Petition Writing - A How To

You’re pissed. You just read an article that has you fuming and ready to unleash your fury on local government and anybody standing in your way.

Just breathe. Find your center. Violence isn’t going to solve anything. Neither is going to jail. What you need to do is take a more practical approach. You need to get yourself a petition. You need to start a campaign. Get others involved to start change. And I am going to show you how.

A good petition is the foundation of any worthy campaign.  If your petition is unclear or unfocused, how can anyone else share your vision and passion for change? They won’t. And your campaign has gone nowhere.  

There are three questions you need to ask yourself when starting a petition:

1. Who/what is the target of your petition? A target can be a person, an organization or a position that can make your petition effective. This can include local or national legislators, city or community officials, and local or national business.
2. What do you want them to do? Have a goal! A realistic, attainable goal makes it easier for people to understand and want to join your campaign. Too many goals or trying to do too much with a single petition can make it nearly impossible to communicate your point and may confuse people. You don’t want your campaign to fail before it starts.
3. Why is this important? Demonstrate to people how this will impact their lives. Why should they care? They have laundry to do and the kids are hungry. If you have an effective argument and show how this is a significant cause for everyone in the community to join, you will be more likely to have people take action.

Once you have this all figured out, it is time to write your petition. Clear, concise and compelling will win the race. Now it's time to summarize your petition.

  The petition summary should contain the following:

1. A call to action. Why should people bother signing your petition or getting involved? Let them know within the first or second sentence.
2. Background information. What’s the t? What’s happening that needs to change? Provide one or two sentences giving some history.
3. Supporting facts. People can be skeptical. What proof do you have? And ‘I read it on Wikipedia’ or ‘I heard about it from a guy in a park’ is not going to help get people onboard. Include a short list of substantiated facts supporting your petition.
4. Final call to action. Finish by reiterating your goal.

Next up – online or offline?

Both are equally effective depending on your goal. Is it local or national? If it’s local, you can assemble a team and canvas the area. This might be tricky if you are focusing on a national cause (unless you have the time and funds to do so). So for this, I suggest making your petition online. Remember – online users might not use real names, invalidating the validity of the petition. Validate and verify! Use a confirmation email to prevent your petition from being bogged down with false names and email addresses. Don’t let all your hard work and effort go to waste because of a few addle-pates. Also, use the power of the internet to your advantage. Foster an online community – use discussion groups, blogs and social media to get the message out. It is a great way to get the proverbial ball rolling and to reach a large group of people in a short amount of time.

You have your petition? Check. You have your signatures? Check. Now it is time to send your petition and an accompanying letter to your target.

Let them know why you are contacting them – make your purpose clear and concise. Provide details. And most importantly, be polite: don’t attack your target and automatically put them on the defensive. You have a better chance of your letter going into the recycling bin than them reading the whole thing through. And do not forget to proofread and spellcheck. You don’t want your target to pull out the red pen while reading through your letter. It takes away from the seriousness and validity of your argument.

Remember, you don’t need a lobbying group or be a PR Ninja to change the world. You have a voice, and that is all it takes to foster change.