Introduction to campaign strategy and planning

Harmit KamboLearning and Development Managerharmit.kambo@smk.org.uk

smk.org.ukcampaigncentral.org.uk

Twitter: @SMKcampaignersFacebook: SMK Campaigners

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for campaigners• Promoting the rights of campaigners

What do we mean by ‘campaign’?

•Individuals or organisations mobilising to influence change, or prevent change•A series of planned activities designed to create pressure•‘Change’ can mean policy, practice or behaviour•A campaign MUST present solutions!

Campaign strategy

You are here

You want be here

Your campaign strategy is how you get therein the straightest line possible

Campaign strategy

• Issue• Aim• Objectives• Audiences• Key messages• Tactics• Activities and timeline• Monitoring and evaluation

The issue• What is wrong?• What is the solution?• Why should anyone listen to you?

(credibility/agency)• What action needs to be taken?

The elevator pitch

Aim• What is the intended impact of your

campaign? • A simple, compelling and visionary

statement about what the future should look like e.g.– Children have equal opportunities to succeed in schools– women are free from violence in the home– A society without child poverty

• Try to stick to one aim

Objective 1

Objective 2AIM

Objectives

“Families affected by a disappearance should have access to support.”

“Every family of a missing person to be signposted to Missing People’s free emotional, practical and legal support services by the police”

“A network of specially trained counsellors to be developed to support the unique needs of families of missing people”

Objectives

Must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic,

Time-bound)

End homelessness

Reduce single homelessness in

London by 60% by December 2015

Audiences• Core target: Who can make the change you want?

(e.g. Secretary of State for Work & Pensions / Head of Social Services at Local Authority / Chief Executive of BP etc)

• Influencers: Who has influence on them? (e.g. Voters, shareholders etc)

• Who are your allies? • Who are your opponents? How do they see

things?‘Keep your friends close

but your enemies closer” Niccolo Machiavelli

• What will get your target audiences to act?• Frank Luntz, US strategist and pollster (‘inheritance tax’ >

‘death tax’; ‘oil drilling’ > ‘energy exploration’)• Tailor messages for different audiences• Start from where the audience is, not from where you are• Use their language, not yours

“These taxes are regressive!”

Key messages

Tactics

OUTSIDER

ONLINEOFFLINE

INSIDER

“If your people aren’t having a ball doing it, there is something very wrong with the tactic.” Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals (1971)

GovernmentE-petition

MP surgery

Twitter/Facebook campaign

(not so nicely)

Respond to consultation

Protest/demo/march

Direct action

Strike

Blog

Work with the media

Judicial review

Use legislation: (e.g. Human Rights Act, Equalities Act)

Develop dialogue with civil

servants/officials

Freedom of Information

Stunts

Use celebrity

Email campaign

to MP

Public meeting

Get involved with APPG

Give evidence to select committee

Tweet your MP, nicely

Sponsor a private

member’s billEarly Day Motion

Boycott

Complain

Use House of Lords, instead of Commons

Petition

E-petition (e.g. 38 Degrees, Change.org)

Use Sustainable

Communities Act

Local Government Ombudsman

Activities and timeline• Identify key dates and points of

influence• Decide on best mix of activities • Be clear about how planned activities

work together for maximum impact

Monitoring and evaluation

• What’s working? • What isn’t?• Do aims /

objectives / audience / tactics need to change?

Recap

• Have a strategy (‘fail to plan and you plan to fail’). Write it down

• Break your campaign down into all of its component parts & it’s simple!

• It should be a living, evolving document that harnesses your passion, not a strait jacket!