At NationBlue, our all-in-one platform empowers conservative campaigns and organisations by giving you a complete, 360-degree view of every supporter’s journey. With this insight, you can fine-tune your engagement strategies and build lasting relationships. But first, you need to bring in supporters—and that starts with smart acquisition.
While importing data lists is a common route, our most successful users take a different approach. They use their website.
Purchasing a list and uploading it to your database may seem like the quickest way to grow your base—but in truth, it’s rarely the most effective. Building a webpage that inspires action, encourages sharing, and attracts visitors organically takes more effort at the outset, but the long-term return on this grassroots approach is far greater.
We analysed over 100 million anonymised supporter signups from the wider NationBuilder community. Here's what we learned:
Organically Acquired Supporters Are More Engaged
Our findings show that supporters acquired directly through your website contribute significantly more value over time.
Take fundraising, for example. Donors imported from a list contributed an average of £22.65 per year, while donors who signed up via a website gave an average of £27.00 per year—a 20% increase. And this pattern holds across other actions too: organically acquired supporters are consistently more involved and responsive.
Email Engagement is Stronger with Organic Supporters
We grouped NationBuilder users based on how many of their supporters were acquired from organic website channels. Those with a higher percentage of website signups consistently saw better email engagement—higher open rates, higher click-through rates, and greater responsiveness overall.
This is because when you know exactly how a supporter joined your movement—and that data lives in an integrated system—you can tailor your outreach more effectively, raise more funds, and build stronger loyalty.
Your Best Advocates Likely Came From a Website Signup
An organic acquisition strategy doesn't just create better supporters—it creates advocates. Those who sign up via your website are dramatically more likely to help grow your movement.
In fact, supporters who joined via a webpage are 14.2 times more likely to recruit others compared to imported contacts. And those new recruits? They’re 12.9 times more likely to become recruiters themselves.
This self-sustaining loop reduces your acquisition costs, accelerates growth, and gives you a robust, grassroots network that stands the test of time.
Petitions: The Most Effective Tool for Organic Growth
If you're ready to begin your organic growth journey, start with a petition page.
They’re quick to set up and easy for supporters to engage with. The ask is small—"If you agree with this, sign here"—but powerful. Once someone takes that first step, it becomes far easier to encourage future high-value actions.
Compared to all other supporters, those acquired through a petition page are:
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1.92 times more likely to become members
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1.39 times more likely to volunteer
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4.23 times more likely to recruit others
(Note: These figures are even higher—by around 22%—in non-political organisations.)
Use a NationBlue Theme to Power Your Growth
Building a great-looking supporter page doesn’t have to be complicated. Our theme is designed with proven best practices to drive maximum engagement.
In a time when many campaigns focus only on the size of their list, it's worth remembering: what truly matters is building meaningful, lasting relationships.
Put in the time to grow your list one supporter at a time—and you’ll create a powerful, sustainable community that shares your values and helps drive your mission forward.