How to send my petition to its recipient?

To start, the important thing is to knock on the right door by choosing the right recipient, the person who will allow your fight to succeed. If you don’t know who might be the decision-maker regarding your petition, you can read our article “Who decides what in France”. You will find a summary of the various competencies of local authorities in France that should help you. 

Don’t aim too high in choosing your recipient: many petitions are addressed to Emmanuel Macron, but he is rarely the best-placed person to act on your cause. Simply ask yourself who has the power to act concretely. 

     2. Find the right moment

The choice of timing is also important for sending your petition to its recipient.  Choose the moment when your recipient is most likely to be inclined to listen to you. For example, election periods are often good times to approach an elected official. 

Also be mindful that a hot current event does not overshadow your fight. For example, if your Town Hall is already dealing with a protest over a real estate project, it may not be the right time to find a sympathetic ear for the petition you launched against a class closure. 

It may also be interesting to capitalize on a significant moment to send your petition to its recipient. For example, if there is a “world day” related to your fight, you could leverage that to send your petition and communicate on that day. 

We are also often asked how many signatures are needed to send a petition to its recipient. Again, it all depends on the goal to be achieved! If you are leading a local fight in a town of 10,000 inhabitants, obtaining 1,000 signatures is already a lot and will catch your recipient's attention. If, on the other hand, you want to contact a Member of Parliament about a major legislative change, you will need to gather many more signatures for your petition to be credible and considered by its recipient. Your petition can also target a company, which are often vigilant about their reputation and thus about petitions that may circulate about them. A good example of victory, following the targeting of a company, is explained in this article: it details how Air France was forced to mobilise, following the creation of a petition. A symbolic signature threshold to mark significant mobilization could be 50,000 signatures, based on our experience.

     3. What to include in my letter?

Specifically, what should you send to your recipient? 

First, we recommend explaining your approach. Whatever method you choose to submit your petition, you need to tell the story of your fight, what prompted you to create a petition; this will allow your recipient to contextualise your struggle. 

Next, they need to see the enthusiasm that your petition has generated. To do this, you can download the list of signatories of your petition via your author dashboard. Seeing the actual number of signatories you have gathered will give weight to your approach. 

In accordance with the data protection law (GDPR), you will only have access to the names, first names, and postal codes of your signatories (if they have agreed to share them), you will not have the email addresses of the signatories.

     4. Email, Letter... Which channel to prefer for sending my petition?

Now that you know who and when you are going to send your petition, you need to consider how. 

The most effective method is to prioritise sending the petition by email to your recipient. If you are targeting an elected official or a leader, don’t hesitate to copy their collaborators or assistants. You should find their contacts on the website of the institution you are trying to contact. If it’s a company, you can also find their name on LinkedIn, in short: be smart and creative!  

You can also double your email with a paper letter that will add a certain solemnity to your sending. 

The delivery of the letter can also be done in person. If you have managed to secure a meeting with your recipient, that’s already a good sign, it shows interest in your petition and your fight! You can also take advantage of this moment to create a physical demonstration. For example, by sending a message to your signatories informing them that the petition delivery will take place on such day, at such time, and calling for their support. The more people there are, the more significant the mobilization will be, and the more your recipients will understand that your fight generates enthusiasm and that they cannot help but listen to you. In parallel, you can use social media to reach out to your recipient. Personalities and companies are often present there, it’s up to you to exploit this by publicly asking for a response to your question. 

    5. What if I don’t get a response after sending my petition?

We hope this doesn’t happen, but it is possible that you may not receive an immediate response. Don’t hesitate to follow up, and if you don’t get a reply, try to find another contact who can escalate the petition to your recipient. For example, if you are trying to send your petition to the Mayor of your municipality and they are slow to respond, you can contact their deputies who may be able to help you. 

Going through the opposition can also be a solution: they are often interested in issues that involve a protest. If you are approaching a company, it may be the unions or a consumer association that can pass on your petition. 

In summary, if your recipient does not respond, don’t hesitate to multiply your points of contact. Sometimes you have to knock on several doors before the right one opens :).

If you really don’t get a response, you can try a more aggressive approach by sending your letter en masse. For example, ask all your signatories - via an author message - to reach out to your mayor/MP or others by sending the same letter, it should normally not go unnoticed and prompt a reaction. The same logic can apply online: encourage your signatories to send a tweet mentioning a company, or to publish a message on their contact email, which can - as a last resort - push the recipient to mobilise.

Normally at this stage you have all the keys in hand to send your petition to your recipient! If you have any other questions, you can contact our team directly via the contact form. You can also read the article “Online Petitions: 5 steps to get started” which will give you advice on all the steps of creating a petition.