How we choose campaigns

38 Degrees members are constantly discussing campaign ideas and voting for their priorities on our Facebook page, blog and website. You can read about past polls and member discussions about campaigns here.

The initial idea for a 38 Degrees campaign may come from a number of sources:

• 38 Degrees members suggest campaigns on the 38 Degrees blog, as well as by sharing ideas on the Facebook page, by sending a message to the office team, or by tweeting their idea to @38_degrees.
• The small staff team is constantly looking for campaign opportunities that might reflect 38 Degrees members’ priorities.
• Our advisory network of academics, campaigners and professional members tell us about the latest developments on issues of concern to our members.

The most popular ideas and opportunities are voted on through regular polls of 38 Degrees members. The staff and volunteers in the 38 Degrees office will then work together to find the best ways to have a big impact on the issues which are a high priority to members.

For example, our Save the Forests campaign started with a member post on our Facebook page highlighting an article in a Sunday newspaper about the public forest sell off. Throughout the day we received hundreds of comments and posts on Twitter and email. The next Monday, we polled our members and got some expert advice to check the facts.

Our Save the Forests campaign started with a member post on our Facebook page. After just a few weeks the Minister dropped the plans for the sell-off.

We then moved quickly to launch a petition. Within a week of the campaign first being suggested by 38 Degrees members on our Facebook page, tens of thousands had signed the petition. Eventually the petition was signed by over half a million people. These people then work together to send hundreds of emails to MPs, publish adverts in national newspapers and put up posters all over the country. After just a few weeks the Minister dropped the plans for the sell-off.

So far, the way we choose campaigns has meant many of our campaigns are about big issues that affect us all and where we can make the most difference. In the future, we’d like to be large enough to be able to run more local and regional campaigns as well.

Want to suggest your own campaign? The best way to suggest a campaign and see what other members think of the idea, is via the 38 Degrees Facebook page. This is actively used by members all the time. Alternatively, why not tweet your idea to @38_degrees?

You might also like to check out Campaigns by You, a special part of the 38 Degrees site where members can set up and run their own campaigns. It’s there to give 38 Degrees members the opportunity to campaign on all the hundreds of really important issues, both local and national, that we all care about – far more than the small office team could ever support. If you feel passionately about something, why not start a petition?