The Great Schlep

Targeted sites
While I’m not a fan of sub-branding or microsites just for fun, these folks understood that the audiences for these projects were motivated by different things, and they built campaigns and Web sites that spoke directly to their unique points of view.

JewsVote.org, for instance, provided tools to speak, call, e-mail or otherwise get the pro-Obama message out in a fairly straightforward, noncontroversial way (appealing to, say, my 72-year-old, Obama-supporting, Jewish mom). More than 7,000 people signed up for free memberships on this site in about four months, then sent, collectively, more than 10,000 e-mails.

JewsVote.org was designed to reach a much broader audience than The Great Schlep. I’d bet my hat that the hundreds who actually went to Florida to get out the vote after watching Silverman’s video would have clicked away within 30 seconds of scanning JewsVote.org.

This probably also is true for the 15,000 individuals who made gifts ranging from $10 to the legal limit of $5,000 to The Great Schlep. Why? Because The Great Schlep was more than a Web site — it became a micromovement custom-built for young, progressive Jews with contacts in Florida, an audience many Jewish organizations covet but fail to connect with.

Should you do it?
If your organization is debating whether to create a microsite, campaign or sub-brand versus creating something that’s more a part of the mother organization, ask yourself if the audience for the new initiative is different from your core audience. The next question is how far you’re willing to go to speak to its members in their language.

Organizations debating whether or not to create a microsite also should consider goals. Sometimes the main organization’s site might serve as a catchall, whereas a microsite might exist for a specific purpose like a virtual event or fundraising campaign.