Resource Type: Field Research

It’s hard not to feel we are in an epic climate moment this hot summer, from unprecedented heatwaves, policy-altering droughts, and wildfires creating their own weather in my native Oregon, to the 1,000-year flooding in Europe. But also, new climate plans and laws in Europe (hello veggie school lunches!) and the possibility of significant climate policy and carbon border taxes in the US.
At the same time, at the Lab, we know that many of the climate wins we need will be built on the foundation of investments now in research to answer the critical public engagement questions facing our movement.
Today we share our latest Research Agenda, a roadmap of what we think are some of the most critical gaps in the community’s evidence base. In putting forward a research agenda, we hope to inspire and facilitate critical conversations, and we welcome input as we develop our research plans. We are also looking for partners to help us execute this agenda: climate advocacy organizations interested in field research, and funders to make ongoing learning possible. Please be in touch.
             

Every year M+R Strategies, a digital services firm for progressive non-profits, releases its Benchmarks Study. The 2021 version analyzes the nonprofit digital advocacy and fundraising field using data from over 220 participating organizations. The Study covers these areas:

Digital advertising
Email messaging
Mobile/SMS messaging
Social media
Fundraising
Membership
Website traffic and useage

Get back to basics in climate communications with simple messages, plain (but vivid) language, and relatable benefits. These are among the key takeaways from the 600 million digital ads and two years of testing by Potential Energy, a nonprofit coalition of creative, analytic, and media agencies that brings a marketing philosophy of “People First” communication to climate. This webinar covered frameworks and language that most increase climate change understanding, messaging “ways in” that increase worry and demand for government action, terminology and concepts to avoid, and key audience segments most open to new messages.
The creative content from their Science Moms and The Great American Build campaigns is available for others to amplify online.             

SMS texting can boost voter turnout. The results of a field experiment in the 2021 Pennsylvania state primary found that text messages increased voter turnout by 0.8 percentage points. Three specific message wordings were tested: the strongest turnout effect (+1.0 percentage point) came from asking voters to ask their friends and family to vote. Two other messages were called “Fight for your rights” and “Assumed good behavior” increased voter turnout by 0.7 percentage points. All voters targeted were also identified as more likely than the average voter to care about the climate crisis.