosocial behavior can have cascading consequences – including encouraging prosocial behaviors that were not explicitly modeled and engaging in prosocial behavior towards additional groups of people. Importantly, however, the potential impact of seeing prosocial behavior diminishes over time. Therefore, organizations interested in encouraging prosocial behavior should consider quick turnaround interventions that involve witnessing prosocial behavior. These interventions can be successful no matter the medium (i.e., live and in person versus a video or recording).