Being a Premiership footballer with 3.7 million Twitter followers gives Marcus Rashford a huge cut through. But that is not the only reason his brilliant campaign for free school meals has had such an impact.

For one, he’s put on a masterclass in mobilising large numbers of supporters online. You need to look no further than his Twitter feed to see how effectively he’s employing many of the core principles of digital mobilisation, all of which charities can learn from and emulate.

He’s not afraid to say what he stands for, clearly and boldly…

…and his message is simple, emotive and evocative.

He gives supporters clear, impactful actions to take…

…and he knows it’s not enough to ask once.

He puts supporter impact at the centre of his campaign narrative…

…and makes supporters feel valued and connected to hundreds of thousands of others.

He creates space for supporters to run with the campaign themselves…

…and amplifies their contributions when they do.

Employing these core principles of digital mobilisation has helped Marcus transform his profile and following into a huge supporter base for his cause. He presents his message emotively and authentically, puts supporter action at the centre of his campaign narrative, and offers ‘low barrier to entry’ action points to help bring people into his campaign – while still creating space to amplify the efforts of those who want to do more. His is a strategy that any charity digital mobilisation programme can learn from.

Get in touch if you would like to talk more about how to mobilise supporters online.