Issue Campaign Plan Template

Strategy and Action Issue Campaign Plan Template

Planning to Make Change

“Oppressed people, whatever their level of formal education, have the ability to understand and interpret the world around them, to see the world for what it is, and move to transform it.”

~ Ella Baker

Keys to the Issue Campaign Plan

Here are our main keys to the issue campaign plan:

Know and organize using tactics that fit your constituency. Who are they, what are their values, and where will you find them?
Create a Map of Actors. Including: Core team, supporters, competition, opponents, and those on the sidelines/swayable.
Identify your courses of action to different scenarios. If things unfold one way how will you respond, vs. if they unfold another way how will you respond?
Know what power/capacity you need to win. Is it a power over or a power with approach?

Checklist and Summary

Key Questions

Is your campaign a true issue/policy campaign? Is it more than an “education campaign?” (i.e., teaching others and hoping some change will occur)
Do you have a clear target you’re building pressure on? Do you have clear secondary targets?
Have you honed in on what would make the campaign a success? Is it clear, specific, measurable, achievable, and has a clear deadline?
Do you have a backwards-planned timeline for achieving your goals?
Can you specifically demonstrate how your tactics/actions build pressure toward your goal?
Do you have a leadership team of between three to nine people that consistently meets, has clear norms, and set roles/responsibilities?
How will you balance and/or involve both grassroots and grasstops (i.e., organizations, businesses, political, faith, etc.) leaders? Grasstops will help with legitimacy and ease of press coverage, however they may try to moderate demands.
Does your Theory of Change fit into a if-then-because statement?

Summary of Our Issue Campaign Plan

Area	Campaign Response
Organizing Statement
Our Constituency
The Problem
The Solution
SMARTIE Goals
Map of Actors
Target(s)/Secondary Target(s)
Theory of Change
Message
Tactics/Actions
Timeline

Overview of Issue Campaign

Keys to Success

After completing plan, write three to five keys to achieve goals.

Organizing Statement

(WHO) to pursue (PURPOSE) by (HOW: THEORY OF CHANGE – If-Then-Because) to achieve (WHAT: STRATEGIC GOAL) by (WHEN). We will use the following (TACTICS) to achieve this (OUTCOME) by (WHEN).

Constituency, Problem, and Issue

Constituency

Your constituency is the people you organize to achieve your goals. Some questions to consider:

Who are your people? Who are you organizing?
What are their values?
Where will you find your people?

Problem

This is the challenge and thing you are trying to address. Some questions to consider from Marshall Ganz:

What is your constituency’s problem? What is the issue?
How would the world look different if their problem were solved?
What are the roots of the problem?
“Why hasn’t the problem been solved yet? Why is there a gap (between the problem and the vision)? “

Solution/Issue

The issue is your path to addressing their problems. Issue campaigns are highly organized efforts to implement specific policies. (i.e., issues are your proposed solutions to problems).

Lay of the Land

Here is where you should take a high-level view of the situation including:

Current policies and decisions: What existing policies/decisions are there around the issue?
History: Have there been any past efforts on this issue (e.g., policies introduced, coalitions formed, etc.)? If so what did they look like and why were they successful/unsuccessful?
Media coverage: Has there been any media coverage of the issue? If so has it been positive, negative, or neutral? How does the media frame the issue?
Political climate analysis: What is your understanding of the current political climate and chances for success? If there is momentum, is it favorable or unfavorable?

SMARTIE Goals and Barriers

SMARTIE Goals (Strategic, Measurable, Ambitious, Realistic, Time-bound, Inclusive, and Equitable + what could stop you from achieving your goals)

Campaign SMARTIE Goals

What are the changes in the real world you wish to see?

Organizational SMARTIE Goals

What helps build the organization or the campaign internally?

Barriers

What could stop you from achieving success?

Metrics of Success

Campaign

Examples below:

# of policies passed
# of legislative public supporters
# of press hits
# of institutional coalition members

Organizational

Examples below:

# of 1-on-1 meetings held to recruit new members and/or focus on leadership development of existing members
# of people who increase their civic leadership
# of team members with clear leadership roles and responsibilities

Map of Actors/Team

Constituency

Those directly connected to your organization/cause.

Core Team

The four to eight person leadership team organizing this campaign.

Coordinator(s) – We recommend 2.
Coach – Someone to focus on improving the coordinator(s) efforts/strategy while connecting them to people/resources. They do not need to know anything about the issue, just how to make change.
Policy Advisor(s) – Individuals who know the policies you are fighting for. They do not need to know strategy, planning, or organizing, they just need to know about the issue.
Volunteer coordinator(s) – Individuals who focus on doing one-on-one meetings and other relational tactics to recruit/retain team members. They also remind and follow up with folks.
Grassroots advocate(s) – Someone who can act as a community lobbyist to work with decision-makers and elected officials to push forward the topic.

Volunteer Team

The larger group of volunteers supporting this campaign. Can be part of the “snowflake” leadership structure.

Supporters and Coalition Partners/Allies

Active and passive

Competition/Collaborators

Those who target similar resources or constituencies?

