Author: Chris Henderson

What to post (…and what to avoid)

It’s usually a good idea to get a few posts under your belt on your new page, before you go off and invite people to like your page, so that invitees aren’t looking at a completely empty page.

Highly visual content tends to work the best

If you can post a photo or video directly to Facebook, do so – you’ll tend to get the best response that way.

Also – pithy, deft, and satirical all tend to be good options, at least some of the time. Remember that (more than Twitter) Facebook is mostly a leisure platform used by pretty much everyone!

These are some different kinds of Facebook post available:

  • basic text post
  • photos
  • memes
  • news article links and other weblinks
  • events
  • questions to your readers – rapid vox pops below the line

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How to set up a crowdfunding page

crowdfundingsketch.jpg

There’s a number of crowdfunding platforms to choose from. Some crowdfunding sites are based on the model that your “target amount” is all important. On those platforms, If you don’t meet your target, you’ve failed, and all of your donations are cancelled. You DON’T want to set up your #StopTheTories crowdfunder like that. We’re rapidly building up #StopTheTories from nothing. None of us knows how successful this project might become in the coming weeks, but let’s not expect too much of ourselves either. Don’t put at risk getting some money in to make a difference with; don’t put yourself under that pressure.

Our recommended crowdfunder platform with fully flexible funding is YouCaring, which is super user-friendly to set up. All you’ll need to get started is a PayPal account, to withdraw your funds to.

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Legal compliance instructions

IMPORTANT legal instructions

All election material “that can reasonably be regarded as intended to influence voters to vote for or against a political party or a category of candidates” must carry what is called an imprint. Here is an example of an imprint for a Facebook page:

Promoted by: John Smith, 123 Acacia Avenue, London, W5 8HJ.

While this law obviously predates the social media age, and you don’t exactly see an imprint on every election meme on Facebook or Twitter, the Electoral Commission confirm that the law does apply. If you are taking paid advertising on Facebook to reach thousands of people who wouldn’t “naturally” see that post, we strongly recommend taking the following one easy step to definite legal compliance.

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Planning a paid Facebook boost

So, you’ve raised some funds for a paid Facebook boost – congratulations! Here is the start of our step-by-step guide to putting your advertising budget to good use.

Basic paid boosting of Facebook page content is neither difficult nor scary! Facebook has two different methods of boosting – one of which is really simple and easy for anyone to use! This page shows you everything you need to become proficient in placing Facebook paid ads, and using the money you’ve raised effectively to reach hundreds of real voters.

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After the money runs out

Exhausted all the funds you’ve been able to raise? If your boosted post has done well, it should have driven a number of the people who saw it into clicking ‘Like page’. What’s your follower count now? It might be surprisingly high. They are now your “organic audience”, and some of them (it all depends on Facebook’s algorithms) will continue to see your non-boosted posts.

This means that you’re now in a strong position to continue to publish, to reach supporters “organically”, and to continue to grow your follower numbers if some of your supporters share some of your posts.

You can now use your page occasionally for action shout-outs, encouraging your followers to get more engaged in the movement. Don’t forget to keep mixing it with news, comment and memes that will help keep up the passion and morale of our movement.

Ideas for fundraising

Can you fundraise?

How easy or how difficult is it for you to get your hands on £105 to fight Tories independently, on your terms, in your own community?

Do you have any family, friends, colleagues or teammates with a few spare quid, who passionately oppose the Tories and badly want to see things turned around in #GE17? Can they help you club together for £105? 

Or maybe it’s more difficult for you, but achievable, and you’ll need to do a slightly bigger fundraise:

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Extra resources for potentially big-spending anti-Tory campaigners

A few links that it’s very important you should refer to if you may be in a position to fundraise and/or spend a five-figure sum campaigning against the Tories.

Refer back to the previous page for an overview of “registered non-party campaigner” requirements with the Electoral Commission.

If you might reach the £9,750 expenditure limit for campaigning in a single constituency

If you might be in a position to fundraise/spend more than £20,000

To become a registered non-party campaigner it is essential that you read these documents.

Crowdfunder: #RegisterToVote indie Facebook publishing campaign

DEADLINE MIDNIGHT!! www.gov.uk/register-to-vote TORY GOVERNMENT SCREWS OVER YOUNG PEOPLE:- Exam factory schools with…

Posted by Stop The Tories Channel on Thursday, April 20, 2017

Can you chip in £3 today and help us reach another 600 young people’s news feeds? We’re using Facebook advertising to reach the people who DON’T normally see anti-Tory posts on their Facebook!

