Author Archives: Jonathan Dearth

1. Campaigning using New Media

   11th August 2009 11:42 am Leave a Comment

   At the last few campaign training events that I have attended, there seems to be a constant theme emerging – we must make more use of new media. And there are campaigners scratching their heads as they muse over how they might use these new techniques to advance their campaigning.

   I must confess that my heart just sinks when I hear such talk. For me campaigning is all about people inspiring people to get involved and take action. Successful campaigning is all about the human touch, and we will never be able to motivate campaigners by just relying on new media.

   Or at least that is what I used to think, but I hope that I am big enough to realise when I am wrong, and there has been one web site that has made me re-think my traditionalist outlook.

   I would urge you to visit this website:  http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/

   This campaign is being led by Searchlight to counter racism and fascism with support as I understand from ‘Blue State Digital’, which was involved with Obama’s successful campaign last year.

   I registered a few months ago and I have been bowled over by their approach to new media campaigning. Their upbeat emails present a clever mix of campaigning asks and funding appeals, and they are excellent at giving you feedback on your actions using each action to build momentum for the next action.

   So if you share my traditionalist approach to campaigning, just check out this website and you will see an energising 21st century approach to campaigning. And I for one now need to re-think my view on new media with its genuine potential to harness campaigning energy.

2. Support for campaigners – better than ever

   23rd May 2009 11:43 am Leave a Comment

   I well remember how it was when I got my first job as a campaigner for a charity.

   I was hugely excited at the prospect of having a campaigning job, but we were more or less thrown into the deep end and expected to pick it up as we went along. It was just the way it was! My key way of learning was just to try things, dust myself down when they failed, learn from the experience and try again.

   With this memory behind me, I spent a weekend recently helping to run a residential weekend for the winners of the Sheila McKechnie Foundation campaign awards. I found it inspiring to be in the company of these award winners.

   In the past I have written about campaigning being all about having a burning passion to achieve change – and these award winners had this passion in abundance. What really struck me about the weekend was that all the participants wanted to be there and they were hungry to learn anything that might help them to drive their campaign forward. I was envious that they had a peer group of fellow campaigners and they had access to support to help them to develop their campaigning – I would have loved to have had such an opportunity!

   If you are a campaigner and you don’t know about this Foundation, (I know that I am biased) but they are well worth a look – http://www.sheilamckechnie.org.uk/

   They are particularly focussed on the next generation of campaigners and provide support through training, web resources and their campaign awards. The ’09 awards should be launched soon so watch out for that.

   It does feel quite an exciting time to be a campaigner with this level of support available. When I started out, not that I’m bitter of course, there was nothing like the Foundation or indeed the NCVO’s campaigning effectiveness programme – see http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/campaigningeffectiveness/ – again well worth a look.

   So if you are a campaigner with that burning desire to achieve change, do make sure that you make maximum use of these excellent resources and support.

3. ActionAid’s campaigning postcard

   4th January 2009 11:43 am Leave a Comment

   I have not always been the biggest fan of campaign postcards. There are some campaigning organisations for which the campaign postcard seems to be the only possible activity – with every newsletter or magazine there is another postcard waiting to be signed and sent off.

   But just before Christmas I received a campaign action from Action Aid UK. At first it seemed as though it was just another postcard. But after a cursory glance it was more and it caught my attention.

   It was very cleverly designed and on the front cover there was a space for a 5 pence piece and on this space there was an adhesive substance that would allow you to stick such a coin. The message was aimed at Tesco and highlighted the fact that a 5 pence increase on the price paid for a kilo of apples by Tesco could allow a fruit picker in South Africa to feed their family properly.

   Action Aid’s supporters were being asked to put their hands in their pocket, put 5 pence on the card and send it to Tesco’s chief executive – or even better to hand it into their local Tesco store.

   Now I know that this stunt is not original; I can remember debt campaigners taking similar action years ago. But this action request really resonated with me, and there and then I found a 5 pence piece, signed the card and sent it off.

