Topic

Campaign Strategy

Resources to enable groups to plan effective campaigns and other social change projects. These tools will help you assess the social and political situation, identify opportunities, map stakeholders, develop clear objectives, and come up with creative and powerful tactics.

You will find additional strategy guidance and inspiration in the case studies section.

Anti nuclear poster. Text says For a nuclear-free and independent Pacific. Stop French tests, US out, USSR Stay Out! The image is a nuclear symbol overlaying an illustrated aerial view of land and clouds. Text in other language is - Kia toituu te mana o te Moana-niu-aa-Kiwa: raahuitat kia waatea i ngaa Nuukrina whakahaehae whakamootii. La matua fa'asaina le fa'aaogaina o aupega malolosi e ai le nuclear bomb i le pasefiak atoa

From Protest to Politics: The Effectiveness of Civil Society in shaping the Nuclear-free Policy in Aotearoa New Zealand

A case study about what made anti-nuclear activism successful in Aotearoa New Zealand between the 1960s – 1980s.

A red square with white text reading 'Dealing with Far-Right Interventions in Our Movements: 8 Ways Activists & Organisers Can Respond'

Dealing with Far-Right Interventions in Left-Wing and Progressive Movements

An examination of the growing influence of far-right and conspiracy-driven ideologies, including interventions in left-wing and progressive movements. The article outlines eight ways activists and organisers can respond.

Winning Long-game, Collaborative, Grassroots Campaigns: The WA Forest Campaign Experience

Reflections and wisdom from Jess Beckerling from the WA Forest Alliance. Here are her learnings from winning long game grassroots campaigns.

A square graphic titled '5 Lessons from Abortion Law Reform'. The lessons are listed: 1 Combine powers and know where you add value; 2 Know what the fight is actually about; 3 Do a messaging strategy early and make sure ppl will use it; 4 Share your homework; 5 Evaluate your campaign. In the bottom right hand corner there is a photo of Renee Carr smiling.

Five Lessons from Fair Agenda’s Campaigns for Access to Abortion Care in Australia

Lessons learned from Fair Agenda’s campaigns on winning safe and legal access to abortion care in Australia.

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

In a 2020 article, which originally appeared in Interface: A journal for and about social movements, Extinction Rebellion member Kyle R Matthews explores how scholarship regarding civil resistance campaigns seeking regime change has been used by environmental activists. Matthews analyses the applicability of research conducted by Chenoweth and Stephan to protest movements in liberal democracies as […]

Scaling Social Movements: An Overview

Summary of key resources about scaling – the process of increasing the size, strength, geographical reach, & impact of social movements.

A Strategy for Climate Insurgency

Lessons from social and labour movements that discuss how movements bringing people together for common preservation arise and can be built.

column graph with bars going up and arrow indicating upward growth

Scaling Up Movements For Greater Impact

Scaling framework tool for campaigners to evaluate existing efforts and think about new ways of broadening and deepening impact.

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.

Lessons from the Grassroots Campaign Playbook

What are the key elements of a grassroots campaign? Tips and tricks learnt from working with grassroots activists.

Picture of a women's face yelling and the word 'ENOUGH!' in red on a black background. Below the image text reads 'Did You March 4 Justice? Ideas for Your Next Steps from the Commons Library.

Did You March 4 Justice? Ideas for Your Next Steps

Ideas for next steps after the Women’s March 4 Justice – including action, skills development, videos, books and podcasts.

Key Resources from Mobilisation Lab

Reports, toolkits, templates and guides from Mobilisation Lab including campaign strategy, storytelling, digital campaigning, security and more.

the covers of 2 publications - on left is Glossary of civil resistance with images of people protesting holding rainbow flag. On right is Sharp's dictionary of Power and Struggle with an illustration of a hand punching the air

What does that mean? Dictionaries and terminology for civil resistance

Are you looking for a dictionary, glossary and terminology related to civil resistance, activism and organising? Here is a list of resources.

pink publication cover 'All About Powe: Understanding social power and power structures' , by Srilatha Batliwala.

All About Power: Understanding Social Power and Power Structures

An essential primer for activists to understand and explore how power impacts their work in order to design strategies from a more comprehensive, shared definition and analysis of power as it operates in society.

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.

template to fill in with silhouette of iceberg layers in background

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.

Call to Action Worksheet