Maybe, if your cause had all the resources in the world, you wouldn’t have to worry about finding the most effective tactics to fill all the unmet needs you see. It goes without saying, though, that there’s always some need somewhere that you would fill if only you could.
Me, I love the thrill of seeking out the best way to reach people.
Missions Require Action; What’s Yours?
Almost every mission comes down to people doing something. Healthier lifestyle, better student performance, cleaner air and water–they all depend on people changing their behavior. A lot of times, just clearly defining what you want people to do is challenging.
Encouraging Action: Easy As MAT
Very often, causes work to motivate their stakeholders by giving them convincing information. When it comes to persuading people to take an action, though, there are almost always other kinds of motivation that work even better.
And more often then not, causes rely on the stakeholder to provide all their own ability to act. Usually, there are good ways to make the action easier for people to do. And why not?
Even today, a lot of causes still depend on stakeholders to provide their own inspiration to act. Heck, most of us don’t buy socks, eat lunch, or even simply pick up the telephone unless there is something to trigger the action. Surely our stakeholders deserve as much, especially if it makes the world a better place.
(These ideas about how to encourage behavior come from a model from my friend BJ Fogg. It explains that Behavior occurs as a result of the right combination of Motivation, Ability, and Trigger — B=MAT.)
I’ll bet you already have some good ideas about what would be good motivation, ability enhancers, and behavior instigators.
You still want to be a good steward of your resources, of course. Maybe your ideas are the very most effective. But wouldn’t it be prudent to check?
Checking Out The Competition Collaboration
One step is to see what other people have done and what worked for them. There are some online resources that make that extremely easy, especially for any projects pertaining to sustainability. Two I’m aware of are Tools of Change and Fostering Sustainable Behavior. (If you know of more, please give me a holler!) And you can do internet searches. Put in a keyword description of your project plus the term “case study”.
Talking with the people who have done projects like yours is a splendid idea. Pick their brains. They’re probably just as eager to share their insights and tips as you are to receive them.
Developing A Plan: What Do Your Stakeholders Have To Say?
As part of your research, you might want to check out what your stakeholders have to say. What do they currently think about doing what you propose? What would make it more appealing? What would make it easier? Why aren’t they doing it already?
The best way to find out is to ask them. Questionnaires or surveys can be great tools. Focus groups can give you very useful information. Census data and other database resources have a lot to tell; some of it might be helpful to you.
Before You Buy, Take It For A Test Run
- Test drive it first!
If you find you need to do more to check out what the best ideas are, try some out, small scale, before you invest a lot of resources into something that might not work very well.
Keep An Eye On Your Progress (and you’ll probably learn something good!)
In her book Hands-On Social Marketing, Nedra Weinreich envisions developing a behavior change program as a pyramid. Research is not only the foundation of this pyramid, it envelopes it. 
After you have gone to the trouble of determining the best course of action, it only makes sense to do follow-up checks. You might find ways to tweak it and make it even better.
If There’s A Better Way, You’ll Find It!
I’ve noticed something about us idealists. We’re always on the lookout for better ways to advance our missions. Your search has brought you to this blog (thank you!). If these ideas are helpful, or if you have others, please let me know! Add a comment, below, or shoot me an email.
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