   I liked it because Action Aid presented a clear problem – the poor wages of fruit pickers. They then showed the solution – a 5 pence increase on the price paid for a kilo of apples. And they encouraged you to take action and to show your commitment by sending Tesco a 5 pence coin. Excellent!

   I will follow this campaign with interest to see what result Action Aid gain from this card, and it shows me that there is still a place for a well thought-out postcard campaign action.

4. Paul Newman – did he have The Right Ethos?

   13th October 2008 3:22 pm Leave a Comment

   This time last year I wrote following the death of Anita Roddick – about whether she had The Right Ethos – which she clearly did have.

   Sadly, I’m writing today about Paul Newman who died last month – another individual who used their wealth and celebrity to try and make positive change in the world.

   I met Paul Newman, in September 2004 (corrected from e-newsletter, which said 2005). It was a genuinely bizarre but wonderful encounter.

   It was on Highbury Fields in Islington. I was the Deputy Mayor of the council at the time. And he was promoting his Newman’s Own food range – all the profits of which go to support children’s charities.

   To keep the children’s theme, Paul Newman was there performing as a clown at a special event as part of Zippo’s circus. There I told you it was bizarre, he was dressed as a clown and me and my wife, Cath, as deputy mayor and mayoress in our chains of office.

   After the performance, we were introduced to him. We expected a quick handshake and to be moved on – but instead we spent a cherished 4 minutes talking to him, mainly about Blair and politics. Just to confirm that those blue eyes were incredible close up.

   It was a cherished moment because I knew the power of the man. Obviously I loved his films – particularly Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid and The Sting.

   I also admired his commitment to philanthropy including the establishment of summer camps for children who suffered from life-threatening illnesses.

   But what was great about Paul Newman – why he had The Right Ethos – was his commitment to human rights. Supporting unpopular causes which could have at least limited or even stopped his career.

   Newman was also a vocal supporter of gay rights and, in particular, same-sex marriage.

   He once said

   “I have never been able to understand attacks upon the gay community. There are so many qualities that make up a human being… by the time I get through with all the things that I really admire about people, what they do with their private parts is probably so low on the list that it is irrelevant. “

   In 1963, Newman and his wife, Joanne Woodward, demonstrated in Alabama with James Garner and Marlon Brando, promoting civil rights, and in 1968 they opposed the war in Vietnam.

   He championed the cause of nuclear non-proliferation and in 1978 President Jimmy Carter appointed Newman as a US delegate to the UN Conference on Nuclear Disarmament.

   It is not surprising then and clear confirmation of Newman having The Right Ethos that he was 19th on the enemy list of Richard Nixon.

5. Why it’s important to have The Right Ethos

   1st October 2008 3:22 pm Leave a Comment

   I often wonder whether people fully understand what our organisation means by the term “The Right Ethos”. And why our recruitment consultancy, which specialises with organisations that campaign, felt it important enough to use the term as its name.

   Recently we successfully placed a candidate who I felt epitomised the sort of candidates that we want to attract to The Right Ethos. She had the qualities that our client needed for them to succeed.

   She had about four years experience as a fundraiser for a hospital. I think she was grateful for the job but not comfortable fundraising for a charity which she wasn’t particularly passionate about.

   She had gained very transferable skills and experience useful for most charities and campaigns. She came to The Right Ethos determined to work for a campaign that she cared about. I interviewed her and was convinced by her enthusiasm to work for a cause that campaigned to improve our society or our world.

   We fortunately had a role that was perfect for her – however, the salary was about 18% less than she was currently earning. But she didn’t need any persuading that it was a good move for her. She was determined to work for this campaign – even though financially she would be out of pocket.

   The best part of the job of a recruitment consultant is when a candidate, who you’ve got to know and understand, which is necessary if you are going to match them with the right role and organisation, gets the job they really want. And this is what exactly happened – she was delighted to hear the news. Happily resigned to taking a drop in salary, as for her this was taking her in the right direction for her career and her life.

   Now she has The Right Ethos. But it isn’t just about commitment. I think our successful candidates are a different breed to people who want to work for a conventional charity. For the candidates that we select, it’s also about wanting to be involved in political change. Not simply about offering charity, but about working for justice as they can see a wrong that needs to be fundamentally righted.

