Campaigning tips
Know your stuff
Be clear about what the problem is, who is affected and what it means to them - being able to communicate the impact a problem has on someone or a group of people is at the heart of campaigning. Gathering robust evidence to support your argument is also a sign of a good campaigner - You won't be taken very seriously by policymakers if you only use anecdotes or isolated examples. Every argument has to be supported by evidence if it is to be convincing:
Emily Robinson, former Campaign Coordinator at BLISS and winner of the 2006 SMK Health Care Award, published survey evidence showing wide variations in infant mortality across the country to support her campaign's argument for national standards of neonatal care. As the Government has set a target on infant morality rates this survey enabled BLISS to directly question whether existing policies are furthering stated goals in this area of health service delivery.
Research that is robust and properly conducted will help put you at the centre of a new story.
Journalists like reporting 'new facts' rather than simply quoting views. When you prepare research evidence think about how you could deploy it in the media or parliament. If you are doing a survey try to focus on findings that will show breakdowns on things like geography or gender. A survey broken down on a geographical basis potentially gives you a regional news story as well as a national one.
All MPs are interested in their constituencies and the more you can localise your evidence the better incentives they have to support you campaign. If journalists and politicians can see that you are producing evidence that brings into question decision-makers arguments then this will enhance your authority.
Research can also open up new avenues of campaigning for you. In 2001 the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) sought to test arguments that the gender pay gap was more the result of women's childcare responsibilities than employment discrimination. The EOC's research found that even childless women recently graduating from university faced a big pay gap. The organisation then developed a campaign targeting women students warning them of the dangers of employer discrimination.
Build a team
A good campaigner is someone who can take people with them on their journey. And campaigns are difficult to wage on your own. You need to build a team of people who are committed to the cause. In approaching people, think about the mix of skills that you will need to help you. Many of your friends or colleagues may already have some of the expertise you are looking for.
Some key skills to consider are knowledge of political processes, marketing, website design, copywriting and fundraising.
Make a plan
A campaigner should always know precisely what they want their campaign outcomes to be. Clearly think through and write down your objectives. Would they be easily understandable to an outsider reading them?
Then it is important to decide the most effective way to realise your campaign ambitions:
Are you campaigning to change people's behaviours or can change only be brought about by a shift in policy or law? If so you will want to target decision-makers and will need to define clearly the nature of the policy/law change that you wish to be adopted.
In either case you need to be able to articulate your argument clearly when someone asks you 'What is your solution to the problem?'
Speak truth to power
Armed with a strong evidence base, a committed team behind you and your objectives clearly laid out, you will also need a campaign target. Who directly has the power to make the change you are campaigning for? Remember, national government is not always the best or most practical campaign target. It may be that your local authority or primary care trust are the people who actually have the power to do what you want them to.
2006 SMK award nominee Tim Street from the Campaign Against the Arms Trade runs the University Clean Investment Campaign. His goal is to persuade universities to disinvest in arms companies. His immediate campaign target was clear, as he knew that universities have the power to take their own decisions about the content of its investment portfolio.
Map your issue
It is helpful to map the complete range of forces that will influence your campaign target e.g what forces are supportive and those that are hostile or resistant to your objectives.
This will help you define the choice of tactics you use and you may find you need to choose very different tactics to address the distinct forces that exist.
When the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) planned its campaign for sanctions against South Africa in the 1980s it would have probably identified the following forces that were resistant to their campaign:
- the UK Government was strongly opposed to sanctions
- some companies were still investing in South Africa, such as Barclays
AAM decided that in order to change the stance of ministers they need to influence public opinion. On corporate investment in South Africa, AAM decided to organise a consumer boycott of companies like Barclays in order to encourage them to disinvest.
Be careful not to make assumptions about the factors that will influence your campaign's success. For example, you may assume that one particular government department is an ally on a particular issue. However, it may be that although they favour your policy they are nervous about committing to introduce a legal change because they anticipate opposition from the House of Lords, something that could slow down the whole government's legislative programme. Therefore, unless your campaign seeks to put forward ideas for how they could respond to opposition from this quarter you may not be able to convince them to take action.
