Mobilize your besties + win campaigns
Written by niki juhasz
TLDR: What’s in This Blog
By tapping into the passion of existing supporters, organizations can unlock a powerful engine for advocacy and growth.
This guide highlights a strategic framework for activating insider champions – such as board members, volunteers and alumni – through a structured Planning, Launch and Post-Launch process.
By prioritizing early engagement and personalized calls to action, mission-driven teams can build deep ownership and achieve campaign goals more effectively.
This intentional approach transforms loyal insiders into a proactive force, ensuring every campaign is backed by a community that already knows and loves the work.
We include your step-by-step process AND a helpful tool to plan in this blog.
We spend countless hours *obsessing* over our external audiences.
We refine our social media personas.
A/B test our newsletters.
Draw little hearts around our donors’ names and stare wistfully out the window, hoping they love us back. (Okay, that last one might be just me…)
But too often, that focus means we overlook the people who already know us, love us, and can help us accomplish our goals.
It takes an intentional plan to mobilize these champions. As always, we’ve got you.
We’ve included your step-by-step guide for activating your champions at every phase of your campaign below!
during the planning phase
Your audiences are balancing jobs, board roles, kids, pets, hobbies, life. (Some of us are still balancing snow. So, so much snow.)
That’s why we need to build an intentional process to bring our partners along:
Your audiences are balancing jobs, board roles, kids, pets, hobbies, life. (Some of us are still balancing snow. So, so much snow.)
That’s why we need to build an intentional process to bring our partners along:
1. Start by creating a list of likely champions for your mission. For example, this could include:
Current board members
Former board members
Staff alumni and retired leadership
Volunteers
Legal team members
Your outsourced finance team
Key vendors who care about your mission
These audiences already know your work, so you get to skip the cold awareness building phase.
PSST: Check out our inspiration for getting started to the left!
2. Message these potential champions *before* you start planning campaigns. Let your champion audiences know what’s coming. For example, this could look something like:
📝FILL ME IN: At [INSERT YOUR ORG HERE], our mission is more important than ever. Why? Because [INSERT THE THING YOU’RE WORKING ON AND WHY IT’S SO CRITICAL]. As one of our partners, you’re a critical part of making it happen. [PREVIEW WHAT’S COMING UP]. We’ll share more specific information (and how you can get involved!) throughout the year. Thank you for being a part of our community and making change happen for kids.
At A Kid Focused Nonprofit, our mission is more important than ever. Why? Because 1 in 5 kids in the US goes to bed hungry. This is unacceptable – and we’ll keep fighting on The Hill and in our communities until no child goes hungry.
This year, we’re focused on getting the No Kid Hungry Act passed in Congress and planning our major benefit in the fall. We’ll share more specific information (and how you can get involved!) throughout the year. Thank you for being a part of our community and making change happen for kids.
3. Keep them informed throughout your planning process. Send a dedicated insider briefing. Give your prospective champions the why, what and when BEFORE the rest of the world sees it.
Ask them for feedback and their thoughts. This not only gets them on board early, it gives them a sense of ownership. People love an opportunity to share their own insights - it’s scientifically proven!
during a launch phase
4. Tell them what to expect at least one week before you launch the campaign. This will help them feel like they matter to you (because they do)! When sending that launch message, tell your audience what’s coming up, and tell them why they care.
For example, your board cares deeply about your organization’s future and financial health. Tell them how your campaign helps accomplish your mission and financial goals.
Simply put: make it personal for each audience. The extra effort is worth it.
And if you’ve written core messaging, then writing these messages is easy and fast.
5. Get them a clear Call to Action. To get results, you have to make taking action easy. (If it takes more than two minutes for your audience to figure out what you want them to do, you’ve likely lost them.) Give your champion one EASY, CLEAR next step.
➡️ See examples of exactly how to do this (and not do it) here.
after your launch
6. Throughout the campaign. Keep your audiences updated! Share the wins – even the small ones – that are driving you towards your goal. Say thank you for their support.
7. Track the data. Who helped you reach your goals? What worked well? What can you recreate for future campaigns? Data is queen, and this is a great time to gather it.
Advocacy is personal. By creating that list and then taking them on the journey with you, you can create a powerful force of insider champions.
Now let’s go do this.
About the Author
Niki Juhasz, A Vice President at Forthright Advising, is a versatile communications strategist with deep experience leading high-impact advocacy campaigns across the nonprofit, government and education sectors. From securing unanimous legislative victories to placing critical issues on the presidential debate stage, she has a proven track record of mobilizing communities and managing multimillion-dollar accounts. Now a lead partner at Forthright, Niki specializes in capacity-building and smart communications strategies that empower organizations to help children and families thrive.