   When I first drafted this article for ngomedia last December, the newspapers were dominated with the news of the unfortunate British teacher in Sudan, who inadvertently caused offence with the name of a toy. This issue achieved many times the coverage and causing so much more outrage and anguish in the UK media than the death of over 400,000 people in the conflict in Sudan in recent years.

   This for me is an example of the incorrect balance of priorities we still have in the UK.

   I don’t believe our society is wholly wrong – but something is clearly a bit skewed, if we give more attention to the imprisonment of one British person against the deaths of so many Sudanese people.

   Another example of this being that of the extreme amounts of media focus on the fate of one child, Madeline McCann whilst other children in the UK and across the world are mistreated or killed.
   That’s why we firmly believe that best placed to correcting this and the several other problem situations or injustices are the many campaigning organisations that The Right Ethos works with – be it on social justice, human rights, animal rights, democracy, housing, the environment or other just causes. And their individual staff members working for justice and long term change. To do so their starting point is having the right ethos.

6. Hope for campaigners

   18th September 2008 11:44 am Leave a Comment

   As a campaigner, I always take a special interest when people are recruited to the big campaigning leadership roles in our sector.

   Therefore I was interested to see Friends of the Earth (FoE) advertise for a new Director recently – who would they appoint to this key role?

   You probably know that they appointed Andy Atkins, who had been previously Policy and Campaigns Director at Tearfund.  Now I haven’t had much contact with FoE and I have never met Andy; yet what really struck me about this appointment was the statement that FoE put out to announce Andy’s appointment. This is a big job and a complex leadership role, so it was refreshing to read in the statement the high value placed on Andy’s campaigning track record.

   FoE cited Andy’s role in initiating Tearfund’s work on climate change and his role as a key organiser and spokesperson for Make Poverty History. They highlighted his ‘strong track record of campaigning on environmental and social justice issues.’

   In our sector we rightly place much store on the importance of good management in our leaders, but we are also a campaigning sector. This is one element that makes our sector unique in this country. We need our leaders to be good managers but also to have campaigning spark. So it was so good to see FoE highlight Andy’s campaigning credentials.

   This appointment should give hope to all campaigners out there – you really can progress as a campaigner in our sector!

7. The danger of co-option

   12th May 2008 11:44 am Leave a Comment

   I had just started my presentation on coping when you make a breakthrough on a campaign, when I was asked a killer question from the back of the room. This session was part of INTRAC’s advocacy training course. As ever the course was attended by an impressive array of campaigners from NGOs across the globe. And the killer question? “Wasn’t I being co-opted by government?”

   It was a fair point. I had been talking about the time that I had been campaigning against empty homes in England. We had been pushing for new powers for local authorities to tackle the problem of empty homes and we had managed to persuade the Government to amend their own housing Bill.

   Once these powers had become law, there then started the long process of preparing for the implementation of these new powers. As a result my colleagues and I began to attend a series of meetings in Whitehall.

   I remember walking to one such meeting and one of my colleagues asking me, “do you think that we are having any impact here?” I immediately launched into a defence of our action and cited all of the meetings that we had attended. “Yes, but have we made any impact?” was my colleague’s direct reply.

   And he was right. We had partly been seduced by the fact that we had been invited to meetings to which we had never had access before. This was an achievement – certainly for an NGO with less than 10 members of staff. But this was not an end in itself and we had confused access for influence

   When you make a breakthrough on a campaign, you need to decide whether you are going to get involved in the implementation of the issue or whether you do not want to be involved and then walk away. Either response has its merits – but you do need to decide. If you decide to engage with the government, or whoever your target is, you do need to keep that campaigning zeal.

   I sometimes think that co-option is a deliberate policy of this government – and if it is deliberate, then it is a shrewd policy. Once you are on the inside you can think that you have achieved a result. The truth is that you have only just started to achieve a result. Just being at the table is not enough. You need to use this access to get the best result for your campaign.

   So when you get an invitation to a meeting – ask yourself – are we being co-opted and neutralised or can I use this opportunity to drive the campaign onwards? This is a killer question for a campaigner, so make sure that you keep asking yourself this question.

8. Surprising allies

   6th April 2008 11:45 am Leave a Comment

   Recently I did a session on the certificate in campaigning course. It is great to be involved in this initiative and be in the same room as a whole group of people who want to change the world. I am always interested to hear about the key issues raised in the subsequent discussion.

   Last time the key issue was the difference between marketing and single-issue campaigns, and this time the main focus was around how you can use allies in a campaign.

   It is always good when you see a group of charities in one part of the voluntary sector coming together in a common cause; for example the children’s charities producing a joint letter on an issue of concern. Yet I am always left feeling that I rather would hope that they could agree on such issues.

   What I think can have more impact is when you get organisations coming together with a common purpose but where is not an obvious connection between them – the so-called ‘surprising allies’.

   I know when Oxfam was campaigning on asylum issues in the UK several years ago, we began to make dramatic strides forward when we worked with the Refugee Council and the Transport and General Workers’ Union. This impact was further multiplied when we were able to bring in others like the Body Shop and the British Medical Association. This was a diverse group of organisations that hadn’t all worked together before; yet they were now united by a common campaigning cause.

   So when you are planning your campaign, do look to gain support from your own sector – this is a helpful foundation for a good campaign. But then think about others whom you could bring in to support your campaign. Who are the surprising allies on your campaign?

9. Campaigning is just about stunts

   9th March 2008 11:45 am Leave a Comment

   I recently found myself talking to a chief executive of a leading UK charity, and I asked about her view of charities campaigning. Her response surprised me – she replied by saying, “oh, we won’t be doing much of that – campaigning is just about stunts.”

   Campaigning can certainly include stunts. I remember when Tony Blair was proposing to reform the House of Lords, and his preferred route seemed to be, at the time, an appointed second chamber. As a result of that decision, Charter 88 arranged a brilliant photo shoot on Palace Green with loads of people in robes all with masks of Tony Blair. Yes it was a stunt – but what a powerful way to challenge a policy decision.

   Yet campaigning is so much more than stunts. Whenever I have done campaign training within an organisation, I have always started by asking people how they define campaigning. When you pose this question you will always get a wide array of answers, and that is not a problem – campaigning is firmly an art and not a science. What I think is important is not that there is one universal answer to this question, but that the organisation has a common definition that everyone signs up to.

   For me campaigning is about having a burning desire to achieve a policy or practice change. Once you have identified the problem and the solution, a campaigner then assesses the political environment and decides which campaigning tool (or tools) to use to drive the campaign forward. These tools can include media work, lobbying, supporter action, work with allies and even stunts.

   The critical point is that the choice of tool is made in the context of both the political environment and the goal of the campaign.

   So campaigning stunts will always have their place – but let’s start with that burning desire to achieve change – and the rest should then follow!

10. Did Bagpuss have The Right Ethos?

    23rd January 2008 3:20 pm Leave a Comment

    Children’s television programme maker Oliver Postgate died aged 83 in December. He was behind the classic children’s TV programmes Bagpuss, The Clangers, Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine, Pogles and Pingwings.

    He made the bulk of the shows while living at Wave Crest in Whitstable – about half a mile from where I’m writing this article in the offices of The Right Ethos.

    Oliver Postgate had The Right Ethos. His family had a strong socialist history. His grandfather on his mother’s side was George Lansbury, Labour party leader from 1932 to 1935, one of his aunts Margaret Cole of the formidable Fabian partnership of GDH Cole and Margaret Cole.

    The young Oliver registered as a conscientious objector when he reached call-up age during the second world war, and spent some months in prison.

    Postgate subsequently worked for the Red Cross in occupied Germany. Back home, he went into partnership with Peter Firmin, forming the production company Smallfilms which produced the children’s TV classics.

    Postgate was later to be active in the campaign against nuclear weapons, addressing public meetings and writing pamphlets.

    But did Bagpuss have The Right Ethos? It’s inconclusive. Postgate, of a left-wing persuasion, described Bagpuss as a Miaow-ist