The Fight Isn’t Over!
We’re sorry to hear that your campaign was not successful, but now is not the time to give up: Many campaigns that are ultimately successful suffer setbacks and challenges along the way. You’ve already done some great work organizing around this important issue, and you can keep moving forward today. In order to make sure that your next petition is more successful than your last, here are a few helpful tips for different possible scenarios:
- The bill you were organizing around no longer exists. You can keep working on the same issue by starting a new petition around the issue more broadly. For example, if you were organizing around a specific anti-fracking bill, you can start a new petition asking your local legislators to oppose fracking next year. Start your petition today so that you can build up a strong base of signers before the next legislative session starts!
- You and your allies have chosen a new organizing strategy and target. That’s great—no one says you have to stick with one petition if you come up with a better idea for creating the change you want to see. Now that you’ve picked a new direction, why not start a new petition to keep the momentum going and go after your new target?
- Your target chose to do the opposite of what you were asking. Unfortunately, sometimes, no matter how great our organizing work, our targets just don’t get it. But don’t give up—you’ve already mobilized other people who care about this issue and you can keep working with them to get the decision reversed, or pass an even better law. Take a little time to brainstorm the best course of action to keep organizing around this important issue and then start a new petition to build on your earlier work.
Regardless of how you decide to move forward, don’t forget to keep the folks who signed your initial petition in the loop. They’ve already shown that they care about the issue that you’re working on, and they’ll be happy to hear about your new efforts.