How to plan a campaign

The critically important word here is "planning". You should certainly spend time planning your campaign before embarking on ad hoc activities. Taking time out to think about the whole campaign cycle will give you a higher chance of success. One of the more common pitfalls of campaign activity is to jump straight into thinking about what campaign techniques and tactics to use without first doing the planning work. Technique selection should be one of the final steps in the planning process as they should derive from and be informed by all the planning work.

Below are some of the key issues you should think about when planning your campaign:

· Select your issue carefully

What issues are important to your client group / stakeholders?

Is there an opportunity to achieve change - what is happening in the external environment that makes this a good (or a bad) time to campaign?

Is there a consensus about what needs to be done?

Can you present a solution rather than a problem? It is much easier to campaign for a solution i.e. specific things that you want changed or implemented, rather than simply saying you don’t like the way things are at the moment.

· Resources / Materials

What resources do you have e.g. staff capacity / volunteers and supporters?

What resources do you need e.g. campaign materials, publications?

Do you have a dedicated budget for this work?

· Develop a strong evidence base

Legitimacy is essential - does your evidence come from technical expertise and/or representative experience?

Do you need to commission some research or do some research yourself?

Are there other sources of information / statistics you can draw on?

Make sure your research is relevant e.g. you need Welsh statistics for a Welsh campaign

Try to locate case studies and real-life examples - these can be extremely powerful and can be more likely to be picked up by the media than dry narrative.

· Establish your target audiences

Make sure you are approaching the people who have the power to change things – especially important in a devolved context when some responsibilities lie in Wales and some remain in the UK.

You may wish to consider Primary and Secondary targets.

Think about routes to influence these audiences - this is where you can begin to think about whether lobbying techniques might be appropriate.

· Establish campaign aims and key messages

Frame your messages appropriately for your audience(s). For example, a tabloid newspaper may respond better to an emotive human interest story, whereas a civil servant may require more factual, clearly sourced information.

Be specific - think about a few very specific changes that you would like to see and develop some key messages that can be delivered simply and effectively.

Try to focus on solutions. Propose something that decision makers have to oppose.

· Consider potential allies / stakeholders

Alliances can be very effective especially if they are cross sector and/or unexpected.

Which other groups are affected by your issue?

Who may have an interest in this? Political allies can be useful, look at politicans’ areas of interest.

· Consider potential opposition to your campaign and any obstacles

Who may oppose you campaign – can you work with them from the start to alleviate concerns? If not, can you anticipate their concerns and be prepared to respond?

Be aware of the external environment and how political changes may affect your campaign.

· Develop a plan of activities with timescales

What are you actually going to do? There are a whole host of campaign techniques select the ones that are right for you given your capacity, your issue, your audience and your aims. Campaigning and lobbying techniques are the subject of a separate information sheet but it is worth remembering that the techniques can broadly be categorised according to whether you intend to run an "insider" or "outsider" campaign. An insider campaign is where you would use established channels (low-key meetings etc) to lobby your target. An outsider campaign is a more oppositional approach based on fighting to have your voice heard by mobilising public support for change.

Timescales are important – if you need to do research or scope the issue with stakeholders then allow time for this in your campaign planning.

Think about short and long term objectives in the campaign e.g. securing a place at the decision making table might be a short term with the long term aim of delivering different decisions.

· Consider how you will deliver your campaign messages and gather support

How do you plan to use the media, if at all?

Could you develop an e-campaign? How could you use the internet?

Are you producing publicity / reports and if so what are you going to do with them?

How will you launch the campaign?

· Monitor progress and evaluate

What would success look like?

Take time to reflect and evaluate and adapt the campaign if necessary

Try to monitor where your campaigning has had an effect e.g. if you send a briefing to Assembly Members check to see if they quoted it or used it.

Celebrate all successes but remember that change can take a very long time.