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 their 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