1. The MoveOn Effect: The Internet’s Impact on Political Activism Dave Karpf, Ph.D Assistant Professor, Rutgers University Davekarpf@gmail.com www.davidkarpf.com Twitter: @Davekarpf Dave Karpf, Ph.D Assistant Professor, Rutgers University Davekarpf@gmail.com www.davidkarpf.com Twitter: @Davekarpf

2. The Internet and Political Action: A New Wave of Skeptics

3. A New Generation of Political Advocacy Organizations

4.  Founded in 1998  Emerged in 2002-3 as a vocal force in the anti- war movement  5 million members  $90 million+ donated in 2008 election  933,800 volunteers in ‘08, 20 million+ volunteer-hours  200+ locally-based “MoveOn Councils  Founded in 1998  Emerged in 2002-3 as a vocal force in the anti- war movement  5 million members  $90 million+ donated in 2008 election  933,800 volunteers in ‘08, 20 million+ volunteer-hours  200+ locally-based “MoveOn Councils 32 staffpeople Zero Offices Let’s take a closer look at MoveOn

5. Not Just “Clickstream” Activism

6. MoveOn Isn’t an Isolated Example Founded in January ‘09 400,000+ members $1,350,000 raised in ‘09 Built their list around Norm Coleman/Al Franken and around the public option 14 staff (only 3 in ‘09) Zero Office Space Combined expertise in technology, issue campaigns, and electoral campaigns

7. Membership regimes: This has all happened before Skocpol (2003) describes the displacement of cross-class membership federations by professionally-managed advocacy groups. Membership went from attending/participating to supporting/check-writing This was a technologically- mediated transition. And we’re experiencing another one (Bimber 2003)

8. EraFirst Generation (1800s-1960s) Second Generation (1970s-early 2000s) Third Generation (2000-present) Membership Type Community- Based Issue-BasedOnline-Based Typical Activities Attending Meetings, Holding Elective Office, Participating in Civic Activities Mailing Checks, Writing Letters, Signing Petitions (Armchair Activism) Attending local meetups, Voting online, submitting user- generated content Funding Source Membership Dues Prospect Direct Mail, Patron Donors, Grants Online Appeals, Patron Donors, Grants Dominant Org-Type Cross-Class Membership Federation Single-Issue Professional Advocacy Org Internet- mediated Issue Generalist

9. Three Ideal-Types MoveOn Hub-and- spokes DFA Neo- federated DailyKos Online Comm-of- interest Community Diarists Core Staff Councils E-mail members Nat’l affiliates

10. 3 Elements of MoveOn’s/PCCC’s Fundraising Success 1. Zero-cost scaling. 100 e-mails cost the same as 10,000 e-mails. 2. “A/B Testing.” A form of passive democratic input 3. “Headline Chasing.” Targeted Appeals, Timely Issues. 1. Zero-cost scaling. 100 e-mails cost the same as 10,000 e-mails. 2. “A/B Testing.” A form of passive democratic input 3. “Headline Chasing.” Targeted Appeals, Timely Issues.

11. Meanwhile, Old Revenue Streams are Collapsing  Prospect Direct Mail is in industry- wide freefall.  Targeted fundraising appeals yield restricted money which cannot be used for organizational overhead expenses.  Prospect Direct Mail is in industry- wide freefall.  Targeted fundraising appeals yield restricted money which cannot be used for organizational overhead expenses.

12. National Wildlife Federation AFL-CIO Existing Advocacy Organizations have high overhead costs

13. New Groups and Old Groups Fundraise Differently Data from the Membership Communications Project 6 months of e-mails, 70 progressive orgs, 2,162 data points

14. And It Isn’t Just E- Petitions

15. This isn’t “clicktivism.” It sure ain’t “facebook activism.” It isn’t even “organizing w/out orgs.” …nor is it “networked nonprofits.” It’s disruption theory. Changing definitions of membership Dramatic shifts in revenue streams New tactical repertoires Resultant shift in how collective action is structured in America. Displacement of old orgs by new.