Start A Do Something Club!
Grab 4 or more friends and take action in your community! We'll give you tons of resources to help you get started and easy project ideas to make a difference at your school. More
Action Tips: Write or Start a Petition
Writing a petition is a great way to encourage change or peacefully protest a policy. You'll need to sell people on why this issue is a problem and get there support.
Identify Your Target
Which organization, elected official, or company do you want to take action on this issue? Your target could range from a media corporation to a political party. In some cases, you could have multiple targets.
Writing the Petition
A good petition should describe the situation in one paragraph at the top of the list. At the end, you need to write a request like, "The people of Springville demand that the chemical plant to stop dumping waste into the town lake."
There are also some regulations for making a petition which may influence whether you want to do a local, county or even state level petition. Call your local government (think Town or City Hall) and ask for the exact set of guidelines and regulations before you begin. Be sure to find out:
- what kind of information the petition should include
- how many signatures to aim for
- whether your petition needs approval before it circulates
Gathering Signatures
If you're doing a paper petition, have paper and pens available for the signatures you wish to collect. Your signature page should have some columns that will probably include things like the name, address, phone number and, of course, the signature.
People spill coffee or sodas a lot, so be prepared to replace certain pages of your petition. Number the pages on the petition and make photocopies of them.
Petitioning requires legwork. Recruit a team to help you, and create a plan that will include a list of high traffic areas you can hit. Don't forget to include the dates and times each person will be stationed there.
Depending on the kind of petition, the people who sign may have to be eligible registered voters, so keep this in mind when you're looking for people.
Online or Offline?
Online petitions are easier for the masses to access, but they have a different set of rules to follow if you want to be taken seriously. The exact regulations for legitimate petitions vary from state to state and country to country. To view some of them, you can visit Go Petition, Petition Online, I Petitions, or Petition Spot .
Privacy
A person who signs a petition is usually required to leave some sort of personal information, to ensure that their signature and their opinion is legitimate. You should make it clear that you will not share information with any third parties.
Online Examples
Check out some successful petitions that you could use as examples for your own.
Sources:
Go Petition
Petition Online
I Petitions
Petition Spot
Take Action
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- Find more info on other causes:
Wrongful Imprisonment: What if you were accused of a crime you didn't commit? Turns out, that is a reality for thousands of Americans.
Comments
I currently am not about to start a petition but the thought has crossed my mind and I may start one soon :)
I would like to start a petition especially about pitbulls, I don't like that people think they are bad dogs and don't deserve to be treated correctly.
Your absoluetly right :)) i had a pit bull once && he was a total Sweetheart. He got along great with my little brothers and sisters && was very playful. He even shook hands.... well hand and paw hahaaaa :]]
I would Totally sign it!!
Starting animal petition!
IM 16 YEARS AND IM FROM PERU BUT IM LIVING IN STINNETT TX.. THIS IS A SMALL TOWN AND I BELIEVE IF ALL OF US GET TOGETHER AND DO SOMETHING..EVEN A LITTLE TOWN CAN MAKE A BIG CHANGE...I DONT REALLY SEE PEOPLE DOING STAFF FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT AND WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THE FIRST STEP...IM NOT SURE WHAT KIND OF PETITION IM GONNA START BUT I THANK ALL THE IDEAS THAT dosomething.org HAVE GIVEN ME :)
THANK YOU VERY MUCH..:)
ME TOO:) I HAD ONE WHEN I WAS LITTLE AND EVEN DO EVERYBODY WAS AFRAID OF HIM HE WAS A SWEETHEART!;)
I EVEN USED TO GET IN HIS BACK AND RIDE HIM AS A HORSE..BY THE WAY I WAS REALLY LIL SO IT DIDNT HURTED HIM..:)
i want to start a petition, for discrimination for people of different races, like when it comes to being put down for how you look. i guess i can call it some kind of...confidence issue? i just didn't know how to get it started. this is great advice.
