What are supporters for? Shelter supporter strategy

Tom Warren - Shelter
Presentation from Impact Space Amsterdam 2024
For more info see https://www.impact-space.org/

1. SUPPORTER
STRATEGY - WHAT
ARE SUPPORTERS
FOR?
TOM WARREN, HEAD OF DIGITAL CAMPAIGNS

2. ABOUT SHELTER
-Founded in 1966, Shelter exists to defend the right
to a safe home
-One organisation was established from dozens of
grassroots groups to speak for the millions of
‘hidden homeless’ living in overcrowded slums and
in response to Ken Loach’s powerful film Cathy
Come Home
-We provide services, fundraise and campaign in
England


Twitter/X: @Shelter
Insta: @ShelterCharity

3. -More than 142,000 children are living in “temporary” accommodation

-There was a net loss of 11,200 social homes last year, while 1.3 million households
are on the social housing waiting list

-In the last year, more than 25,000 people have received a no-fault eviction

-Almost one in five people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans have experienced
homelessness at some point in their lives

-A quarter of Bangladeshi households and almost one in five Pakistani households
experience overcrowding. This compares to 2% of White British households.
ENGLAND’S HOUSING EMERGENCY

4. A NEW
DIRECTION
2019 → NOW
-COALITION
-COMMUNITY
-MOBILISATION

5. HOW TO LOSE AN ELECTION:
WHAT MATTERED TO US?
-Depth over volume (although volume is very important)
-Better ROI
-Finding the right people, who would stay with us
-Establishing who we already had
-Embedding our supporter strategies within our broader strategies

6. UNDERSTANDING
YOUR BASE
-We didn’t have a lot of insight
on our base when we started
this work
-Opportunity to run high-bar
actions during a general
election helped
-We were clear with our high
expectations in our public ask
-We asked them how they felt
afterwards

7. MAPPING
-SOCIAL HOUSING
-ACTIVISM AND
RIGHTS
-HOUSING EMERGENCY
THREE RECURRING THEMES:

-PROXIMITY TO HOUSING EMERGENCY
-GEOGRAPHY
-DEPTH OF ENGAGEMENT

8. MAPPING
-Direct lived experience + live in a target area
-Indirect lived experience + live in a target area
-Solidarity + live in a target area
-Direct lived experience + live in a non-target area
-Indirect lived experience + live in a non-target area
-Solidarity + live in a non-target area

Filter these audiences by depth of engagement (as determined by our ladder of
engagement) and our audience segmentation.

9. BUILDING YOUR BASE
-Set yourself some targets based on what metrics matter most
-Have no more than 3
-Make your targets realistic and easy to collect
-Measure against them regularly
-Consider how you’ll measure them
-Consider what you want your overall base to be, rather than just what a single
campaign demands
-Work out how you’ll divide them up and how you’ll reach them
-Ensure your base reflects the people and power you’ll need to challenge your
problem/s
-Ask your base questions

10. OUTCOMES
-Uplift in our campaigner numbers
-Greater understanding of our base
-Less attrition over time
-More geographically disbursed
-Positive outcomes for our campaigns

11. RECOMMENDATIONS
-Get internal buy-in
-Set time aside to do this work
-Accept that things will go wrong, but don’t let that deter you
-Show your progress


Twitter/X: @thomwarren