Build alliances
Some of the most effective campaigns have been run through alliances. Make Poverty History is of the most obvious. You need to check out whether other organisations are working in your field or pursuing similar objectives - nationally or internationally. Think about how you work can add value to theirs. This will help you make the case to funders that your campaign deserves support. Most importantly, investigate opportunities to build alliances that will give you more of an impact. Alliances can also help you get access to wider intelligence. Through pooling resources you will be able to do more and most likely get more attention for your work. For example, advertising is expensive but by pooling your money an advert could become affordable.
Alliances also help you reach constituencies who you might otherwise struggle to engage.
The Multiple Sclerosis Society was campaigning for the NHS to fund the beta interferon drug in the NHS. The campaign built an alliance between doctors and patients to convince the Government to fund the drug. The Society focussed on getting sympathetic doctors on board and encouraged them to develop their own network in order to formulate and communicate their own distinct messages to groups that had traditionally been against a case for funding beta interferon. The MS Society was eventually successful in making interferon available through the NHS.
Alliances can help you coordinate messages to make sure that people who basically agree on something can ensure that they use their resources to best effect. So one organisation might have the best research expertise; another might have more activists and another could have a particular set of contacts not available elsewhere. An alliance allows you to sit down and plan activities that play to each of your partners' strengths.
Use the right tactics for you
However attractive tactics used by other campaigners seem to be, you should prepare a fully worked out campaign plan that proposes tactics that will help you achieve your specific objectives.
For example, although many campaigns aim to get press coverage this may not be helpful to your particular campaign. It may be that national decision-makers agree with your proposals but know there is public resistance to them. Therefore it might be less likely to adopt your proposals if there is suddenly a public debate on the question.
It may be that legal action can achieve many of your objectives and more swiftly than trying to persuade ministers to take action. Judicial review is an expensive route and therefore not available to many campaigns but it can be a very good way to prompt major policy change. If you can achieve the policy change you want through a change in the law you could try to secure a private members bill. Private members bills allow backbench MPs to secure debating time for a measure that would change the law. These bills provide a powerful platform for your arguments and will force a ministerial response.
Timing is everything
Supportive and opposing influences will shape not only the kind of approach and tactics you adopt but also when and how you should carry out your strategy in practice.
A demonstration timed to take place when a company's business practices are under review by statutory regulators could be very effective.
Equally, although you may wish to get media coverage for your issue it may actually be more beneficial for another independent group to initiate public debate on your issue. E.g. If another organisation publishes research in line with your arguments you can present their evidence as coming from an independent source. Objective endorsement is always a valuable asset in a campaign!
SWOT
A SWOT analysis that looks at strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats around your activities can be a really effective way to help you and your team achieve your campaign objectives - and mitigate potential problems.
Strengths:
Your campaign might have access to a celebrity who can help give you the profile that you need in the national media.
Weaknesses:
You may find that some of your planned activities are very costly and that raising large amounts of money may not be possible in the short term. To help the planning process you should factor in realistic short, medium and long term goals.
You may also realise that even though your arguments are morally strong, you don't have good evidence to back them up or promote them in the mass media.
Opportunities: Don't be discouraged if the UK Government is resistant to reviewing your issue. There are often other avenues to pursue e.g The European Union may be much more interested in changing legislation in your issue area and on most issues the UK Government can be outvoted on the Council of Ministers. This could provide a great opportunity to get together a coalition of several countries in support of your favoured change - and you may be able to achieve the policy decision you want!
Threats: There may be other organisations campaigning on similar issues that will compete with you for funding. You should be aware of other organisations operating in similar fields and make sure that your organisation has a unique point of difference. Again, you are going to need to do your homework!
Evaluation
Evaluation is the key: Set yourself clear targets before you begin your campaign activity so you can assess whether you are making not just an impact but the right impact. These targets should be directly linked to the analysis that emerged from your issue map.
So, for example, if you identified that a number of national charities were potential allies then you will probably want to set a target in relation to mobilising them.
Also think in advance about how you will collect the material you need in order to evaluate your campaign.
For example, if you're campaigning on an international issue you may need to identify ways of tracking any news coverage that you receive overseas.
