To effectively raise money and build an engaged group of supporters, your organization needs more than just a donate page on its website. You need strategies and tools like online petition software that move people from casual visitor to recurring donor and dedicated supporter – all while minimizing overhead.

Online petitions are an effective tool to capture the casual visitor and active donor alike, and move them down the engagement path - even if yours isn't an advocacy organization. In today's advocacy world, online petition software can ensure your organization is making meaningful connections with your supporters in a way that delivers on your mission.

Here are nine reasons why your nonprofit should consider using online petition software.

Online petitions can be an effective way for your nonprofit to build support around an issue while expanding your mailing list - even if your not primarily an advocacy organization.

Done right, and with the right service, petitions can be an outstanding addition to a complete engagement path that cultivates more donations and supporters for your nonprofit.

But how do you know if the service you are considering is the right service? Here are ten questions every nonprofit should ask when considering an online petition tool.

With the current protests in Turkey and Brazil, focus is again being drawn to the role of social media in mass movements agitating for change.

Mobile-friendly channels such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook are being leveraged by organic groups of individuals to speak out and mobilize.

News outlets are highlighting social media's ability to bridge national boundaries to inspire and inform groups thousands of miles away from one another - as well as confuse and muddle their messages and goals.

With this week's second inauguration of President Obama, and the announcement of the new Organizing for Action nonprofit, the world has seen first-hand that the future of advocacy is data, data, and data.  As the President begins his second term, we're likely to see the debate over important social issues of our time become even more competitive than before.  Now is the time for organizations to gear up for the next wave of advocacy.

Earlier today, we covered how the Obama campaign successfully utilized it's strong database tools to run important A/B communication testing to determine message effectiveness.  While it's going to be rare for an advocacy group to have the war chest of funds that the presidential campaigns had this year, there's a powerful database tool that we believe is about to see a significant uptick in the advocacy world in 2013:  Salesforce.com.

The question:  how can your advocacy group get started using Salesforce, and even the open source Nonprofit Starter Pack (NPSP), to build a successful campaign database and platform?

Here's three ideas you can implement right away to start using Salesforce for your advocacy work.