---
title: "how chilli works: actions, ways to help and supporters"
description: "How chilli works for creators: publish an action, add ways to help, share one link, and watch supporters email, call and comment where it counts."
url: "https://creators.chilli.club/resources/how-chilli-works"
category: "get started"
updated: "2026-10-16"
reading_time: "5 min"
---

# how chilli works: actions, ways to help and supporters

> You publish an action, fill it with ways to help, and share one link. Supporters do the thing in seconds, and you see every completion and tell them what it changed.

get started · 5 min read · updated 2026-10-16

chilli has four moving parts: actions, ways to help, supporters and updates. Learn those four words and you know 90% of the app. Here's the whole machine, no PhD required.

## the four words that run everything

### action

An **action** is the page you publish for one fight. It has an image, a title, a short intro, a "why it matters" story and a list of things people can do. Every action gets its own link: `app.chilli.club/a/…`. Think of it as a mini campaign page you can spin up in minutes.

*app screenshot: an action page in the chilli app: cover photo, the creator's handle, the title Stop bottom trawling in protected seas, a one-line intro, 2.4K supporters already took action, and the first way to help with 913 people did this (an action page, as your followers see it)*

### ways to help

**Ways to help** are the individual tasks inside an action. "Email the Minister of Fisheries." "Call your senator's office." "Comment on the CEO's latest post." There are six types:

| type | what your supporter does |
|---|---|
| email | sends an email you wrote, personalised for them by chilli |
| social comment | comments on a specific public post (Instagram, LinkedIn or X) |
| Google Maps | leaves a review on a specific place |
| phone call | calls a number with a script you wrote |
| survey | answers a question you ask |
| external link | goes to another site (a petition, a consultation, an article), with a message they can copy |

Each way to help shows a live counter ("312 people did this") so everyone can see the pile-on growing. Full breakdown in [ways to help, explained: every type of action on chilli](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/ways-to-help-explained.md).

*app screenshot: a personalised Instagram comment asking @atlanticcatch.example to stop bottom trawling inside marine protected areas, with a copy comment button (social comment: your supporter’s own version)*

*app screenshot: your script is ready: Maya Torres from Barcelona asks the Commissioner for a ban on bottom trawling in protected areas, with a launch call button (phone call: a script ready to read)*

*app screenshot: a single-choice survey asking which target should we go after next, with choices for the EU fisheries commissioner, supermarkets, ports and big fishing companies (survey: one question, four possible targets)*

### supporters

A **supporter** is anyone who follows you on chilli or starts one of your ways to help. When you publish a new action, your current supporters get notified. That's the magic: every action you run grows the list for the next one.

### updates

**Updates** are short posts on your action page, shown under "the fight so far". Text, image, video or a voice note. They go to your supporters by email and push notification. Use them to say "here's what your emails did". The chilli team can even prepare updates for you to review.

> **key insight**
>
> An action without updates is a one-night stand. An action with updates is a relationship. Supporters who see their email mattered come back for the next one.

## your three links

You'll share three kinds of links, and they each do a different job:

1. **your profile**: `app.chilli.club/profiles/yourname`. Your home base and the link that lives in your bio. Pinned action, all your actions, "fund my work" and "about me", on one page.
2. **an action page**: `app.chilli.club/a/…`. Where the doing happens. This is what you drop in stories, DMs and captions when a specific fight is live.
3. **your donation page**: where people back your work, one-time or monthly. Available once donations are switched on for your account.

Rule of thumb: bio link = profile, post and story link = the action.

## what a supporter experiences

1. They tap your link and land on the action page, with the story and a headline like "1,204 supporters already took action, join us!".
2. They pick a way to help, say "send email".
3. They see the message, already personalised for them, so a thousand emails don't arrive as one copy-paste blob.
4. They send it. It takes about as long as reading this list.
5. They get a thank-you ("Thank you for showing up. Every action adds up.") and move on to the next way to help.
6. When they've done them all: "all done", plus a nudge to share the impact with their friends.

No petition-style form filling, no "sign up to our newsletter" wall. It's built to be finished on a phone, between two reels.

*app screenshot: a ready-to-send email asking European parliament members to back a ban on bottom trawling in marine protected areas, with a send email button (the email is written: one tap sends it)*

**app walkthrough: complete a supporter journey**

answer the last survey, get a thank-you and finish the action

[watch complete a supporter journey (silent video)](https://creators.chilli.club/app-videos/supporter-journey.mp4)

## what you see as the creator

- **counters** on every way to help ("12 people did this"), and a total on the action page. Everyone sees them, you included.
- **your dashboard**: your checklist, your actions, your community insights and your revenue, in one place. More just below.
- **export supporters**: a CSV from your action page menu, for when you want to thank people properly.
- **a go-live checklist** on your action page: "get your action live" walks you through the 3 steps to go live, then "you're live!" helps you make the most of the first days. See [how to create your first action on chilli, step by step](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/create-your-first-action.md).

## the app, in a few tabs

On mobile, chilli starts with three tabs in the bottom bar: **home** (search, notifications, "pick up where you left off", "popular this week"), **+** (start a new action) and **profile** (yours). On a computer at [app.chilli.club](https://app.chilli.club) it's the same product, with a sidebar on the left: **home**, **create** and **profile**.

On your phone, turn notifications on when chilli asks (the "don't miss a thing" card on **home**), or anytime in **settings**, under **notifications**. That's how you hear right away when supporters tip you or message you, and when the chilli team needs you.

