Obtaining a Commitment

What is this Tool?

Asking for a person's pledge or agreement to carry out the actions you are promoting, such as requesting that a person sign a statement or say a few words indicating his or her intentions.
A key element of social learning theory
(http://rex.nci.nih.gov/NCI_Pub_Interface/Theory_at_glance/HOME.html)

Why Would You Use It?

Because people who have committed to an activity are more likely to do it. They are also more likely to agree to a subsequent, more demanding, activity.

When Would You Use It?

Ask for a commitment once you have established that the person is interested in doing the activity.

How Would You Use It?

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1. Establish that the person is interested in doing the activity.

Examples

ReCAP's Home Advisors asked residents to accompany them as they conducted their home audits. They observed any reactions at each stage of the process, and involved residents in drawing up a list of repair/retrofit priorities at the end of the visit.

The ABC / Count Me In! programs led participants through a number of preparatory stagers before asking them to sign a pledge.

The Clean Air Commute was promoted through a month-long Clean Air Campaign, which raised awareness about the need for cleaner commuting practices.

Aarhus selected 175 people from among 1,700 drivers who volunteered to participate in its Bike Busters program.

Tip: Research shows that this tool will not work if the person is not already motivated to do the action or feels pressured to commit.

Your Program

How will you assess whether people are motivated to do the activity?

2. Ask for an oral or written pledge to do the action.

Examples

Environment Canadas team captains/volunteers in the Commuter Challenge visited staff to personally remind them about the event and/or to register them in the participant database.

In Iowa City, participants who were told that their names would be published reduced their natural gas and electricity usage by 10 percent to 20 percent. No significant reduction occurred when participants were assured of anonymity.

ReCAP asked residents to commit orally to carrying out the list of repair/retrofit priorities they had helped prepare.

Turn It Off staff noted stopped vehicles which were idling and approached the drivers, speaking with them through their windows. After discussing the effects of vehicle idling, a commitment would be requested from the drivers to turn off their vehicles while stopped. Drivers that committed to turning off their engines when idling, were given a see-through commitment sticker for their vehicle windows and information cards.

Tip: Research suggests that written pledges are likely to have a more lasting effect than oral ones.

Tip: Anonymous, private pledges (private commitments) have been shown to be less effective than those shared with others (public commitments).

Your Program

What sort of an agreement will you ask people to make?

Verbal, or

Written

Public, or

Private

When - and how - will you ask them to make the agreement?

3. If appropriate, ask for a number of increasingly demanding agreements over time.

Examples

The Toxic Challenge and We're Toxic Free first asked people to fill out a reportcard/questionnaire. Once this had been done, they asked the residents to agree to reduce their use of toxics.

Waterloo's Pesticide Action Group first asked for and were granted a series of meetings with city staffers and council. Next, they convinced the City of Waterloo to establish a task force to look into alternatives to pesticide spraying and to determine what those alternatives would cost. Finally, some of the task forces recommendations were incorporated into the city's Plant Health Care Program.

The Clean Air Commute piloted a program targeted at people who had previously participated.

Tip: It has been shown that agreeing to a small request can lead people to agree later to much larger ones.

Your Program

How might you lead people through a number of increasingly demanding agreements?

Tip: It has been shown that agreeing to a small request can lead people to agree later to much larger ones.

Learning From Other Programs

Verbal or Written Commitment	Public or Private Commitment	Sector	Commitment Case Studies
written	public	water efficiency	Be Water Wise
written	private	waste	Claremont
written	public	transportation	The Clean Air Commute
verbal	public	active transportation, sustainable transportation, climate change, environmental health	The Clean Air Commute
verbal commitment to a priority list prepared together	private	various	Guelph 2000
written	both	energy	In Concert with the Environment
verbal	both	energy	Iowa City
verbal commitment to a priority list prepared together	private	various	ReCAP
written	private	waste	The Toxic Challenge
verbal	private	waste	Sheffield Mills Community Association
written	private	energy, transportation, climate change, active living	ABC / Count Me In!
written	private	water efficiency	Water Efficiency Durham

Tools- of Changes

Obtaining a Commitment

What is this Tool?

Why Would You Use It?

When Would You Use It?

How Would You Use It?

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Examples

Your Program

Examples

Your Program

Examples

Your Program

Learning From Other Programs

More on Commitment Techniques

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