This is a crowdfunder to sponsor this #RegisterToVote post onto the Facebook news feeds of as many extra young people (aged 18-25) as possible. People who DON’T normally see politics on their Facebook!

Your £3 donation directly reaches 600 young people’s news feeds. Several of them will be likely to share it, generating yet further reach for the post. The paid advertising:

  • includes the link www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
  • gives the number to call if you don’t know your NI number (it’s 0300 200 3500)
  • is targeted to hit people who live in all-important marginal seats 

The Facebook page Stop the Tories 2017 will use all your donations to keep boosting this post to thousands and thousands more young people’s news feeds. You will be supporting the growth of our digital social movement to #StopTheTories 

[Crowdfunder link…]

If you vote Conservative on 8th June, you are voting for more people to die preventably in house fires

#ToryCutsKill #FireServiceCutsKill: The latest figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government show…

Posted by Stop The Tories Channel on Wednesday, May 3, 2017

The latest figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government show that 294 people died in fires in England during 2015, an increase of 21% compared with the 242 deaths recorded in 2014 and the largest increase since figures were published in 2001-02.

Nearly 10,000 firefighter jobs have been cut in the last six years.

The Conservative minister for policing and the fire service, Brandon Lewis, says there’s room for even more reductions beyond the 30% cuts. The fire service faces cumulative budget cuts of up to 50% by 2020, from 2010 levels.

“The budget cuts have seen the loss of frontline firefighters, response times getting longer, stations closing and fire prevention measures reduced too,” said a statement from the chief fire officers from the six largest English cities outside London.

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Join your party

If it’s your bag, you can sign up to campaign directly for one of the progressive parties, by signing up directly on their website. Here are the volunteering links:

There might also be actions in your area (most especially if you live in a marginal constituency) by the Progressive Alliance campaign.

#RegisterToVote now!

In the 2015 General Election, 3 in 10 young people weren’t registered to vote. 

However, huge numbers of young people are now registering to vote. In just the first three days after the election announcement, 103,439 18-24-year-olds registered. And a further 99,106 25-34-year-olds also signed up.

And if they cast their ballots, they could have a massive impact on the outcome of the general election. Theresa May might be in store for a nasty surprise from young people in the UK.

Register to vote now online: Just visit www.gov.uk/register-to-vote and fill in your details.

You will need a national insurance number. If you don’t have one, a 5 minute phone call on 0300 200 3500 will get it sent to you in ten days.

Have you got friends, family or colleagues who might not be registered? Talk to them, or send them this link. This election is that important, to all our futures!

Private companies with financial links to Tory politicians won NHS contracts worth £1.5bn within three years

Private companies with financial links to Tory politicians won NHS contracts worth £1.5 billion between 2012 and 2014, according to research by the UK’s largest trade union.

Among those highlighted in Unite research is former health secretary Andrew Lansley, the chief architect of the 2012 Health and Social Care Act dubbed “the death of the NHS as we know it”. Lansley received a donation of £21,000 from Caroline Nash, the wife of John Nash, in 2009. At the time John Nash was chairman of Care UK, one of the UK’s largest health companies, which, according to Unite, won more than £650m in NHS contracts between 2012-2014.

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Current stats for sponsored #StopTheTories Facebook campaigns

#VotingToryStarvesChildren stats:

At the time of writing, the #VotingToryStarvesChildren campaign with a spend of £370 has generated 446,445 views and over 4,000 shares.

#VoteHuman stats

The #VoteHuman campaign, with £250 spent, has reached over 270,000 people with 2,100 shares.

#VotingToryKillsDisabledPeople stats

The #VotingToryKillsDisabledPeople campaign sponsoring Fiona Robertson’s blog piece, with £151.90 spent on promotion, has produced 65,000 page views and, strikingly, 500 shares.

With this campaign I would like to replace this post with a more visually eye-catching version. Can anyone help with coming up with a design concept as visually striking as the #VotingToryStarvesChildren meme?

#RegisterToVote campaign

With just £30 spent on the #RegisterToVote campaign, all targeted to 18-25 year olds in highly marginal constituencies, 48,000 people have been reached and 55 have shared.

To see full stats keep reading…

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