6 Simple Ways to Gather Petition Signatures

When to use this resource: 

• You need to show public support for an action you want your leaders to take 
• You want to engage a broader audience in an issue you support 

Outline of resource

• 6 ways to gather petition signatures
  • Get friends to take action
  • Organize on social media
  • Tabling / street canvassing
  • Reach out to organizations
  • Group announcements
  • Door-to-door canvassing

Key points: 

• Petitions are how you organize people power 
• Start with what you know and expand from there 
• Use your purpose or ‘ask’ to determine your audience

Petitions are a classic tool for displaying public support for an issue, and signing a petition is one of the easiest ways for someone to make a difference on an issue they care about. Depending on what you care to work on, you could create your own petition, or you could put your time towards boosting an ongoing petition effort started by an advocacy organization or someone else in your community. 

Petitions are only valuable for swaying a decision-maker if they get a ‘critical mass’ of people on them to show a level of support that compels them to act. Here are 6 ways to gather petition signatures and build a movement on the issue you care about.

Once you’ve identified all the places where you might find people who are interested in joining you and signing your petition, you can use this resource to prepare to ask people to take action.

1. Get Friends to Take Action 

One of the best ways to gain momentum is to start with the people you already know: friends, family, neighbors, people you know from church or hobby groups, and more. Focus on the people who are most relevant for your specific petition. If the petition is calling on your mayor to take action, it may not mean much to get your relatives from three states away to sign it, but signatures from your neighbors or parents you know from the PTA would really make a difference. Check out our resource on getting friends to take action for more insights on how to start the conversation and get them involved. 

2. Organize on Social Media 

Social media is an excellent avenue for sharing a petition with your own circles as well as reaching new people through online spaces. Here are a few ways you can make the most of social media to gather petition signatures: 

• Post on your own social media accounts/pages with a brief description of what the petition is about and why you’re asking people to sign it 
• For any friends you think are likely to sign and may have networks of their own, post directly on their page or tag their account in the post you make on your own page 
• Direct message your most relevant friends/followers with a link to the online petition and a brief pitch on why they’d want to support it 
• Use hashtags or key word searches to find other accounts or groups that are talking about the issue or are local to your area of interest 

Check out our resource on social media actions for tips on sharing an action on your social media platforms.

3. Tabling/Street Canvassing

Petitioning outside in a public area is a great way to meet new people and spread the word far and wide. Go out to a public space, smile and wave, and ask people to get involved. 

Here are some tips for successful tabling: 

• Choose a good location: Someplace with lots of foot traffic, where people in your target audience are likely to frequent. Classic spots include farmers markets and other community events, a popular public park, at the quad of your local college campus, etc. 
• Set up for success: 
  • Printed petition pages, pens, and a clipboard are the bare minimum of what you need. You could also have a tablet or some way for people to sign online. 
  • To help people spot you and understand what you’re about, make yourself more visible: set up a table with big, easy-to-read signs; wear a t-shirt that represents the issue you’re working on; or tape a sign to the back of your clipboard with the 1-2 words that best describe your issue (ex: “VOTE” or “CLIMATE”) written in large font to be read from a distance.  
• Have a good ‘hook’ to get people’s attention: Start off with a quick, simple question that will get people interested. Focus on the aspect of the issue that’s easiest to understand and appealing to the most people. (Ex: “Can you help us save the whales?” is better than “Do you support the use of ropeless fishing gear to protect whales from entanglement?”)
• Be friendly: Smile, wave, make eye contact, and ask everyone!

4. Reach Out to Organizations

Even if there aren’t any organizations that are working on exactly the issue you’re petitioning for, there are likely many that would be sympathetic and may be willing to share this easy ‘call to action’ with their email list or social media followers. Look for organizations that work on similar issues, or that are active in the geographic area that the target of your petition cares about. Start by brainstorming any groups you’ve heard of before, and expand that list with some simple online searching using keywords related to your issue or your geographic area. Find email addresses to reach leaders at each organization on your list, or, if you can’t find any direct contact information, reach out to the group via direct messaging on social media. 

To reach out to organizations, as with anyone else, start with a brief description of what the petition is about, then express why you think they would want to support this petition, and ask them to share the link to the online petition with their members/followers. 

5. Group Announcements 

You can also harness the efficiency of group outreach by going to places where people gather: clubs or classes at school, meetings or events hosted by community organizations or faith institutions, casual get-togethers with friends or colleagues. If you think the people assembled there would be supportive of what you’re working on, they’d probably be happy to hear about the issue and the petition for a couple minutes. Find the person in charge (the teacher, faith leader, person hosting the party, etc) and ask if you can say a few words at the start of the gathering and pass around a petition page for interested people to sign. 

To do high-quality group announcements that yield the most petition signatures, write yourself a short script for what you want to convey. Here is a template for what that script could look like. 

6. Door-to-Door Canvassing 

Door to door canvassing is especially effective for petitions on local issues, where signatures will matter most coming from residents. Bring printed petition pages, pens and a clipboard to help people sign on paper. Or, have a tablet for people to enter their information into your online petition. Make a simple flier with a link to your online petition so you can leave behind fliers for anyone who wasn’t home when you knocked. Think through who your target audience is and what neighborhoods or housing complexes are laid out to enable you to reach people most efficiently. 

Here is a template for the kind of conversation you might have while talking with someone at their door. 

There are likely more ways to circulate your petition, too. Be creative! Think of other groups of people who might be interested in your cause, where you might be able to find them or how they might hear about news and events, and reach out!