Who are your people?
Understanding and working with the ladder of engagement model
Is it just me, or is this year just flying by a Japanese Maglev train? I wrote this piece a little while back, and continue to be surprised by how many campaigns aren’t familiar with the ladder of engagement.
Through my work in campaigns, and even earlier in student politics, I’ve always tried to answer the questions: who are my people? When my task is to inspire people to do the extraordinary, how can I locate those kindred spirits and bring them into my cause? How can I engage in a way that is meaningful to them? And how can I recognise and work with people who have differing levels of interest? And is there a way I can get people more invested?
Anyone who’s done this kind of work will intuitively understand the concept I’m writing about today: the ladder of engagement. The ladder of engagement is a model that has been around campaigning for many years and it was mainstreamed by the Obama campaign which helps campaigners relationship-build with supporters and get them more involved (this article by Tectonica is a fab introduction to organising frameworks). You see, we understand that not everyone has the same amount of time and commitment to a campaign or a cause. There’s a hierarchy of engagement: from the flakes to the folks who are first in and last to leave.
National, pan-European or even global campaigns often end up accidentally engaging people in this way. They offer a range of opportunities and see who comes along. Sometimes, people will naturally seek out additional ways in which they can support the cause. But we can use this model to intentionally drive engagement. The wise campaigner will learn to identify the potential ‘rungs’ in their engagement ladder and be intentional about moving supporters up it.
Who are your supporters really?
I’ve written before about how to identify people’s individual interests and dial in communications on what motivates them, so I won’t rehash old territory here. As I said then:
It’s important to try to understand people’s previous involvement in your cause, what motivates them and what gives them purpose. If you know this, then it’s easier to frame a request appropriately.
Don’t assume all your supporters are the same. They may have different motivations for joining your cause. They may not yet be fully committed, or they may have years of experience. They are different ages and life stages. They have diverse and varied ways of looking at a problem or a social movement. All these aspects can strengthen your campaign—if you understand them.
Where are they on the ladder right now?
Let me give you an analogy for the ladder of engagement that might be useful. I’ve used this analogy at training sessions. The ladder of engagement is a bit like your path to getting married. You typically have a first date, then a few more dates. You’ll meet the person’s friends and their families. You might move in and get engaged, and finally get married.
Some people take every step on that ladder in that order. Some people take the rungs out of order. Some people get to a certain stage and stay there. People can move up the ladder—but also sometimes down. And of course, there’s always the occasional couple who head to Vegas on the first date. (In fact, I once met someone in a training session in Sweden who’d proposed to her husband on the first date, and last I heard they were still married!)
Cultivating someone along your ladder of engagement is honestly a bit like the courting process. How engaged is a person with your efforts? You need to tread carefully. Going in too big, too soon, can be off-putting. There’s also a danger of going too low. Someone might not feel that your offer is satisfying, or in line with their skills or commitment level. It’s vital to test the waters, so you know exactly how to proceed with cultivating a relationship with a supporter.
What do you want them to do?
As a campaign or an organisation, you have volunteer roles and needs to fill. You have a sense of the ideal activities you’d like volunteers to do. Prospective volunteers have their own interests and needs. It’s important to find a balance between these two halves of the equation. What do you need to meet your strategic goals versus what are people interested in doing?
This is a great time to canvass your employees or campaign team. What are the specific needs that you have to fill? That might be finding a few volunteers to take on gold standard leadership roles like running canvassing sessions. It could be to raise a certain amount of money. These might be lofty goals: in fact, you might be reading this article because you’re struggling to find volunteers to tackle these big jobs.
You could also break goals down into manageable chunks. Not all commitments have to be the same. By doing this work you can also start the process of developing a recognition scheme for your volunteers. In my experience working in politics, this is a great way to build and sustain people’s engagement. Weigh the activities you include in your recognition scheme by importance—how much the volunteer is moving the needle—not by hours. This can really help encourage people to take another step up the ladder of engagement to take on more responsibility and commitment.
How do you get people there?
Consistency, consistency, consistency.
Once you’ve identified your volunteer needs and tasks, create your ladder of engagement. Mapping out every step of your ladder of engagement gives you the power to create consistent ‘offers’ across your campaign or organisation. You can all work as one team to get people more involved, instead of creating internal barriers and mini-programs of work that prevent volunteers from connecting with other parts of your organisation. All your departments, areas and parties must be working from the same ladder of engagement and the same plan: that’s how people external to your organisation see you!
The more sophisticated your organisation becomes, the more important it is that all these opportunities to get involved can be linked. Becoming a donor could lead to someone volunteering at a fundraising event. A really great donor onboarding process might therefore highlight other simple, fundraising-relevant opportunities available for a new supporter. Meanwhile, someone who was onboarded for clerical work might be interesting in picking up the phone and doing some canvassing. Why not? They’re already coming to the office once a week.
Finally, at every step of a supporter’s journey you should be strategically gathering data. A complete picture of a volunteer will give you important clues about where and how to engage them next. Follow the program I’ve laid out here, and you’ll be moving people up the ladder in no time.