February 26 blog
Recently I was able to catch up with a former colleague of mine with whom I worked a lot in the past in Brussels, and he had recently secured a role running an NGO back in his home in Eastern Europe.
His new team is keen do a lot of work including delivery on projects, but he was also very keen to see them doing more to campaign and influence, and encourage others to do likewise.
We had a fascinating conversation, and I was intrigued to hear about the challenges that he was facing in his aspiration to get his NGO to do more to seek influence in the outside world and to build capacity in confidence amongst others.
Firstly, we talked about just the sheer chaos that we seem to be facing in the external world. In the time that I’ve been campaigning we have certainly faced many challenges, but the multiplicity of challenges and change that we are now facing, including in some part challenges on principles that many of us thought was sacrosanct, creates an incredibly uncertain context.
Part of the answer possibly here is not seeking always to understand it all and then get frustrated, but rather to seek to control how we respond and find positive things that we can do in response to new challenges. Furthermore, it is so important when setting out to do any campaigning that you make a realistic assessment of your external environment; this has always been true, but is now never been more true. And if you don’t have that realistic assessment, you do run the risk of developing a fantasy campaign strategy.
We also talked about how important it is to understand, particularly in working with people who are new to campaigning, that change almost never happens in a linear manner. You can develop a really good plan, and then learn new things or meet unexpected obstacles, and you have continually to reflect on your learning and adapt your plan. In campaigning, you need to be ready for the ups and downs and be as ready as you can be for unexpected events not in your plan!
This is sometimes a challenge for people who have come through a background of robust project management, and as they start out with a campaign plan, they have a completely unrealistic expectation that their Gantt chart, or any other similar tool, will be their roadmap that they can stick to over the months ahead. Whilst project management skills are undoubtedly helpful in campaigning, they do need to be fused with a flexibility and a willingness to reflect on learning and adapt the plan accordingly
Another essential element that we discussed was the importance of messengers. I remember years ago doing campaigning, and a lot of our focus was on the importance of having a clear message. And whilst that is undoubtedly still true, when you’re trying to show politicians that there is support across society being able to mobilise a multiplicity of diverse messengers supporting your message, in their own authentic expression, is absolutely invaluable.
And finally, we discussed the pitfalls of having to identify key performance indicators for funders several years in advance. This can be a real challenge and can leave you doing things in the future that in the reality of present day, you do not need to do! But that is a big issue in itself, and if you’re interested, I could explore that in a later blog.
As ever, if any of these thoughts strike a chord with you or indeed don’t, do please get in touch as it would be great to hear from you.
To find out more about Jonathan’s work, do visit his website: https://jonathanelliscampaigns.com