21603 Chap.10 Planning Campaign Strategy and Tactics
Planning Campaign Strategy and Tactics
From ideas to a working plan
Week 4 turns the theory of the first three weeks into campaign practice.
The subject treats every advocacy campaign as a set of linked decisions: a specific objective, a named decision-maker, an overall strategy, messages for each audience, the resources available, the tactics chosen and a routine for reviewing progress.
Two vocabularies to keep straight
Clear and colleagues describe broad tactical positions, cooperative or confrontational and insider or outsider.
Gen and Wright describe six strategies, from public lobbying and institutional partnership to popular power, and a set of activities that carry them out.
Knowing which level a term belongs to is what lets you analyse a campaign rather than list what it did.
Thinking on one page
The subject also teaches the discipline of the one-page document, whether an internal campaign plan or an external policy ask, and supplies a campaign plan template that suits both the group presentation and the personal project.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Seven elements of an advocacy campaign
- 02
SMART objectives and specific targets
- 03
Tactical positions after Clear and colleagues
- 04
The six strategies of Gen and Wright
- 05
Tactics and why they come last
- 06
One-page plans and policy asks
Worked example · free
Find the weak elements in a campaign brief about park lighting
- 1Objective: “do something” is not specific; a fix is new lighting along named paths in two parks before winter, which is measurable and time-bound.
- 1Target: “the government” is too vague; the brief should name the person who controls park lighting, most likely a council officer or the mayor.
- 1Strategy: the brief jumps straight to a tactic; it needs a theory of change first, such as a cooperative approach through councillors backed by visible community support.
- 1Reflection: there is no way to tell whether the posts are working; a fix is a review date and a measure such as councillor commitments secured.
Key terms
- Theory of Change
- The reasoning that links a campaign’s actions to the outcome it seeks, explaining why those actions should move the decision-maker.
- Tactical Position
- A group’s broad stance towards decision-makers, described along the cooperative to confrontational and insider to outsider dimensions.
- Inside-Outside Strategy
- A strategy that combines a champion working within the policy process with public pressure built through coalitions, media and information.
- Policy Ask
- A short external document setting out the specific change a campaign wants and why the decision-maker should make it.
Planning Campaign Strategy and Tactics FAQ
What are the elements of an advocacy campaign?
The subject lists seven: an objective, a target, a strategy, a message, resources, tactics and reflection. They depend on one another, so a vague objective or an unnamed decision-maker weakens everything below it. The campaign plan template provided on Canvas puts all of them on a single page.
What is the difference between a strategy and a tactic in advocacy?
A strategy is the overall logic of how change will happen, such as building outside pressure while working with an inside champion. A tactic is a concrete activity, such as a petition, a meeting or a media story. Tactics should be chosen to serve a strategy, not the other way round.
What does SMART mean for an advocacy objective?
In this subject SMART stands for simple, measurable, action-oriented, realistic and time-bound. Testing an objective this way pushes a campaign from a general wish, such as better services, towards a result whose achievement can actually be checked.
Why does funding affect how a nonprofit advocates?
Clear and colleagues found that organisations relying on government money tend to choose cautious, diplomatic tactics so they do not put that funding at risk, while organisations with other income can afford to be more confrontational. Relationships with decision-makers also shape the choice.
Can a campaign use more than one strategy?
Yes, and many do. Gen and Wright note that advocates often combine strategies, for example pairing work with an inside champion with indirect pressure from public opinion. When you analyse a campaign, say which strategies it combines and how its tactics serve each one.
Assessment move
Download the campaign plan template and complete it this week for an issue you might use in the personal project, keeping each element to two or three lines. Then label every tactic you listed with the strategy it serves and the tactical position it reflects, and delete any tactic you cannot justify. Practise the one-page discipline by drafting a policy ask for the same campaign.
Bring both pages to your group so you can compare how other campaigns are organised before the presentation. If an element feels thin, test it with Sia by explaining aloud how that element leads to the next.
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