Case Study: Human Rights Campaign Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal, Part 3

HRC also used e-mails throughout the year keeping supporters updated on what was going on with the DADT repeal and asking them to take action. Each e-mail began by greeting the recipient by his or her first name, and each one ended with a signature, a "Donate Today" button, and links to share on Facebook and Twitter. And each e-mail hit a specific subject and asked recipients to take action. HRC shared four e-mails it deployed.

The subject line for the e-mail sent Feb. 25 was "Who do you know in the military?" with the from line reading Joe Solmonese, Human Rights Campaign. It used bold text throughout to discuss how some member of Congress were still on the fence about the DADT repeal, and it asked recipients to take a DADT survey and pass it along to "everyone you know with any personal connections to the military." That text was hyperlinked to the survey landing page. To the right, there was a video in a gray box, again asking you to do the same thing and hyperlinking to the survey landing page, and it was hyperlinked one more time with the call to action to share the survey.

The e-mail sent on March 18 had the same layout, but this one was dedicated to real stories of servicemen and servicewomen who had been affected by DADT. It shared three stories and asked recipients to send a story to Congress. In the gray box where the video had been in the February e-mail was an update that "Two veterans are speaking to the Senate today about how 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' (DADT) is failing." It also had a link to six personal accounts on DADT and asked recipients to read them and choose one to e-mail to lawmakers. The box text concluded: "ALSO: Tell everyone you know in D.C. to come to Freedom Plaza at noon TODAY for a rally to repeal DADT with Kathy Griffin!" That incorporated a celebrity endorsement, event and linked to the rally landing page.