Knowledge Base

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1. STRATEGY

A strategy for a social change campaign can be as simple or complex as you and your group determine. It should communicate your theory of change, the political context you are working in, the problems and solutions, your goals and objectives, power analysis, tactics and timeline.

Campaigners can develop each element of their strategy by answering the following questions:

• What do we want? (goals and objectives)
  
• Who can give it to us? (audiences)
  
• What do they need to hear? (messages)
  
• Who do they need to hear it from? (messengers)
  
• How do we get them to hear it? (delivery)
  
• What have we got? (resources; strengths)
  
• What do we need to develop? (challenges; gaps)
  
• How do we begin? (first steps)
  
• How will we know it’s working, or not working? (evaluation)
  

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2. CAMPAIGN SCOPE AND GOALS

Scope

Cutting the issue is a helpful way to translate a daunting and complex problem into one or more bite-sized issues where they can realistically consider making a difference. ‘Cutting’ or reducing the scope of a problem in several ways through creative brainstorming processes can help your group consider the relative merits of different approaches you might take.

Name the problem, identify issues and purposefully choose which one/s you plan to tackle.

How it’s done

1.     Define the problem you’d like to address. A poorly defined problem – or a problem whose nuances you don't completely understand – is much more difficult to solve than a problem you have clearly defined and analysed. The way a problem is worded and understood has a huge impact on the number, quality, and type of proposed solutions.

2.     Consider how to cut this bigger problem into smaller issues that have traction with (or appeal to) different targets, community groups and other audiences. What are some ways that people interpret, respond to or campaign around the problem.

Goals

It’s helpful to have short, medium and long term goals, so you don’t try to do too much too soon, before your group has built up its powerbase and confidence. Hopefully, your group will want to build power by obtaining one victory, then move on to the next. 

Problem:

Short term goal:

Medium term goal:

Long: Have bicycles receive 5% of all transport funding in State Budget 2010

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3. VISION

What does the situation you are working towards look like? What does the change that you are working on feel like when you are there? Paint yourself a picture. This helps when you’re communicating with others about the world you hope to create through your campaign.

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4. SITUATION ANALYSIS

What is the context? What political, economic, cultural or other factors are creating or maintaining this problem? What are the root causes? What factors are likely to help or hinder you in achieving your objectives? Who benefits from the problem being maintained? Who would benefit from it being changed? Are certain groups experiencing these injustices more than others? What are civil society groups doing about the situation? Make sure your campaign is reasonable, feasible, competent, trustworthy, factual and professional.

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5. ORGANISATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

What organisational considerations do you need to bear in mind? What are your philosophies and policies? What are our strengths? Constraints? What level of priority does this campaign have? What resources are likely to be available for this campaign? It may be useful to do a SWOT analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

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6. DECISION MAKERS, INFLUENCERS AND SUPPORTERS

Now you have selected a problem to focus on, analysed it, and developed a solution to it. Next you need to work out, for each goal who has the power to give you what you want:

1. Who is the decision maker(s)
   
2. Who in the community does the decision maker listen to
   
3. Who in the community would support you (target audience)
   
4. Who does your target audience listen to
   

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7. OBJECTIVES

What specific or tangible outcomes do you aim to achieve to further the campaign goals? Ideally, objectives should be strategic, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-specific (SMART). Objectives are based on your situational analysis (looking at the range of potential issues), critical path (how can each issue be resolved) and organisational considerations (which issues do we have the capacity to tackle and which fit your organisation the best?). A clearly defined objective makes for a motivated constituency and successful campaign.

Behaviour change

If your campaign asks for behaviour change, keep in mind that when people have motivation, capability and opportunity they are more likely to act. Provide a range of ways to be involved in your campaign to ensure inclusivity. Encourage easy behaviours that people can perform now. Messages that tap into this can provide positive and empowering feelings that connect people and bring more energy to your campaign. Play to what already exists within your audience. Existing ideas and experiences create comfort and shared understanding. Use listening skills to gain community perspective and manage responses and campaign moderation. 

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8. TACTICS

Tactics are the social action activities that you use to achieve your goals and objectives but the strategy is the sequencing of these in a logical and strategic way. List and detail the tactics required to achieve each campaign objective. Decide which tactics will deliver the greatest impact for the energy and resources you invest. Apply agreed tactics criteria to assess and justify tactics.

Some campaigning organisations adopt a set of criteria to assess potential tactics.

• Can you really do it? Do you have the needed people, time and resources?
  
• Is it focused on either the primary or secondary target?
  
• Does it put real power behind a specific demand?
  
• Does it meet your organisational goals as well as your issue goals?
  
• Is it outside the experience of the target?
  
• Is it within the experience of your own members and are they comfortable with it?
  
• Will people enjoy participating in it?
  
• Will it play positively in the media?
  

Getting media coverage is a tactic that is critical to your campaign. Media is used to:

•     encourage your supporters to support your cause 

•     influence decision makers

•     generate activism

•     flush out and verify the record

•     force a position to be taken or revealed

•     reveal motives

•     hold official or corporation accountable

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9.   COMMUNICATIONS PLAN – STORY AND CALL TO ACTION

A key element of a strategy is a communications plan. This part of the strategy sets out the way in which the ideas of the campaign are going to be disseminated to a wider public to enlist their support, encourage them to take action and influence the decision makers. You will not win your campaign by merely telling people to do the right thing. You will need to make your case. 

Key Messages

The key points of a campaign need to be defined as key messages. How are you going to position this campaign? What are the key points? What is the story you’re trying to tell and how will you tell it? What is the call to action? Who will deliver the message? Once this is done, all materials, be it speeches, letters or media releases should ‘stay on message’ for your target audience. You also need to consider how you are going to encourage interest and participation once a message has been delivered. Who will manage the community response? Use relevant articles, research, commentary and appropriate humour to keep the conversation active.

Reach/Channels

Know where your target audience are, and the method and tone they expect on that platform. All these details build understanding and trust in you and your campaign. Example of this not working – ScoMo's YouTube video during fires.

Tone 

Perhaps even more important than the clarity of your arguments and message is the tone of your message. A relevant tone, together with optimism and enthusiasm, serve to draw people to your argument, and don’t stand in the way of your message.

Fact check

To keep your campaign messaging credible and legal, fact check all relevant information to maintain integrity and trust with the audience.

Stories 

Use your analysis of what will appeal to your supportive influencers and supporters to prepare a convincing argument and turn it into a story and a call to action. You will use these as often as you can in all your activities.

Internal communications

Share your plan with your organisation to provide knowledge and understanding, and create unity. It is also helpful to have a dedicated spokesperson who delivers key messages and responds to media requests. Creating a shared folder of images and sample comms for organisational sharing can assist in pushing messages out to a wider audience.

Example comms plan

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10. EVALUATION

What will success look like and how will you know when it’s happening? Focus on outcomes that really matter to your objectives. Success indicators need to be directly linked to your objectives and might include:

• Outputs: What quantitative results will be brought about by your activities. What will be the results?
  
• Outcomes: What changes will be brought about?
  
• Impact: What will be longer-term results or changes?
  
• Indicators: How will you know you have achieved your objectives? What are the changes that you will be able to observe?
  
• Details of how and when the campaign plan will be revised.
  
• Identify who will be responsible for gathering the data for monitoring success indicators, how they will do it and how regularly reports will be completed.
  

Track, adjust, Reflect, review. Your best lessons are learned in the thick of it. Keep records of these lessons to improve your performance next time. 

PIECING IT ALL TOGETHER

Problem: 

Vision:

Goals: