Making Change: How the ECDA Fellowship trained the next generation of progressive organizers

The primary aim: mold participants into digital organizers who use cutting-edge tools to generate positive impact on issues ranging from LGBT rights and independent journalism to climate change and migrant rights. “Our overarching goal with the fellowship is to radically transform and turbocharge the ability of progressive organizations to succeed in the digital arena,” said Mar Garcia, co-director of the ECDA.

Application Process

Following an application process that consisted of a written submission followed by an online interview, 13 fellows were selected for the inaugural cohort. While the abilities and achievements of the individual applicants were among the key selection criteria, organizations were also asked to submit detailed campaign plans and express their willingness to challenge conventional wisdom and experiment with new tactics.

By the middle of September, a diverse set of organizations from eight countries made the final cut. This included climate groups Ultima Generazione and Rebelión o Extinción Madrid, as well as Green parties from Czechia, France, and Malta and progressive party Sumar from Spain. Through seminars and interactive workshops, the fellows and senior leaders from their organizations got acquainted with theories and practicalities of organizing their supporters into contactable lists, planning digital campaigns from start to finish, crafting effective narratives, and writing persuasive emails to mobilize supporters.

The Program

The fellowship curriculum focused around the basic theory of digital organizing before moving to the practical aspects of running full-fledged digital campaigns that generate impact. Over the course of 12 weeks, two-hour webinars were held weekly on topics such as creating social media ads and managing large online communities. These webinars featured lectures by senior experts at the ECDA that were followed by small group sessions where participants discussed strategies and sought input for their own campaigns.

Learning-by-doing was a core mantra of the fellowship. After spending a couple of days digesting the knowledge acquired in the webinars, the fellows sat down for one-on-one discussions with their mentors – the ECDA’s movement-building experts who were assigned based on their area of expertise. These sessions were devoted to brainstorming strategies following internal discussions with their colleagues, fine-tuning their messaging accordingly and receiving feedback on campaign plans. This hands-on campaign support also extended to regular communication between mentors and fellows via email and other channels.

It goes without saying that you cannot mobilize people if you cannot directly communicate with them. With this in mind, the first few weeks of the fellowship were devoted to helping participants seed and grow their organization’s email lists. This meant monitoring the media for so-called ‘moments,’ or news events, that were in line with their organization’s mission, creating digital actions such as petitions on a chosen topic, and running social media ads to promote these actions and channel supporters to their email community. For instance, after an Italian politician made a homophobic remark in parliament, LGBTIA organization Gay Center, a member of the cohort, created and promoted a petition advocating sex education in schools that generated 10,000 signatures in just two weeks.

Once these organizations grew their list to thousands of supporters, their attention turned to stepping up two-way communication with supporters. By implementing what they learned about the art and science of writing effective emails, from dedicated webinars on the topic, the fellows sought to guide their supporters up a ladder of engagement. This refers to a process in which a supporter starts out as a mere observer and gradually becomes more involved by answering surveys, contributing to campaign ideas, donating and eventually participating in offline actions as protests and going out to vote. The weekly webinars navigated the fellows through the theoretical concepts of supporter engagement as well as using supporter management software Action Network and fundraising tool Lunda to implement these strategies.

Success Stories

While mentoring was a key component of the fellowship, the fellows also built a learning community of their own. Setting up a group on a messaging platform, they resolved each other’s doubts about new concepts, offered technical tips, and traded campaign ideas while drawing inspiration from their diverse backgrounds and experiences. This built an atmosphere of solidarity and encouragement, providing fuel to their respective campaigns.

Among the big success stories to emerge from the fellowship came from Mediterranea Saving Humans. An Italian NGO, the group operates a rescue ship for migrants stranded off the coast of the country. After receiving a hefty fine from the authorities for its rescue mission in November, Mediterranea sent a series of fundraising emails that led to its supporters donating tens of thousands of euros to pay the fine and keep its ship sailing.

The fellowship’s two participants from Latvia also contributed to lasting change in their countries by running effective digital campaigns. LGBTIA group Mozaika launched an online petition that eventually led to the ​​Latvian parliament voting to allow same-sex couples to establish civil unions, and women’s rights advocacy group The Lucky Woman circulated an open letter that built momentum for the Latvian parliament to finally ratify the Istanbul Convention, a human rights treaty that opposes violence against women and domestic violence.

Based on the movement-building strategies they learned during the fellowship, both these organizations zeroed in on a specific issue they wanted to tackle and designed actions around it to grow and mobilize their list. Carla Allenbach, managing director of Switzerland-based independent news portal The European Correspondent, was also among the fellows who immediately put theory into practice. “It was a great experience to learn something new every week and then implement the learnings and see for myself the rewarding results,” said Allenbach, who doubled The European Corrspondent’s email list and introduced one-on-one conversations with their readers.

At the fellowship’s closing event in Barcelona on December 18, fellows shared insights about the progress they made over the previous 12 weeks. Clara Ludwig of Brand New Bundestag, for instance, spoke about doubling the organization’s email list and generating support for its efforts to get young candidates elected to Germany’s legislatures.

“The fellowship allowed us to put our ideas into practice and get experienced advice and input from the mentors. We applied the learnings for list growth and reader engagement. The campaigns have been proven successful in terms of list growth, extensive intelligence on who is in our community, and increasing donation pledges.”
Carla Allenbach, ECDA fellow and Managing Director and Co-Founder of The European Correspondent.

"In just a few months, our movement streamlined engagement with supporters, including mobilizing donations. We also grew our supporter base, doubling our email list and breaking fundraising records. This success was possible due to support and guidance from the ECDA. The fellowship is an excellent way to kickstart or consolidate your digital fundraising and organizing efforts." Giacomo Antonelli, ECDA fellow from Ultima Generazione (Italy).


With a successful first cohort now scaling up digital organizing capacities in their respective organizations, the ECDA is currently preparing to welcome a new batch of fellows as part of its second cohort. This time, there will be two tracks of the fellowship – civil society and political parties – with the common goal of strengthening democratic participation. This will be critical in 2024, as the surge of the populist right casts a shadow over upcoming parliamentary elections in the EU.

“We believe that these challenges can only be overcome by putting the best digital tools in the hands of the best organizations, to effectively reach our supporters,” said Viktor Mák, co-director of the ECDA.


Participating Organizations:
- The European Correspondent (Switzerland)
- Ultima Generazione (Italy)
- Gay Center (Italy)
- Mediterranea Saving Humans (Italy)
- Rebelión o Extinción Madrid (Spain)
- Europe Ecology (France)
- Sievietei paveicās / The Lucky Woman (Latvia)
- Brand New Bundestag (Germany)
- Patent Egyesület (Hungary)
- Zelení - Green Party (Czechia)
- Sumar - En Comu Girona (Spain)
- ADPD - Green Party (Malta)
- Mozaīka (Latvia)

Image credit: Jordi Marti