strategy
Official Channels
Official channels are things like grievance procedures, ombudsmen and courts. They are supposed to resolve problems and provide justice. However, trust in official channels can be misplaced: in many cases they may give only an illusion of a solution. In Official...
How is the COVID-19 crisis changing the global movement landscape?
Amber French (ICNC) offers a big-picture framework for how the Covid-19 crisis is impacting activism, organizing, and civil resistance movements. The article defines four main phases to make sense of this moment and begin planning a transition to the post-Covid-19...
Campaign Accelerator trainings > MobLab
Details of upcoming trainings, courses, webinars and convenings. The Accelerator brings together the very best of design thinking (centring the people you aim to serve or engage), systems thinking (tackling root causes to shift systems), and people-powered (inspiring...
Climate Resistance Handbook
If you’re wondering how to build a powerful, strategic movement that can make big wins for climate action, this is your guide. The Climate Resistance Handbook brings together a wealth of learnings from the climate justice movement. It starts with breaking social myths...
It would really warm my heart if these concepts were more popular in the left
Jonathan Smucker (author of Hegemony How-to) shares his insights on campaigning. “Politics is not something you “have.” It’s something you DO. If your “politics” doesn’t involve building and wielding collective power,...
Ask Labor Jane: “I Quit My Job to Dedicate Myself to Organizing. What Now?”
Jane McAlevey has been an organizer and negotiator in the labor movement for over twenty years. While she continues to organize, she writes for various publications and is the author of three books. Hundreds of new organizers have passed through her trainings. Now,...
It’s In Our Hands Now: Localizing Resistance to Fight Climate Change
Oakley Hill writes: “Failures and derelictions of governments around the world should send a clear message to average, everyday citizens: It is up to us to disrupt business as usual, decrease emissions, and keep temperature rises below 1.5ºC. Such a daunting...
The Commons Social Change Library
The new Commons Social Change Library recently launched online with hundreds of resources to support community action. The Commons contains articles, manuals, training materials, practical tips, podcasts and videos all in one handy online location. Topics include...
Why activists fail | Robert Burrowes
Robert Burrowes writes: “The foundation of any sound strategy… is a thorough understanding of the conflict. This means, most importantly, having a clear sense of the ‘big picture’… not just the detail of the issue on which you focus. Fundamentally,...
Measuring political will
A win often means getting the support of elected officials, and the Policymaker Rating method was designed to measure just that. This brief shares scenarios where this method was applied and modified to show what has worked (and what utterly failed). This resource is...
Critical path building – a different view
Critical path building allows campaigners to map a proposed campaign route and identify the key events, resource and time constraints and other dependencies which need to be taken into account as a milestone objective is approached. This level of analysis is essential...
An Australian civil society success story | Joan Staples
Late 2017, Joan Staples first wrote of threats to democratic advocacy from three foreign interference Bills. Then in November 2018, the final most controversial Bill, the Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform Bill, was passed with the support of civil society. The...
Embracing the Network: How to Build a Powerfully Collaborative Campaign
“Embracing Networks” in campaigns can lead to powerful results. Many of the largest campaigns in the world, mobilizing millions of people, use the power of networks. It’s easier than ever to embrace networked campaigning thanks to new technologies that have come...
The unicorn activity: Political lobbying role play
This role play activity, developed by the Centre for Australian Progress, is an interactive workshop to help people experience a political lobbying meeting in a light-hearted way. The role play involves people being from either the Minister for Magical Creatures, or...
Campaign strategy as a house
Strategy as a House is a basic mud map to help you and your team develop a campaign strategy. The foundation of a robust strategy is an understanding of context and a rigorous understanding of the problem you seek to remedy. Next, you’ll need an analysis of...
Power mapping template
Who can make the decision you need to influence (your primary target)? Who influences them (your secondary targets)? Who use exercises influence for/against this decision? A power map is a simple yet powerful tool to map decision makers and focus your energy where it...
Critical path analysis template
What interim outcomes or smaller changes do you expect you’ll need to achieve along the road to achieving your campaign objective? A critical path can help keep your team focused. Here’s an MS Word template to fast-track the process of creating your...
Campaign strategy template
This template simplifies the process of developing a campaign strategy, with 14 headings in a logical sequence and practical advice for developing each element of strategy. tCA’s website also has MS Word templates for critical path analysis and power map.