Campaign Communications Course

Introduction

This FREE course is designed to help grassroot groups to understand the basics of public communications for building a convincing, winning campaign. It can support groups looking for skills on crafting targeted messaging and framing to move people towards social change.

You might want to campaign to fight your opponents, convince new audiences, or mobilize audiences that already support your cause. Each of these objectives requires specific communication strategies.

The course includes defining public campaigning, communications basics, campaign objectives (neutralizing, informing, persuading and mobilizing), reaching your target group and storytelling.

Quick link to access the free course HERE

Where this resource comes from

This resource was developed by SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identities) campaigns, a global resource hub for creative campaigners, particularly those advocating for the rights of LGBTQIAS+ identities. The support structure aims to uplift, train and skill up grassroots activists around the world who identify as Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender people, and all who don’t fit into mainstream representations of what “makes” a man or a woman, including Queers, Intersex people, and people labelled by their own cultural codes (Indian “Hijras”, Thai “Katoeys”, etc.). Also included are “straight” people who feel oppressed by rigid gender representations.

The collective involves hundreds of activists worldwide.

This course is a compilation of many experiences from around the globe. It also taps into theoretical knowledge from the field of social psychology. The content was compiled by Joel Bedos, the main facilitator of the SOGI campaign’s project.

Purpose, learning objectives and relevance

This resource is intended for either individual activists or grassroots activist groups that want to use advocacy communications strategies effectively to advance their cause.

The resource intends to spark the following outcomes:

1. Identify the right approach for different types of targets
2. Create a deep understanding of your target audiences
3. Build messages that change hearts and minds
4. Mobilize your supporters
5. Reach your audiences on social media
6. Harness the power of storytelling

Format and delivery

This resource is currently presented in interactive course format on the SOGI campaigns website. It includes exercises, reflection prompts, videos, visuals and a note-taking tool.

Suggestions for reviewing and processing knowledge:

• Complete the course and take what’s relevant back to a group or assign for group members to complete individually
• Draw direction from the course and hold a group brainstorming discussion. For example, use some of the course activities or content to guide discussion prompts such as:
  • For the campaign message they want to communicate, what are some typical expressions of resistance they might face related to… denial? Apathy? Distraction? Minimizing? Blaming others? Denying guilt?
  • What tone do they want to achieve with your messaging?
  • What is our target audience’s current position? What could be the first, 2nd, and final ‘rooms’ they lead the audience through?
  • Who do they want to influence? What is their initial position? What could make them change, and where do they want them to be?
  • Why have our current members joined or followed us? Where were they before they joined?
  • Who is the hero of our ‘story’? What is the climax of the problem, and how does this story end? etc.

Estimated time to complete: Approximately 5 hours to review. Deep dive sections may add 3-4 more hours. Group discussion time may vary.

*Note that the course can be started and paused and then picked up where it’s left off… it does not need to be completed all at once!

Accompanying activities-interactions

• Individual or group review + discussion of how to apply course content to the context of the group learning from this
• Trying to model the favourite best practices in the course and running an action plan workshop for the group based on them. Goal is to come up with a description of the target audience, craft appropriate messages, plan to mobilize and a story to implement some of the ideas in the guide
• ‘Learning circle’ with other grassroots groups that have strong messaging in the region where the learning group is situated. Checking for local resonance and hearing what new ideas and tactics are shared in from participating groups
• Checking back in after a couple months’ worth of testing the ideas in real life and doing a rundown of what worked well and what didn’t as a group

Follow-up

• Facilitated check-in in after a couple months’ of testing the ideas in real life; discuss what worked well and what didn’t as a group
• Experienced organizing coaches can examine feedback and ‘diagnose’ problems and provide suggested fixes based on group experiences

Credits

The SOGI campaigns team 

Access the Course

One-time registration is required to access the course. Registration is quick, easy and FREE! All that’s needed is your email, a username and password. Once you are registered, you can enroll for all other SOGI courses with a simple click!

Register and take the course for FREE HERE