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Publications > Youth voices > Aotearoa Youth Voices toolkit > Action guide 7
Action guide 7: Organising a campaign
If you’re passionate about an issue and want other people to know about this issue, then running a campaign could be for you.
But … organising a campaign sounds pretty full on. What’s involved?
Basically it’s planning a series of coordinated activities to achieve
change. You could change someone’s behaviour (eg trying to get people
to buy free range eggs instead of battery hen eggs), a Government
policy (by writing a submission to parliament) or practice (if adults
are developing a youth project, getting young people involved in the
decisions).
Your issue could be anything from youth rights at work to the
importance of recycling to stereotypes about young people. And your
campaign could be as small as organising speakers at a school assembly
to as large as organising an event and inviting the media along.
Decide on your issue or theme
You can’t stir things up if you don’t believe in it. Your campaign is
going to be around an issue or subject that you are passionate about.
Think about these questions:
- What’s important to you?
- What things do you think are unfair?
- What issues make you motivated do to something?
Once you have decided on your issue, you need to get the facts to
support your campaign. Have a look on the internet, go through your
local newspaper, watch the news, talk to your friends or check out
community organisations to see what information they can give you.
Define your issue
You have your issue, so what’s your campaign’s aim? ie
- what do you want to change?
- what do you want to achieve?
- what do you what other people to find out?
- what will be different in the community when your campaign is finished?
For example, let’s say you’re concerned about the amount of plastic bags and the damage they do to the wildlife.
Your campaign’s aim might be to “to lower the number of people using plastic shopping bags”.
Having an aim helps you:
- keep focus on what you want to achieve
- evaluate your campaign when it’s finished.
Now comes the brainstorming. Get comfy on the floor or around a table wherever you can think creative thoughts.
Write down all your ideas even if you think it’s silly. Brainstorm ideas on:
- how can you achieve your campaign’s aim?
- how do you want young people to learn about your issue?
For example, “to lower the number of people using plastic shopping bags” you could:
- design and make alternative bags
- have a fashion show where all clothing is made from plastic bags
- organise a letter writing campaign to your local stores who used plastic bags
- talk to your local supermarket and council about holding a plastic bag recycling day
- have a display where shoppers guess which products
can or can’t be recycled and have information or statistics on plastic
bag usage, photos of the damage they do to the environment and ways to
reduce it.
So let’s say you have decided to have a fashion show of plastic bag
clothing. With a campaign, you’re aiming to make an impact – it’s about
using a range of activities to get your message across. So you could
also:
- take some photos and get them included on your school’s website
- develop flyers that have information on how to reduce plastic bags
- have a petition for people to sign up and send to your local council
- write a media release about the event.
Keep it realistic!
Your brainstorming session might have led to heaps of ideas, but your
campaign needs to be do-able! Check out the questions below to make
sure:
- Which idea will best achieve your campaign aim?
- Will you be working on this by yourself or will you have others to share the work load?
- How much time can you spend on this campaign?
- Do you have the resources (will it cost anything,
do you need any equipment) to do it or can you find the resources
needed (can you apply for funding or use someone else’s equipment)?
- Are there any issues or risks in your idea? Is
there anyone that you need to ask permission from before you embark on
your plan? What can you do to lessen those issues or risks?
How to get going – make a plan
A great way of keeping track of how your campaign is going and making
sure you haven’t forgotten anything, is by having an action plan.
This is what an action plan can look like.
Name of campaign:
Aim:
Task
| By who?
| By when?
| What’s needed? |
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Task
Break your plan down into key tasks. Think of all the things that need to be done to get your campaign up and running, eg
- agree meetings to check out how the campaign is going
- design a poster (agree to the wording, get materials, decide how to display)
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design a flyer (agree to the wording of flyer, photocopying and how to hand them out)
- get permission to use the assembly hall or display posters or whatever
- contact music group/fashion show participants/speakers about availability
- book rehearsal time
- organise someone to take photos/write a media release
- organise sound system
- coordinate reminders.
By who?
Who is going to do this action? It’s a good idea to share the workload to make sure you don’t over work yourself!
By when?
When does this action need to be done by? Having a milestone or deadline date for each task will help you keep on track.
What’s needed?
What do you need to get that task done? This could be anything from
having a meeting room, to organising felt pens and paper for the
poster, or booking the stage and sound system for a music group.
The end of your campaign
Once your campaign has finished here are a few things to think about:
- decide when your campaign has finished – campaigns have a start middle and end
- keep a record of your activities, ie any media releases, photos and notes on how you organised it
- evaluate your campaign – what went well and what could you improve.
Just to sum everything up:
- choose an issue you are passionate about
- define your campaign’s aim so you know WHAT you want to achieve
- decide how you are going to achieve this
- make an action plan so you know what needs to be done, by who and when
- work out how you’re going to evaluate your campaign.
Copyright Ministry of Youth Development 2006
This action guide is one of a series of guides in the Ministry of Youth Development's
Aotearoa Youth Voices tool kit.
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