Resource Type: Experiments

How do we build the power to win? The Lab is constantly working to uncover and share what works (and doesn’t) to help build grassroots power and win equitable solutions through evidence-based advocacy. A common request we receive is for rigorous best practices to grow people power. Last year, the Lab finalized our research vision and research agenda and solicited research project ideas from the Lab community, rooted in how to improve organizing and mobilizing, and grounded in a common conceptual framework.
Today we share results from these six collaborative research projects, and our guidance for your recruitment and mobilizing work, based on the evidence we gathered together.

When new supporters sign up to learn more about an organization, what gets them motivated to start engaging with advocacy and taking actions? Should advocates first try to create a sense of community identity, or feed new supporters’ desire for immediate action and efficacy?
Sunrise Movement wanted to explore this question through their Welcome Series, which has traditionally culminated in a “Welcome Call” where new supporters learn more about the organization and meet other people new to Sunrise. Working with the Climate Advocacy Lab and The Movement Cooperative, they compared this to a new “Anytime Action” event where new supporters get immediate training on ways to take action.

Learn about an evidence-backed framework to engage your key audiences and build buy-in from your supporters. In 2021, we kicked off a round of research project collaborations to study how climate advocates can leverage the Social Identity Model of Collective Action (SIMCA) to better organize and mobilize their bases. SIMCA predicts that people participate in activism when they feel that their social group is experiencing injustice, when they strongly identify with that group, and/or when they feel that acting together could have an impact (that is, a sense of collective efficacy). These collaborations helped us unpack SIMCA and provided a better understanding of how and when to use this model. We found that SIMCA-informed messaging tended to perform as well as or better than existing approaches, though the specific context of each implementation was important for determining exactly how this played out. In part 2 of this report-out, we feature research done in collaboration with three climate justice organizations: Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Alianza for Progress, and Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts. (Also see our practical guide for integrating SIMCA into climate engagement programs and check out the projects from our SIMCA Part 1 webinar)