This is great that we are not scared to voice our own opinions on this site and no one is here to scared us and put us alot during school. By theright ways that I act and do while im at school. I was scared to mention to this to anyone at and school and my family because I thought that the mean people that bully me would bully me worse by saying im supid, i act stupid and I always will be stupid and that there is nothng in this world that i could doabout. Once i saw this site I just opened up alot and wasn't as scared as I was before about these severe verbal comments that I have had since I was first in middle so yeah this bullying thing that I have dealt with has been too sadding and hurtful to keep it quiet anymore. So I just wanted to take a minute to personally thank demi lavto im sorry that i spelled your name demi and nick jonas because after watching you guys openoi
please sign
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/stopbullyingandviole/
please sign this to stop bulleying in school
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/kayleesbulleying/
i spelt bullying wrong srry
Starting a stop bullying facebook page and a petition. I plan to hopefully start a full on organization. follow me on twitter @NkeeyahDunn to find out more info in the coming days. I will sign you guy's dog and bullying petitions. I had a pit bull and he was sweet. I am 16 years old and I was a bully victim
has the anyone started the pit bull petition. i have one right now and while looking for a new place to live, its nearly inpossible!! nobody will take pits :(
I would like to start a petition on how the Ringling Bros. need to stop their cruelty to their elephants! And one to stop euthanization! Please help me I'm not a very good at gathering information. Thank you. (:
Oh my goodness! I agree so much. I love pits. they are sooooo cute and nice. :)
I would like to start a petition on improving racial/cultural understanding and education. We live in such a diverse world and yet racism is still a problem. We need to over come that.
ok, after reading that arcticle on factory farms, one word: vegetarianism.
More than 100 people have died of cholera in Cameroon, according to Joseph Beti Assomo, a regional governor.The deaths occurred in the High North region of northern Cameroon, and the fatalities come since a cholera outbreak warning in June.
More than 600 people have been stricken with the water-borne disease, the governor said, but a local non-governmental organization, Cameroon Health, said more than twice that number -- 1,500 people -- are sick.
According to a Cameroon Ministry of Water and Energy official, 70 percent of those living in the High North do not have access to potable water.
There has been flooding in the region recently, and officials think it might have aggravated the spread of the disease. It's the border region of Nigeria and Chad, and is close to the the Chadian capital of N'Djamena.
The disease is caused by contaminated water, and many people with cholera suffer acute watery diarrhea, which leads to severe dehydration. If left untreated, it can kill quickly, possibly within hours, the World Health Organization says.
We shall be pleased to receive your help in any domain.
Warm regards
i wrote an entire paper on factory farming and its negetive effects on our food supply. I had to watch video after video of animals being slaughtered for some of my research...it was horrible. and i am a vegetarian now because of it. huuuuge impact. if you are serious about it, i would suggest taking vitamins, because you could end up with an iron deficiency like me....i like the gummy kind:]
Done :)
Now I just have to gather signatures...
Please sign?
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/single-entry-visas-for-Iranians/
Thank you.
Doostane Farsi Zabane Man
www.MyPersianSpeakingFriends.org
I could really use some help on my plans to...i guess equalize religion. What i mean is, everyone is entitled to their own oppinions and that's okay. Discrimination against someone else's beleifs can be very painful to the individual be judged. I was planning on starting a pettion about against religious discrimination.
In a nutshell i just need ideas on how to explain teach others (especially adults) religous tolerance.
Please help.
I have actually just started a petition to help come up with a law about schools taking responsibility for bullying so if anyone would want to sign the link is also here.
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/antibullying101
A petition to start up new activities on center and be more involved in outdoor activites.
https://www.change.org/petitions/facebook-eliminate-abusive-and-obscene-...
Please go read this and sign it, there is a HORRIBLE page on Facebook posting pictures of deceased babies and making jokes about it and bullying and threatening others. I'm trying to get all these terrible pages off Facebook, you can read about it by clicking the link and signing.
I made a petition to get more pep rallies, passed it around school, and 256 people signed it!
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