2012 Community Conference Reaching New (yet old) Audiences James White: Guide

Hugh am I? Campaigner with Guide Dogs since 2011 Just back from 3 weeks at the party conferences (and Majorca!)

Problem: Attacks on guide dogs The number of guide dog owners who are reporting dog attacks on their dogs is increasing. There are over eight guide dog attacks a month. Dog attacks can have a devastating impact on both the people and dogs involved. Guide dogs have been permanently withdrawn. The other major impact is that blind and partially sighted people are left without a guide dog, their mobility aid, and become housebound until they can be matched with a suitable dog.

The solution We want the law changed. 1. Compulsory microchipping of all dogs 2. Attack on an assistance dog to be treated as seriously as an attack on a person.

Our targets Defra MPs We’d been asking our campaigners to send s to their MP for some time, but no real impact. Fairly regular meetings with Minister, but again, no evidence we were getting anywhere.

Our opportunity Parliamentary Reception booked for June 13 th which we decided to use to draw attention to this issue. Usual invites to MPs etc sent. Decided to launch our latest dog attack research on June 11 th which received lots of media coverage. Stroke of luck…Government Consultation due to close on June 15 th …we didn’t know this when we booked our reception

What we did Sent a short to everyone on the Guide Dogs mailing list, asking them to invite their MP to attend our reception. First time this had been done, and had to explain why it was important to others internally. Kept the simple. Didn’t split test the title, which I would do.

What happened Only 5% of people opened the But everyone who opened it clicked through to the Engaging Networks form. The majority of these people completed and submitted the form. This meant over 3,000 s were sent to over 620 MPs in about 24 hours. Our best ever result.

What happened On June 13 th, 150 MPs attended our Parliamentary Reception, including Caroline Spelman (Defra Sec of State at the time). Crucially, many said they were there because they had been asked to attend by constituents. The previous year, only 40 MPs attended our Parliamentary Reception.

What happened Also, as well as asking people to invite their MP to the reception, we also asked them to check an Opt In box to find out more about Campaigns. Over 60% of those who opened the and clicked through to the Engaging Networks form checked the box. This meant that we doubled the number of people on our Campaigning list overnight.

A success? Yes, but… Most actions taken for any of our campaigns Doubled number of campaigners We engaged with MPs who we had never spoken to before 79% of MPs are aware of the Dog Attacks campaign (NfP Synergy survey). These are our best ever results. But… The Government still haven’t announced what they are going to do, so the campaign is not over.

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