RUNNING CAMPAIGNS
4. Planning Campaigns and Actions
Turning Strategy into Visible Results
Campaigns are how communities make themselves seen and heard.
For Heritage Australians, a campaign is more than a public activity. It is an organised effort to strengthen our representation, advance our interests, and contribute positively to the wider community.
This topic shows how to plan actions that achieve real results while building credibility and connection.
The Community Organising Handbook provides the tools to guide this process, including the Campaign Planning Worksheet, Action Planning Template, Power Map, and Timeline Tool.
Together, these resources help your Association move confidently from planning to visible public impact.
1. Building a Campaign Strategy
A campaign strategy connects purpose to action. It identifies who needs to be influenced, what message will motivate support, and how your Association’s people and resources will achieve the goal.
The Community Organising Handbook includes a Power Map to identify decision makers, allies, and influencers, and a Campaign Planning Worksheet to record actions, responsibilities, and milestones.
Practice:
- Begin with the goal identified in your previous module. Use the Power Map to identify who can make the change and what relationships can help reach them.
- Discuss how your Association’s strengths, such as its members, credibility, and networks, can be applied strategically.
- Record each planned action in the Campaign Planning Worksheet, showing how it contributes to the overall goal.
Trainer’s Reflection:
When we create a power map together, the path forward becomes clear.
We can see where decisions are made and where our influence already exists.
This turns planning from speculation into strategy and gives everyone a sense of direction.
2. Designing Effective Actions
Actions give form to your message and energy to your campaign. They show that your Association represents real people who care about their community and can act with purpose and discipline.
The Community Organising Handbook includes an Action Planning Template that guides each step from preparation to evaluation, ensuring actions are safe, coordinated, and effective.
Practice:
- Choose actions that directly advance your campaign goal, not just those that attract attention.
- Use the Action Planning Template to plan logistics, assign roles, and ensure communication is clear.
- Test your plan with a small team before launching it publicly.
- Combine smaller engagement actions with larger events to maintain steady visibility.
Trainer’s Reflection:
A good action tells a story that people remember.
When we design events carefully and stay focused on purpose, even a small activity can shift local opinion and build respect.
Well-planned actions earn credibility, which is the foundation of influence.
3. Choosing the Right Tactics
Tactics are the tools that bring your campaign strategy to life. They must be lawful, creative, and consistent with the values of Heritage Australians.
The Community Organising Handbook provides examples of practical and proven tactics such as public meetings, council submissions, community partnerships, or symbolic events that demonstrate local pride and purpose.
Practice:
- Review the list of tactics in the Handbook and select those that reflect your community’s tone and values.
- Check that each tactic supports the milestones in your Campaign Planning Worksheet.
- Assign clear responsibilities so that every action has ownership and accountability.
Trainer’s Reflection:
The best tactics are those that feel authentic to our community.
When actions reflect who we are, people are proud to take part and our credibility grows naturally.
Strategy may begin the campaign, but integrity sustains it.
4. Building Momentum and Escalation
Effective campaigns rarely succeed with a single action. Progress comes from a sequence of steps that increase visibility and influence over time.
Each stage should apply slightly more pressure, expand participation, and demonstrate growing community support for change.
The Community Organising Handbook explains how escalation keeps campaigns dynamic and ensures that decision makers recognise the strength and persistence of organised effort.
Practice:
- Plan your actions in a logical sequence that builds from low-risk to higher-impact activities.
- Use early actions to gather support, raise awareness, and establish credibility.
- Introduce more visible actions as participation and confidence grow, increasing the sense of momentum and urgency.
- Track responses from the target audience or decision maker and adjust the next action to maintain steady pressure.
Trainer’s Reflection:
When we plan our actions to build over time, participation grows naturally.
People gain confidence with each success, and decision makers start to notice.
Escalation is not about conflict. It is about showing persistence, organisation, and the strength of shared purpose.
5. Managing Time and Momentum
A strong campaign maintains steady momentum. Clear scheduling and communication prevent fatigue and keep participation high.
The Community Organising Handbook includes a Timeline Tool that helps your Association organise campaign phases in a realistic and motivating sequence, covering preparation, action, and reflection.
Practice:
- Plot each major activity on the Timeline Tool, noting start and completion dates.
- Use the Campaign Planning Worksheet to check progress regularly and make adjustments as needed.
- Share short updates at meetings to celebrate progress and maintain morale.
- Recognise contributors publicly to keep motivation high.
Trainer’s Reflection:
When we plan our campaign on one clear timeline, people can see the journey ahead.
It builds trust, prevents last-minute stress, and keeps the team moving together.
Progress becomes visible, and with visibility comes belief.
6. Coordinating Teams and Roles
Campaigns succeed when responsibility is shared. Defined roles make participation easier and prevent confusion.
The Community Organising Handbook provides templates for role descriptions, volunteer coordination, and communication planning.
Practice:
- Assign a campaign coordinator to oversee progress and keep communication flowing.
- Use the Team Role Description Template from the Handbook to define who manages outreach, logistics, and communications.
- Match responsibilities to members’ strengths and availability.
- Rotate some roles to help develop leadership capacity within the team.
Trainer’s Reflection:
Clear roles create confidence.
When everyone knows what to do and when to do it, the campaign runs smoothly.
Shared responsibility builds shared pride, and that energy carries into the next project.
7. Reviewing and Learning
Every campaign offers lessons. Reviewing them strengthens your Association’s capacity for future challenges.
The Community Organising Handbook includes an Action Review Template that helps groups record achievements, identify lessons, and celebrate progress.
Practice:
- After each major action, hold a short review using the template.
- Ask: What went well? What obstacles arose? What can we improve next time?
- Keep these notes with your campaign materials to guide future projects.
Trainer’s Reflection:
Each campaign builds the one that follows.
When we review openly, people feel valued for what they contributed.
Reflection turns activity into experience, and experience into wisdom.
Summary
Planning campaigns and actions transforms intention into leadership.
By applying the Campaign Planning Worksheet, Action Planning Template, Power Map, and Timeline Tool from the Community Organising Handbook, your Association can design campaigns that build steadily, apply the right amount of pressure, and achieve visible, lasting results for the Heritage Australian community and the wider public.
Strategic, well-planned escalation is what turns representation into influence and community pride into progress.
This topic prepares you for the next stage: 5. Communication and Public Engagement, where you will learn how to share your message clearly, engage constructively with media and councils, and represent your Association with confidence and integrity.
[BACK TO LEARNING TOPICS]
[NEXT: 5. Communicating During a Campaign]
Next Steps
Once your group is active and organised, use the Heritage Australians Constitution Toolkit to formalise your Association, elect a committee, and connect into the wider movement.