Petitions: How and why should I start one?
What’s the purpose of a petition?
Petitions are a type of written appeal that people can sign to mark their support of your cause. Gathering lots of signatures from supporters will help you to bring about your intended change.
Online petitions are a very effective way of raising awareness for your cause, as they can be shared via social media platforms to reach a wider demographic of people. When you have collected signatures, it publicly demonstrates to the responsible party that others are keen to effectuate the same change. This makes petitions a great way to hold institutions accountable for their wrongdoings and pressure key decision-makers to enforce change.
5 reasons to start a petition:
To spread awareness of your issue.
To influence key decision-makers to enforce change.
To create a network to tap into when you need support for your campaign.
To give a voice to those impacted by your issue who may not have spoken out yet.
To make a long-lasting change and set a precedent for future campaigners.
The pros and cons of petitions
Pros
They are a simple and free means of gaining support.
Online petitions can reach a wider audience.
Minimal effort is required from supporters.
Easy to share on social media and can become viral.
Publicly holding people to account increases the likelihood of them acting on your demands.
The Government E-Petition website offers you direct access to MPs and the ability to influence politics.
Cons
Unless your petition is on a highly publicised topic, it may not be easy to grow your supporter numbers.
Campaigners often see petitions as just one piece of the puzzle. Most often, a more comprehensive campaign is needed to achieve the desired outcome. For example, seeking additional PR, encouraging supporters to write to MP’s, and organising events and demonstrations.
Governments see huge numbers of petitions, so you will need to gain quite a lot of supporters to stand out from the crowd.
You rely on others to share your petition to raise awareness for your cause - a petition on its own will likely not attract media attention.
How do I start a petition?
You can start a petition on Find Others in 4 easy steps.
The first step is dependent on your goals. If your issue has to be debated by MPs in Parliament, you will need to make a UK Government petition. Once you’ve done this, you can copy and paste the link onto the Find Others site to give your petition a host of new supporters. Creating a campaign linked to this petition will help you spread further awareness, provide contextual information, and highlight to supporters other ways they can help your campaign. If your issue does not need to be debated in Parliament, you can make one on Find Others by following the next few steps.
Create a title for your petition. Ensure that this adequately summarises the purpose of your petition and encourages others to sign it.
Explain the problem your petition is trying to solve. You have 2500 characters to briefly describe what is happening, who is affected, and what you hope to achieve.
Finally, identify the accountable party. Here you can add as few or as many people as you need to clarify who is responsible for the problem.
Alongside Find Others, there are several other platforms available to create online petitions. The majority of platforms offer very similar features, which are mainly the ability to start the petition, share it across social media platforms, and collect signatures. However, Find Others goes one step further, combining all these aspects in one place. You can start a petition, build a community, spread awareness and gain help in any way you need it.
Find Others combines the power of petitions and social media to give you maximum exposure and support.
Read more about why you should start a petition on Find Others, as well as some top tips for success here.
What should I do now that my petition has reached its goal?
When you have met or exceeded your signature goal, there are a few ways to get your issue dealt with directly.
For UK Government petitions, you will have been required to gain 10,000 signatures to get a direct government response. To help with consideration of your cause, you could write to your local MP and encourage them to support it during debates. If your petition is about a local issue, they should be particularly interested in helping you.
If your petition is aimed at a private organisation or company, you can download your petition certificate from Find Others and send it to them via post or email. It may also be worthwhile to deliver the petition in person as part of an organised event. This could help attract media attention and provide a good PR opportunity for your campaign. The more engagement you can bring to your petition, the higher your chances of your demands being met.
It is essential to follow up on any promises the organisation or company may make in response to your petition to ensure they act on your demands. You now have an audience for your cause and they will be keen to support you again if the organisation back-tracks.
Start a petition today
Starting a campaign or petition on Find Others is an easy process. The platform is designed to guide you toward access to justice, ensuring you don’t miss a beat during the process.
