Ready, Set, Rapid Response?

Something happens and one of your organization’s issues is in the news.

The next question you should ask yourself is should we respond? There’s a series of questions that I always ask myself when deciding if running a rapid response campaign is the right thing to do.

Keep in mind that these questions didn’t materialize out of thin air. As Beth Becker previously wrote on Connectivity, organizations can and should prepare for rapid response campaigns in advance. This series of questions as well as the call on who makes the final decisions during a rapid response campaign should be plotted out in advance before the need for a specific rapid response campaign arises.

1.     Is this issue in your organizations wheelhouse?

This question is important because you don’t want to look like you’re shoehorning yourself into an issue that is not at the core of your organization’s mission. If you do, people’s reaction could be that you’re attention hungry and exploiting a situation.

2.     Is this something the media is talking about and you expect they will continue to talk about?

One of the reasons that rapid response campaigns can be incredibly successful is the media attention surrounding them. Can you make your campaign the center of the response discussion?

3.     Do you have time to pull off the campaign?

Rapid response campaigns are a very time-intensive endeavor. Although its usually over a short period of time, other activities will likely fall by the wayside. You need to ask yourself if you have the time and the bandwidth to respond in an effective manner. Are you in a situation where you can afford to drop everything else you’re working for a few days to do this?

4.     What is the goal of your rapid response campaign?

Is the goal of your rapid response campaign to give people a way to take out their anger and feel like they are doing something? Is it to create policy change? Is it to drive list growth or donations?

The answer to this set of questions will help you decide if and how to respond. Hint: the answer to this question can be more than one of the options above.

5.     How will you respond?

The answer to this question can dictate if your rapid response campaign needs to be a cross-platforms campaign or not. Is the press already coming to you for a response? Will you create a petition and email it to your list? Will you write blog posts or op-eds? Will you just respond on social media?

The extent of your response typically depends on three factors:  the nature of the issue (i.e., is it one fostering lots of emotion and calls for immediate action), the platform it originally surfaced on, and whether discussion of the issue is moving from one platform to another.

 6. Can you turn your rapid response campaign into a longer term campaign?

Is this a campaign that you can turn into a broader campaign on an issue? Can you make a bigger point about something that needs to be changed?

If the issue is getting a lot of media coverage and your organization is receiving press requests the answer to this question may not matter.

Originally on Connectivity