The + button (or **create** on a computer) is the one that matters. Publishing actions is to chilli what posting videos is to YouTube. It's also how you unlock the fourth tab: as soon as you've created your first action, a **dashboard** tab appears.

*app screenshot: the home tab of the chilli app: pick up where you left off, with action cards and a continue button, above the bottom bar with home, +, dashboard and profile (home, with the bottom bar: home, +, dashboard, profile)*

## your dashboard

Your dashboard is your creator space. It shows up once you've created your first action: tap the **dashboard** tab on mobile, or **dashboard** in the left sidebar on a computer. Before that, there's nothing to run yet, so start with **+** (or **create**).

| section | what it's for |
|---|---|
| **dashboard** | your home: what to do next, what's ready for your review, your latest actions, your numbers at a glance |
| **actions** | every action you've made, drafts included. Search, filter **published** or **drafts**, sort by **newest** or **last edited**, start a **new action** |
| **community** | your supporters, ways to help completed, top countries and age ranges, and how each action performs. See [community insights: read your numbers, run better actions](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/community-insights.md) |
| **revenue** | your balance, monthly supporters and cash out. Shows once donations are switched on for your account. See [set up donations and get funded by your community](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/set-up-donations.md) |

*app screenshot: the dashboard home: Maya’s name and a view profile button, the actions section with five actions and their published and edited dates, then the community card with 2,418 supporters (dashboard)*

*app screenshot: the actions list: filters for all, published and drafts, a newest sort, a search field and the actions with their dates and draft labels (actions)*

The dashboard home opens with **getting started**, "a few quick steps to get your community up and running": **set up the basics** (photo, name and bio), **turn on your donation module** (when donations are available for your account), **publish your first action** (it ticks once your action is live) and **get your first 10 supporters**. Each step ticks itself when it's done, and the checklist disappears once you've finished it.

*app screenshot: Maya’s dashboard getting started checklist: set up the basics and publish your first action completed, turn on your donation module and get your first 10 supporters still to do (getting started: your next steps, in one place)*

Next comes **ready to publish**, when the chilli team has prepared something for one of your actions: new ways to help, updates, sometimes a whole new action (that row gets a **new action page** tag). Once an action has supporters, its row shows how many. A pink dot on the dashboard icon tells you something is waiting. Tap a row to go through it, and publish only what you like: [review what the chilli team prepared for you](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/review-what-chilli-prepared.md).

Then **actions**, then **community** (from your first supporter) and **revenue** (from your first donation). At the bottom, **resources** links to the guides on this site that fit where you are right now, from "get started" to "fund your work".

## how it looks in the wild

The Captain Paul Watson Foundation ran wave after wave of actions against Icelandic whaling: emails to ministries and embassies, calls to hotels, reviews, comments on tourism channels. Supporters followed every twist through updates, and kept coming back. Result: 47K+ actions from 5K supporters.

> **real win · Captain Paul Watson Foundation**: [Paul Watson put Iceland's whale hunt in the spotlight](https://creators.chilli.club/anti-whaling-campaign-iceland.md)

## your next move

Set up the page your followers will land on first: [set up your creator profile (and make it your link in bio)](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/set-up-your-creator-profile.md).

## see it in action

- [How Captain Paul Watson used chilli to make Iceland's whale hunt harder to hide](https://creators.chilli.club/anti-whaling-campaign-iceland.md): Keep your community acting beyond a single post. See how Captain Paul Watson’s foundations used chilli to mobilize 47,674+ actions against Icelandic whaling.
- [How EarthlyEducation used chilli to help stop bulldozers inside Big Bend](https://creators.chilli.club/stop-big-bend-national-park.md): Give your followers a direct way to influence decision-makers. See how EarthlyEducation used chilli to mobilize 2K emails and 65 calls to Congress for Big Bend.

## keep going

- [what is chilli? the link in bio that turns followers into action](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/what-is-chilli.md): chilli is the link in bio for impact. Your followers tap it and actually do something: send the email, make the call, back your work.
- [set up your creator profile (and make it your link in bio)](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/set-up-your-creator-profile.md): Your profile is your link in bio. Fill in the bio, pin your most urgent action, add a little of you in 'about me', and paste the link everywhere.
- [how to create your first action on chilli, step by step](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/create-your-first-action.md): Tap + (or create on a computer), tell the story (image, title, intro, why it matters), add at least one way to help, and publish. Fifteen minutes, tops, and your supporters get notified.
- [ways to help, explained: every type of action on chilli](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/ways-to-help-explained.md): Six types: email, social comment, Google Maps, phone call, survey and external link. Email is your workhorse, calls hit hardest, comments and reviews go public, surveys warm people up.

## along the path

- previous guide: [what is chilli? the link in bio that turns followers into action](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/what-is-chilli.md): chilli is the link in bio for impact. Your followers tap it and actually do something: send the email, make the call, back your work.
- next guide: [set up your creator profile (and make it your link in bio)](https://creators.chilli.club/resources/set-up-your-creator-profile.md): Your profile is your link in bio. Fill in the bio, pin your most urgent action, add a little of you in 'about me', and paste the link everywhere.

## next step

Create your chilli account and get your first action live today: https://app.chilli.club. Rather talk it through first? Book a call with the team: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ01g8S_PtdUlvXCTxD-pS1u4XmLdcBskzOKdjdrlPeX2aVrQ20e76YifYlNHXzow4KG4xIS0Vsl