MODULE 2

Main objective: Empower the youth for robust civic engagement through advocacies/campaigns.

CAMPAIGN ELEMENTS AND TOOLS

Campaigning ▪ Origins and evolution of campaign (and what remains true/relevant):
✓ The word “campaign” has French, Italian, and Latin origins for taking
over fields that also mean battlefield and conducting military operations.
However, a campaign in its present use deals more with
politics/diplomacy which is the opposite of war.
✓ And for the training, having a campaign is taking over the field with love
for the thing you are fighting for, the “why” behind the campaign. The
discussion will focus on how to fight through campaigning.
▪ Campaigning is the art of changing what is possible. We campaign because
there is something wrong, or that we find it unacceptable and that there is
a better possible reality for society/community.
▪ On Differentiating Campaign and Advocacy:
✓ A campaign has the ff:
- Naninindigan at tumataya (Commits and with personal stakes
involved).
- Wanting to do something is not the same as committing to doing
something.
- Conscious/deliberate decision to change the situation.
✓ Whereas, advocacy is speaking on behalf or in support of a cause and
does not necessarily involve acting on it (more than just commenting on
it).
▪ The main purpose of a campaign is to shift power that is commonly driven
by organized money, with the power of organized people.
✓ One example is the campaign on nuclear over renewable energy (RE)
which lends support to the call to stop using coal. A successful
campaign can shift conviction as well as resources.
Defining the ▪ What is the difference between the problem and issue?
Problem and ✓ There could be many issues under one problem
Cutting the Issue ▪ Why do we have to identify the problem and cut the issue?
✓ In campaigning, it is important to see clearly the challenge that must be
overcome because campaigning is not easy.
✓ We must cut the issue. Don’t start with climate change as the problem.
Identify at least one issue that could become a partial solution. This will
be the issue that you will build your strategy around. Make this issue as
real as possible, one that you will tackle in your work as an
activist/advocate.
✓ The issue will be the focus of the campaign within a set period of time
such as one year so there is a prioritization.
 ▪ Prioritizing the issue through ISSW criteria:
✓ Immediate (something that is an immediate concern to people, deeply
and widely felt)
✓ Specific (concrete, not abstract)
✓ Strategic (will make an impact on the larger goal if achieved)
✓ Winnable (something accessible, achievable, realistic)
✓ One way to also identify the strategic issue is that one can often derive
the solution by flipping the issue and starting the application of the
criteria from there if they apply.

Objective Setting ▪ Identify the Target: The campaign target is the person - usually a decision
maker - who can give you what you want. In other words, the person who
has the power to make the partial solution a reality.
▪ Make your objectives SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic,
Time-bounded)
▪ Look at your cutting the issues map. Turn the partial solution into a SMART
Objective by:
✓ Identifying the change needed, the person/people who can deliver that
change, and the time frame the change needs to happen within.
✓ Write your SMART Objective using this format:
SWOT Analysis ▪ SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
▪ Strengths and Weaknesses are current or present internal conditions
within our control.
▪ Opportunities and Threats, on the other hand, are external conditions such
as political, economic, etc.

▪ What (external) opportunities and threats should we consider in

campaigning?
▪ What (internal) capacities and gaps should we consider in campaigning?
Stakeholder ▪ Campaigning is about convincing people of different interests. The SH
Mapping and Mapping is preparation for identifying the stakeholders (SH) who can be
Power considered as potential allies as well as opponents and those who are
Analysis undecided, and are yet to be convinced through the campaign.
▪ Categorizing your stakeholders as allies, opponents, or undecided by
asking questions like who is enemy (e.g. dirty energy companies), who
could be the allies such as the civil society groups both internal and
external. Also, it helps to look at who among the stakeholders are the least
to be convinced and most likely to take part in the campaign
▪ Avoid broad terms such as sectors, community, etc. with the false
assumption that they are homogenous. Try to be as specific as possible by
using actual names.
 ▪ Questions:
✓ Who has a stake in the issue or campaign? Be as specific as possible.
✓ What is their standpoint on our issue?
✓ How much power do they have on the issue?
▪ Do not assume when trying to find the answers. Exhaust all means and
efforts to gather all the information needed for a solid campaign plan.
▪ The objective is not limited to convincing the undecided but to prevent
further actions from the opposition.
Motivational ▪ Asking about interests is asking what people are curious/interested in and
Analysis what they are happy and contented of doing.
▪ Cutting the issue is not just finding the issue that connects to the bigger
problem and can be flipped to find the solution. It’s finding the solution to
the issue that contributes to the main problem.
✓ E.g. corruption as a community interest to safeguard their public money
from misuse
▪ Framing the issue based on what interests people to change people’s
mindsets through campaigning is important
▪ In cases where the people concerned have a different understanding, it
might be better to switch the approach and listen to what interests them
than to keep on pushing the message.
✓ To someone who may not be interested in climate, it might be more
effective to mention about the water where they get their food and
livelihood, the air they breathe, for them to want to help with the
campaign.
✓ It is not necessary for them to understand the big message right away.
It’s not about what they think but what would get them interested.
▪ Motivational Analysis is important to both your campaign plan and
communications plan
✓ What is their say on the issue?

On the persona:
▪ Basic information (Name, Age, Address, Occupation)
▪ Their network/connections
▪ Sphere of influence/constituency
▪ Their goals, possible motivations
 ▪ Core values - priorities, beliefs, driving force behind their stance and
choices
✓ Can also be what their source of power is/are
▪ What do they say about the issue (based on their core values and
identity)?
Strategy and ▪ On the key difference between tactic and strategy based on two definitions:
Tactics ✓ According to Lee Staples (1984) from Roots to Power: A Manual for
Grassroots Organizing, “If a strategy is a like a stairway that takes us
from our present position to where we want to go, tactics are like the
individual steps.
✓ Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without
strategy are the noise before defeat,” according to Sun Tzu.
✓ Planning without action is futile. Action without planning is fatal.’ - New
Tactics
▪ Questions:
✓ What is your agreed campaign strategy to achieve your objective/s?
✓ How will you achieve your objectives with your strategy? List and detail
the tactics required to achieve each campaign objective.
Milestones ▪ For the Critical Path Analysis:
and Critical ✓ Write your SMART objective.
Path ✓ Generate a list of activities that can be done to achieve the campaign
objective.
✓ Put the activities in a logical order. (Tip: Look at the inputs and outputs,
timeline, etc.)
✓ For each activity or set of activities. Use the ff. guide questions:
❖ Why are you doing that activity?
❖ What is the change you want to see happen as a result of doing that
activity?
❖ The changes are the MILESTONES. Milestones are accomplished
strategies already
▪ If more than one activity is needed to achieve a particular milestone, group
those activities together.
▪ Decide on what milestones are most critical for your plan (critical path).
✓ Must be in logical order.
✓ Check for the gaps between milestones. Add milestones in between.
▪ Guide Questions
✓ What are the activities needed to achieve the objectives? Are the listed
activities in their correct order?
✓ (Milestones) What is the change you want to see happen as a result of
doing such activities? What must be grouped to achieve the same thing?
✓ (Critical Path) Can we identify the most critical milestones leading to the
objective?
✓ Is the flow logical or gaps too large requiring milestone/s in between?

Prepared by:

IVAN DRAHCIR I. IBON

Chapter Head, Millennials Philippines Occidental Mindoro Chapter