Newsround
campaigning highlights from Europe
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Getting out the vote
GOTV – with Italian Pride
Before June’s European Parliamentary elections, research from Verona University demonstrated that members of Italy’s LGBTQI+ community were 6% less likely to vote than their fellow citizens.
In response, Arcigay (Italy’s largest LGBTQI+ organization) launched a multi-layered GOTV campaign, beginning with a petition against the government’s refusal to sign an EU declaration in support of LGBTQI+ rights.
The campaign continued at Pride events in Alessandria, Modena and Terni, where Arcigay members collected information on people’s voting intentions. At events in Cuneo, Enna, Ferrara, Pavia, Padua, and Savona, the team ran an 8x8 campaign (asking participants to convince 8 friends to vote on June 8), distributed stickers designed to counter right-wing, anti-trans messaging, and worked closely with influencers to create content on the importance of voting.
Building relationships – and a stronger community
Arcigay also worked closely with key LGBTQI+ venues across the country. Clubs and bars (including Illuminate in Milan and Classic in Rimini) offered a free drink to every guest who produced a voting card.
It was crucial to make the events – as well as the partnerships with Pride organizations and influencers – fun, cool, and effective at driving voters to the polls!
Progressive parties in Italy improved their vote share by 7% in the European elections. And there’s reason to hope that increased levels of engagement – as well as the bonds which the campaign forged and renewed among key stakeholders in Italy’s LGBTQI+ community – will provide firm foundations for more gains in the future.
Text the party started on a Saturday night!
In May, ahead of the European Parliamentary elections, the Federation of Young European Greens helped supporters mobilize their personal networks via texting parties.
The Federation provided drinks, snacks, and merchandise – and offered a prize to the party which won the highest number of voting pledges (tracked via a personalized link given to each host).
The Federation took care of the digital infrastructure. Individuals reached out to friends and family members and helped create a sense of urgency and solidarity.
This was a scalable, peer-driven movement with measurable impact. Participants were given pre-written messages highlighting issues including climate change and housing – and emphasizing the importance of stopping the far-right. A system of cascading messages helped give everyone who participated a real sense of how their efforts made a clear difference in getting out the vote.
CCOO – Reducing working hours in Catalunya
In Spain, a possible reduction in working hours is being considered by the government – and the CCOO (the biggest workers' union in Catalonia) is the first big union or organization to start actively campaigning on the topic.
A petition, set up with Action Network, has already attracted 35,000 signatures in support of a motion to reduce the working week from 40 hours to 37.5 hours. CCOO’s campaign integrates online and offline methods, with volunteers leafleting at metro stations in Barcelona during rush hour, and seeks to improve engagement and organizing skills via dedicated Whatsapp groups. These groups have URL tracking to help identify where new signatures are coming from.
So far, the campaign has added 10,000 new contacts to the CCOO database. Soon, hopefully, members of the union and their colleagues will enjoy a shorter week – richly deserved considering that their hard work has contributed to a 13% rise in productivity in Spain over the last five years.
As many as it takes – peer-to-peer fundraising for Ukraine
For nearly two and a half years, since the russian war of aggression against Ukraine started, children in Novopokrovka village (in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine) have been studying online (when possible) without friends or teachers for support.
The russian shelling is constant in this part of Kharkiv, and the challenges involved in providing nearly 400 children with a safe place to go each day are huge.
Enter Vitsche, an association of Ukrainians in Germany that counters russian disinformation efforts, runs digital campaigns and cultural projects, and organizes humanitarian aid. Not only has the team put a plan in place to rebuild an existing bomb shelter with everything necessary to keep the children safe for up to three days at a time (including anti-radiation ramps, dedicated areas for children with special needs, and sleeping and storage rooms), they’ve also put an innovative plan in place to raise the €200,000 they need to make their plans a reality (visit https://ukraineamplifier.com/ for more details).
Rather than running a single campaign, Vitsche has divided this ambitious fundraising challenge among 57 Ukraineverstärkers (Ukraine amplifiers), providing each one with their own Lunda fundraising page. Four months after launching, the campaign has already raised €80,000.
At this rate, it won’t be long before work gets started on a new school for the children of Novopokrovka.
Fighting corruption in Liguria
Genova Che Osa, a left-wing, grassroots organization in Genova, Italy, reacted immediately when prosecutors charged the region’s right-wing president, Giovanni Toti, with corruption.
Within hours, the organization had launched a petition calling for Toti’s resignation, which attracted more than 35,000 signatures. The team also organized offline actions such as demonstrations and a letter campaign which resulted in councilors receiving more than 150,000 emails ahead of a no confidence vote in the regional parliament.
A rapid response campaign can make all the difference - organizations need to have the right structures in place to move fast.
Thanks to their speed and smart use of digital campaigning tools, Genova Che Osa was able to set the agenda, shape the media response, and organize and mobilize to the point that Toti was left with no choice but to resign. On 13 September, he pleaded guilty to charges of accepting financial support from local businessmen in return for political favors.
