Campaigning - Strategy - The Commons Social Change Library

icon of a dart board with an arrow on the bullseye

Campaign Strategy: Start Here

Looking to start a campaign or improve your campaign strategy? Here is a list of manuals, templates, tools and other resources to get you started.

a large mass of people walking down the street protesting and holding signs. One sign reads Thou shall not mess with women's reproductive rights.

Campaign Starter Pack

This Campaign Starter Pack from Campaign Bootcamp UK contains information, inspiration and activity sheets, based on the experience and knowledge of people who have fought for change.

a group of people standing in a group. Many are from minority communities such as a wheelchair user and people from many different racial backgrounds

Planning your First Campaign: Everyday Activism Handout Pack

Are you planning your first campaign? This Handout is designed to give you the skills and confidence to run your first campaign.

Campaign Planning: How to Get Started

What is a campaign? and how do you start one? Here are ideas, steps and handouts from Campaign Bootcamp to help you get started with your campaign planning.

Graph showing the Movement Action Plan developed by Bill Moyers. Each line represents Reformers, Rebels, Public, Organisers

Bill Moyer’s Movement Action Plan and Four Roles of Activism

Learn about and understand the ups and downs of social movements from Bill Moyer’s Movement Action Plan and the Four Roles of Activism.

Screenshot of webinar recording's front page. A blue background with a triangle line design around the top border. Text reads - Understanding & Assessing Your Organization’s Strategic Capacity

Understanding and Assessing Your Organization’s Strategic Capacity

Watch this webinar recording to understand and asses your organization’s strategy capacity. Use strategy to build and win political power.

Social movements and the (mis)use of research: Extinction Rebellion and the 3.5% rule

Extinction Rebellion member Kyle R Matthews explores how scholarship regarding civil resistance campaigns seeking regime change has been used by environmental activists.

information sheet titles Story based Strategy 202. There are 5 icons and a silhouette of a crowd.

Story Based Strategy 101

An accessible guide to story based strategy in movement building by the Center for Story Based Strategy.

A group of people stand on a bridge holding large letters spelling 'Global Goals'.

Campaigning for Social Change: beyond just protesting for it!

Daniel Hunter outlines the key elements of campaigns: a strategic time-tested model for effective social change work.

Developing Strategic Campaigns: An ITF Manual for Trade Union Activists, Educators and Organisers

This manual will help workers to identify clear campaign goals and objectives, develop strategies and tactics, and create unifying public messages and timelines for campaigns.

ChangeMakers Organising School – Season Four, 2021 – How Small Groups Make Big Changes

ChangeMakers Organising School – Training (videos and slides) to connect and deepen knowledge to organise for social change.

looking up the trunks and canopy of big Jarrah trees

The WA Forest Conflict: The Construction of the Political Effectiveness of Advocacy Organisations

Tactics and strategy of nonprofit organisations involved in advocacy regarding forestry in the 1990s-2000s in Western Australia.

illustrations of arrows and houses clouds surround icons of peolple and

Context Map Template

This Context Map template allows a team to foster a collective understanding of the overall context in which a campaign is happening.

System Map Template

Use this worksheet template to determine how you will talk about your campaign to inspire and motivate people to take action.

Iceberg Worksheet: What’s the root cause of the problem?

Drill down into the root cause of a problem a campaign aims to address. Shift focus from the event into underlying societal structures.

Engagement Pyramid: Visualise the different ways a person might get involved with your Campaign

Use this Engagement Pyramid to visualise the different ways a person might get involved with your campaign.

The Campaign Canvas

From vision and strategy to storytelling and metrics, this template ensures you’ve touched on all the essentials of an effective campaign.

Campaign Accelerator Toolkit

A toolkit to accelerate the planning process so we can get campaigns out the door faster to create more effective people powered campaigns.

Ivan Marovic serving as a battering ram to break the door of the Deanery at Belgrade University during the 1996-1997 Student Protest. Photo by Miroslav Petrovic

The Path of Most Resistance: A Step-by-Step Guide to Planning Nonviolent Campaigns

The Path of Most Resistance: A Step-by-Step Guide to Planning Nonviolent Campaigns by Ivan Marovic is a practical guide for activists and organizers of all levels, who wish to grow their resistance activities into a more strategic, fixed-term campaign.

Problem Diagram

Use this diagram from Mobilisation Lab to chart the causes of the problem that your campaign aims to address and how that problem affects people differently. This tool helps identify the “root cause” to tackle in a campaign or even in a set of campaigns.

Tag