Opposition and Pillars of Support

Active and passive?

Sway-able/Neutral

Those currently on the sidelines, but who could get involved.

Targets

Primary target (i.e., the person who you are focusing on who has the ability to make the decision. Choose one person instead of a whole body of people such as a legislature).
Secondary target (i.e., the individual(s) who can directly influence your primary target).

Capacity/Power

Building capacity consists of building your movement’s resources (e.g., people, money, legitimacy, and number of active supporters).

[Choose one of the following approaches or a hybrid]

Power Over Approach

Someone else has the power to make the change (e.g., a legislator).

What resources do your people need to achieve their goal?
Which actors hold those resources?
What resources do your people have that these other actors need?
How can your people use their resources to get what they need from these other actors?

Power With Approach

Your community has the power to make the change themselves if you organize well (e.g., your block starting a community garden.

What resources do our people hold that they can use to achieve their goal? (make a creative and specific list)
Why haven’t our people used these resources to achieve their goal before?
How can our people use their resources in new ways that can achieve their goal?

Campaign Strategy

Theory of Change

What resources do you need?
What capacity/power do you need?
What change/goal do you seek?
What’s one “if-then sentence” (i.e., one way to frame the Theory of Change=How can we turn our RESOURCES into the CAPACITY/POWER we need to win CHANGE)?
Example: Nashville – If we mobilize enough people to disrupt downtown businesses, then the Mayor will change the law to desegregate.

Courses of Action

What are your potential courses of action (i.e., your various options for Theories of Change)?
What are your opponent’s potential courses of action?
What’s your analysis of your opponent’s courses of action (i.e., which one is most likely or could cause the most difficulty)?
What’s your analysis of your courses of action?
What’s your decision on your course of action (i.e., your agreed upon Theory of Change)?

Communications

Campaign Name

A positive framing of the outcome you’re looking for, rather than what you’re against.

Main Messages in Support

Response to Messages Opposed

Tactics/Actions

Main Tactics/Actions/Activities of the Campaign

Sequencing and Timeline of Actions

Decision-Maker Position Tracker

Use a simple spreadsheet to keep track of how legislators view your efforts or are undecided (e.g., strongly support, lean support, neutral, lean oppose, and strongly oppose).

Note here’s an example for Delaware

Example Issue Campaign Plan

Area	Campaign Response
Organizing Statement	(WHO) to pursue (PURPOSE) by (HOW: THEORY OF CHANGE – If-Then-Because) to achieve (WHAT: STRATEGIC GOAL) by (WHEN). We will use the following (TACTICS) to achieve this (OUTCOME) by (WHEN).
Our Constituency	Examples: Low-income communities, renters, formerly incarcerated, specific residents of X city/neighborhood, K-12 students, mothers, etc.
The Problem	Examples: Pollution, lack of worker protections, challenges in starting a small business, discrimination, etc.
The Solution	Examples: Passage of X bill, change in company policy, launch of specific initiative, etc.
SMARTIE Goals	Campaign Examples:(Stretch goal) To ensure the bill goes into effect by 2023To pass the bill that goes into effect 2024-2025 Operational Examples:To build a team of 30 volunteers that take action monthly by April 2021To have a reliable leadership ladder that enables volunteers to take independent action by May 2021To build a core team of 6 volunteers by January 2021To prepare replicable plans and materials that could be used for future issue campaigns by March 2021
Map of Actors	Examples: ConstituencyActive supporters: Organizations, individuals, community leaders, etc.Active opponents: Organizations, individuals, community leaders, etc.Sway-able/Neutral: Organizations, individuals, community leaders, etc.
Target(s)/Secondary Target(s)	Examples: 3 legislators (remember always focus on a small number, instead of every decision-maker), a key ally of the Governor, a swayable company (pulling a company that wants to do the right thing), etc.
Theory of Change	Example: If we put direct constituent pressure on 3 legislators (e.g., through canvassing and community outreach to collect postcards, get people to call their legislators, and post on social media) then the General Assembly will pass the bill (i.e., because they will worry about re-election and other members of the General Assembly will want to protect their colleagues).
Message	Remember to use positive messages in support!
Tactics/Actions	Examples: Canvassing in priority districtsGetting constituents to tag targets in social media postsTownhall/forum to recruit new folks/build the listUse electoral pressure by spotlighting person who may run against incumbent (they don’t actually need to run, just need incumbent to worry they may run!)Get school boards/cities/counties to pass resolutions in support or policies that do similar work at local level (if aiming to pass statewide policy)Sign-on letter (e.g., organizations, legislators, etc.)List building actions (e.g., petitions, building an email list, etc.)Relational/Base building tactics (e.g., 1-on-1 meeting campaign, referral campaign, house meetings, etc.)
Timeline	Example: Escalating tactics over 3 month period: List building with a petition and 1-on-1 meeting campaign, then a series of townhalls in priority districts, then a sign-on letter of supportive legislators, then canvassing in priority districts, then using electoral pressure by spotlighting person who may run against incumbent, etc.

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