Strategy is of central importance in community organizing
and advocacy campaigns. Strategy development is a systematic and comprehensive
examination of many factors that are relevant to winning solutions and benefits
for an organization’s constituents while building the strength of the organization.
The result of a successful strategy development process is an action plan that
connects the organization’s mission, values and capacity on the one hand
to specific objectives on the other hand.
There are several models that have been developed by experienced
community organizers for developing organizing and advocacy campaign strategies.
While they differ in some respects, they all take into account advocacy objectives,
constituents and allies, power considerations, resources, opponents, opportunities,
constraints, organization-building and tactics.
One model that is widely used and that is representative
of these approaches is the Midwest
Academy Strategy Chart. For more information about how to use this
tool, see Chapter 4, “Strategy” from Organizing for Social Change,
2nd Edition, 1996, by Kim Bobo, Jackie Kendall and Steve Max, published by Seven
Locks Press.
Another similar model for developing a campaign strategy
can be found on the Grassroots
Policy Project’s website. Part
D (scroll partway down the page) of the University of Kansas’
“Community Toolbox” also discusses strategy.
An initial strategy should be developed for a campaign
by a group of key organization leaders. This strategy will need to be reviewed
and updated regularly during a campaign to take into account the impact of the
campaign and other new developments or information. As you fill in the columns
in the strategy chart (or answer a set of questions using another strategy tool),
you answer the key questions about the campaign and your organization. Completing
the strategy chart or questionnaire is an iterative process, where new information
for one column/question often forces you to make adjustments for other columns/questions.
