Best Email Your MP campaign tools for UK campaigns
A practical comparison of tools used by organisations that want supporters to contact their MP quickly, reliably and at scale.
Many advocacy campaigns encourage supporters to contact their Member of Parliament about issues that affect them. One of the most effective ways to do this is through an Email Your MP campaign, where supporters can quickly send a message directly to their elected representative.
Running these campaigns manually can be difficult. Supporters need to identify their MP, find their contact details and compose an email. This creates friction and can significantly reduce participation.
Campaign tools solve this problem by allowing supporters to enter their postcode, automatically identify their MP and send a message in just a few steps.
This guide looks at some of the most commonly used tools for running Email Your MP campaigns.
Email Your MP
Email Your MP is a simple tool designed specifically for organisations that want to run Email Your MP campaigns without the complexity of larger campaigning platforms.
Campaign organisers can embed a form directly on their website that allows supporters to enter their postcode, identify their MP and send a message.
Supporters can edit a campaign message template before sending the email, helping MPs receive correspondence from their own constituents in their own words.
Email Your MP focuses on providing the core functionality required to run effective MP email campaigns without requiring a full political campaign management system.
Key features include:
- automatic MP lookup using postcode
- editable campaign message templates
- emails sent directly from supporters to their MP
- easy website embedding
- GDPR-compliant consent options
- optional campaign analytics and reporting
Email Your MP is particularly well suited for charities, advocacy groups, trade associations and policy campaigns that want to mobilise supporters quickly.
NationBuilder
NationBuilder is a large political campaign platform that combines CRM, fundraising, website hosting and supporter management tools.
It is widely used by political parties and larger advocacy campaigns and includes features for supporter databases, email marketing, petitions and event management.
NationBuilder can also support “contact your representative” style campaigns, although this functionality is part of a much larger campaign management platform.
Because of its wide feature set, NationBuilder often requires significant setup and ongoing management. It is generally best suited for organisations running larger political campaigns that need a full campaign infrastructure.
Engaging Networks
Engaging Networks is an enterprise-level advocacy and fundraising platform used by many large charities and NGOs.
The platform includes tools for digital advocacy, petitions, fundraising, email campaigns and supporter engagement.
Organisations can use Engaging Networks to run campaigns encouraging supporters to contact elected representatives, although this functionality is typically part of a wider advocacy and fundraising system.
Engaging Networks is usually aimed at large organisations that require extensive integration with supporter databases and fundraising tools.
Action Network
Action Network is a campaigning platform commonly used by grassroots organisations, unions and advocacy groups.
It includes tools for petitions, email campaigns, supporter databases and event organising.
Some campaigns use Action Network to run advocacy campaigns encouraging supporters to contact their representatives, although this usually involves additional configuration.
Action Network can be a good option for grassroots organising campaigns that want an integrated organising platform.
Comparing Email Your MP campaign tools
| Tool | Complexity | Typical cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email Your MP | Simple | Low | Campaigns needing a focused Email Your MP tool |
| NationBuilder | High | High | Political parties and large campaigns |
| Engaging Networks | High | High | Large charities and NGOs |
| Action Network | Moderate | Medium | Grassroots organising campaigns |
When a focused tool makes sense
Many organisations running advocacy campaigns only need a straightforward way for supporters to contact their MP.
Large campaigning platforms can provide this functionality, but they often include many additional features that are unnecessary for organisations simply wanting to run an Email Your MP campaign.
A focused tool designed specifically for MP email campaigns can often be simpler to implement and easier for supporters to use.
By removing unnecessary complexity, campaigns can launch quickly and make it easier for supporters to take action.
Running an effective Email Your MP campaign
Successful Email Your MP campaigns usually follow a few simple principles:
- make it easy for supporters to identify their MP
- provide a clear and concise message template
- allow supporters to personalise their message
- ensure emails are sent directly from constituents
When these elements are combined, campaigns can significantly increase the number of supporters contacting their MP and ensure that important issues are raised with decision-makers.
Need a focused MP email tool?
Email Your MP helps organisations mobilise supporters without the complexity of a full campaign management platform.