Why use Action Network?
Why would a group choose to use XR's Action Network account, rather than alternatives such as Mailchimp?
Benefits
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It's a network - when signing up for a local group email list, people are also subscribed to their region/nation and to the XRUK email list. They will therefore be informed of campaigns and activities locally, regionally and nationally. More detail of the structure of all the lists here.
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Mobilisation - This means new Local Group sign ups add to the total on the UK list. This is critical for both mobilisation for big actions (e.g. The Big One), for awareness of ongoing campaigns and for training.
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Fundraising - The full XRUK email list is very important for fundraising, the more we grow our list the more potential donors we have!
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Security - all admins have their own account, so you don't have to share passwords. If someone leaves the movement, their admin access can be removed without having to change shared passwords.
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You can have multiple Admins for your email list.
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Support and training is available.
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Action Network is GDPR compliant and anyone receiving an email can unsubscribe at any time.
Barriers/Issues
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In common with other mailing list systems, the data is stored on servers that we do not control, and that could be accessed by law enforcement authorities. For this reason, you should never store "spicy" information - such as data showing intention to take part in or to organise arrestable actions.
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To become an Admin takes a bit of training, which can be a barrier to some Local Groups without someone with the time and skills (or determination!) to learn. But we have a very friendly training team who are happy to teach in 1-1 sessions and go at the pace that suits each individual.
Migrating to Action Network
If you currently use a list of emails in your 'contacts' or another mailing system like Mailchimp and want to migrate to using Action Network, there is support available to do this in a GDPR compliant way.