Hello, Changemaker!

Karen Nilsen

Hi I’m Karen. I want to share with you the tactics I’ve used to build digital power and engage a supporter base of millions. Are you ready? Let’s get started!

Don’t Be a Hero (Make Your Supporter the Hero!)

I’m not saying don’t do heroic things. Keep that up! But when you’re telling your supporters a story of injustice, there’s only space for one hero—and it’s not you. Let me explain... Every story...

3 minute read

I’m not saying don’t do heroic things. Keep that up! But when you’re telling your supporters a story of injustice, there’s only...

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Should You Send Emails from Your ‘Organization’ or an Actual Person?

Here’s how the internal dialog usually goes: “We’re torn. We see other organizations sending from individual people but how do we know if that would work for us?” ... “What about our organizational ‘voice’?” .....

5 minute read

Here’s how the internal dialog usually goes: “We’re torn. We see other organizations sending from individual people but how do we know if...

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What’s a “Crisitunity”?

We have Homer Simpson to thank for the term that perfectly describes a communication model that turbocharges action requests with urgency. Because of this, it’s been adopted by all the most successful online action platforms...

2 minute read

We have Homer Simpson to thank for the term that perfectly describes a communication model that turbocharges action requests with urgency. Because...

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How NOT to Write a Thank-You Email...

For several years, I drove a strategy at Animals Australia to send ‘thank-you’ emails to action takers that were jam-packed with followup asks. This is not an uncommon approach. And on the surface, it’s easy to...

2 minute read

For several years, I drove a strategy at Animals Australia to send ‘thank-you’ emails to action takers that were jam-packed with followup...

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6 Ways to Make Page Titles Click-Worthy (Not Click-Baity)

On the surface, it looks like the purpose of a title is to introduce the content of a webpage. But of course—you know that’s not it at all! Your title or headline’s strategic function is to...

3 minute read

On the surface, it looks like the purpose of a title is to introduce the content of a webpage. But of course—you...

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How to Hook Your Reader

To steal a mantra from our friends in journalism: don’t bury the lede. The idea might have started in newspaper offices but it applies anywhere we’re competing for our audience’s attention (so, the entire Internet)...

3 minute read

To steal a mantra from our friends in journalism: don’t bury the lede. The idea might have started in newspaper offices...

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