Strategy Advocacy Training Module

What is a Strategy Chart? Your campaign plan in a logical order. Similar to a spreadsheet – columns interact.

Strategy Chart Columns Goals Organizational Considerations Constituents Decision Makers Tactics

Goals Long Term – may extend beyond this particular campaign (e.g. quality education for all students). Intermediate – what you want to win now (e.g. adopt Common Standards). Short Term – a step toward your intermediate goals (e.g. request that the school board hold a community forum to educate parents).

Organizational Considerations What will your organization invest in the campaign? *Be specific!!* – Money (e.g. $10,000) – Staff (e.g. Mary 12 hours per week, 2 full time volunteers) Gains: e.g. recruit 25,000 new members. Internal Problems: e.g. not enough volunteers.

Constituencies Who cares about this issue and how many are there? – How are people already organized? – Who is directly affected? Allies: who can join this campaign? Opponents: who will actively oppose you?

Decision Makers Who can give you what you want? Always a person. What is your power over them? – This may lead you to look for a secondary target.

Tactics What the people in the Constituents Column do to the person in the Decision Maker Column to apply pressure and make them give us the things in the Goals Column in such a way that it builds the organization as in the Organizational Considerations Column.

Tactics (cont) The fun part! Demonstrate your power not your opinion. Outside the experience of the target but within the experience of your members. Hearings, demonstrations, petitions, meetings, leafleting, door-to-door, community forums, call-in days, rallies, letters, press conferences, voter registration, etc.