1. WHAT IS THIS PROJECT ABOUT?

It is about sharing the tools and data for effective campaigning around the upcoming European election (and, to some extent, after), specifically to address and engage with the candidates and mobilise the citizens to do so themselves. Ultimately, it is about shaping the agenda and mobilising the people to vote along the progressive lines.

2. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

It’s about synergy and impact. A lot of CSOs require the same tools and need the same information about the candidates. These tools and the work to fill out the database can be shared so no-one has to work on them or finance them on their own. And ultimately, with better tools, election-related campaigning can be more impactful.

3. WHO CAN JOIN?

This is a coalition of organisations which are value-aligned along the progressive lines. Corporations and commercial entities, lobbyists etc. cannot join and access the tools, including the database itself. Should there ever be a doubt, (so far there hasn’t been) as to whether or not a particular organisation can join, the coalition’s Steering Committee will take a decision. You can also join under one “umbrella” coalition and have the database and the pledge widget available to your members. Small, grassroot and underfunded organisations are also welcome to join. Let’s make this work for everyone!

4. WHAT ARE THE COALITION’S TOOLS?

The tools are interconnected and consist of:

• A shared, comprehensive and interactive database of EP candidates;
• A pledge-widget
• A mail-to-target widget;
• Post-election overview of the results, pledge signatories and other statistics.

The database will allow you to see who is running in which country and access (as well as edit) their details. Partners help build the database (more on that below) and can access it directly to use the information included in it for their campaigning efforts. Database coordinator will assure its quality and smooth running.

The recently launched campaign by the Eurogroup For Animals, who are part of the coalition, serves as a good illustration of how the pledge and mail-to-target (MTT) widget work together.

The candidates go on the record and signing a pledge created by the Eurogroup: https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/vote-animals

This widget, is in turn connected with another widget, one for the citizens which allows them to send e-mails to the candidates directly (and encourage and ask them to sign the pledge): https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/vote-animals-citizens. The fact that the tools are connected has various benefits, e.g. candidates who already signed a particular pledge are removed from the list of addressees of the MTT campaign.

5. HOW IS THE DATABASE CREATED?

It is created based on the intel from participating organisations (e.g. their volunteers or national organisations’ team members), publicly available, as well as informal information from reliable sources, automatic pooling of data from sources such as wikidata. We also expect some information about who is running to come from the pledges themselves (a candidate we are not aware of comes across a pledge or learns that another candidate has signed it and decides to sign the pledge as well). This information will then be automatically pooled into the database. Once we have a clear overview of who is joining the coalition, we will agree with each partner about which countries they could “cover”.

6. WHAT INFORMATION IS INCLUDED IN THE DATABASE?

The database includes first names, last names, e-mail addresses, twitter accounts, pictures, gender, parties. More categories can be added if the coalition decides they are needed and if there is a budget to cover further work.

7. HOW IS THIS DATABASE DIFFERENT FROM AN GOOGLE SHEET

The database is effectively a custom-made CRM which makes it infinitely better and more efficient to compile and use the information about the candidates for your campaigns. For instance, it prevents adding invalid emails or countries that are not in Europe, it makes it harder to create duplicates (thanks to the setup of the “search” option). As a result it minimises potential for duplicates or mistakes. It connects automatically with a pledge and mail-to-target widgets. It is user-friendly and intuitive to use (we think!). It also gives us a clear overview of who we have “mapped” in which country and where we need to collect more intel from. Data can be exported in a csv or pdf form.

8. CAN MY ORGANISATION JOIN IF WE ALREADY HAVE OUR OWN PLEDGE TOOL AND OR MTT TOOL?

Yes. Even if you are, for instance, mainly interested in the candidate database or the post-election overview, it is worth getting onboard. Please get in touch!

9. WHAT IF WE ARE NOT PLANNING TO HAVE A PLEDGE OR AN MTT CAMPAIGN?

Same as above. Even if you are interested in only selected aspects of this project (e.g. only the database or only the election overview) it might still be worth getting onboard. Please get in touch.

10. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

The contributions from coalition members form a “core” shared budget. Mail-to-target campaigns (MTTs) are priced separately (see below). We ask each coalition/ campaign to contribute EUR 1.000 to the shared budget.

11. WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE SHARED BUDGET?

The shared budget covers the “core” tools so by joining the coalition you get:

1. Access to the interactive database of candidates, overseen by a database coordinator who assures its quality (e.g. eliminating duplicates, identifying countries from which more input is needed etc.); the database will need further development and ongoing technical maintenance. Shared budget will allow us to cover this.

2. Pledge widget + ongoing maintenance and tech support for it. The widget can be embedded on your coalition’s partners ‘ websites without any additional costs.

3. Overview of the results, pledge signatories and other statistics (not only who signed your pledge, but, for instance, which candidates signed multiple pledges; this can be useful for further campaigning and help identify MEPs who might be more receptive to certain topics and be potential “allies” in the new EP).

12. WHAT IF WE CAN’T CONTRIBUTE FINANCIALLY AT ALL?

This is a movement-generous project and while we do need to cover the costs, we might be able to offer “solidarity discounts” and accommodate some members who would not contribute financially. Perhaps they could contribute with intel from countries we do not have sufficiently covered yet, or their campaign covers a topic which the coalition deems particularly important or otherwise underrepresented? Please get in touch whatever your situation and let’s see what we could do.

13. WHAT IS AN MTT AND HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

Mail-to-target (MTT) campaigns consist of citizens writing e-mails to designated targets. FTSQ powers such campaigns with targets varying from MEPs, to national parliamentarians, to ministers and heads of government to CEOs. In the context of the European election, we encourage the participating organisations to ask their supporters to write directly to the candidates. MTT coupled with the pledge widget create an effective setup for engaging with the candidates and encouraging them to go on the record in support of a particular pledge and cause. This in turn powers the whole campaign and creates a dialogue between citizens and candidates. This also creates an opportunity to contact the citizens and encourage them to go out and vote (see below).

The price will depend largely on how long the MTT would run for, how many language versions you would require and the estimated number of actions (e-mails sent). As these will differ, MTTs have to be priced on a case by case basis. They require significant monitoring and tech maintenance and are, as a result, more costly to run. Since not all of the coalition members are planning to run one, we wouldn’t like them to foot the bill for those who do. Including the MTTs in the shared budget would also raise the entry barrier and we are keen to keep it low and make the project accessible. A standard MTT running for three months would cost between EUR 1.500-3.000. If you are interested in a detailed quote for an MTT widget, please get in touch with us.

14. WILL I KNOW HOW THE OTHER ORGANISATIONS CONTRIBUTED TO THE PROJECT?

The coalition is committed to full transparency on the budget and work-sharing. Those who join it will know how the others are contributing in terms of budget and/or work.

15. CAN THIS PROJECT HELP WITH INCREASING THE VOTER TURNOUT?

Once you have your supporters mobilised by engaging with them on a particular issue covered by your pledge and you already collected their e-mails through your MTT campaign, we see it as a fantastic opportunity to mobilise people, e.g. by sending them a reminder e-mail just before 8th June, to go out and vote.

And, of course, engaging the citizens in an interaction with the candidates and having pledges out there which shape the agenda around the issues your supporters find important, should mobilise the citizens to vote as well (hopefully along the progressive lines).

16. POST ELECTION

The post-election overview is an important component of this project. After the election, the database will allow us to identify e.g. who signed particular pledges, how many people signed in each country etc. You will be able to see clearly not only who signed your pledge but also who signed other partners’ pledges. You will also have an overview of who signed multiple pledges. You will then be able to identify the new MEPs who might be particularly prone to engaging on certain topics, receptive to certain ideas and perhaps become “allies” in the new EP. Clear overview of the pledge signatories will also make it possible to confront those who signed the pledge in support of a particular cause if they ever go back on their word. You can track the rollcolls at www.mepwatch.eu. All of this might be useful for further campaigning in the future.

17. WHEN DO WE NEED TO DECIDE IF WE ARE JOINING?

Please decide whether or not you would like to join by 15 March 2024 (Friday). Please write to us to let us know if you’d like to join (or if you have any further questions!).