Guide to Becoming an Activist: Campaigning

Sections: Introduction Getting Started Information Stalls Making Displays Producing and Distributing Leaflets Starting a Group Public Speaking Lobbying Working With the Media Campaigning Fundraising Frequently Asked Questions and Comments

If there is a specific abuse that you want to target and you have all your facts together, you are ready to organise a campaign. A campaign is a long-term plan of action that is focused on one particular issue. You’ll need to set an ambitious but achievable goal, plan escalating levels of action and be prepared to stick with it until you win.

As part of a campaign, you might stage demonstrations, marches or rallies, or organise a letter-writing campaign and a sustained public-education effort that includes tabling, leafleting and public meetings. By using a well-thought-out strategy and an escalating level of activity, you can achieve anything from shutting down a pet store to stopping an abusive research project.

PLANNING A CAMPAIGN

A campaign requires a great deal of commitment, planning and organisation. While it’s possible to do this alone, the support of others is very desirable. In either case, it’s important to establish an identity as a group. Once you get going, others will join you, but you must expect to lead the way.

Your first step is to thoroughly research your opponents. Make a list of their strengths and weaknesses, and think carefully about the information that you gather. For example, exposing the problems of a research project that has been jeopardised by inadequate funding or inability to produce results could be just enough to tip the scales. Take the time to consider what’s going to make your campaign a success. The more planning time you give yourself, the better chance you have of winning your cause.

When doing research and setting your campaign’s goals, ask yourself the following questions:

• Where are your opponents most vulnerable?
  
• What arguments will they use to defend their position? How will you refute them? You should be prepared for counter charges once the campaign begins.
  
• What do you hope to achieve?
  
• What do you want your target to do?
  
• What are the alternatives to the way that things are currently being done? Familiarise yourself with human alternatives to the research that your target is doing, to the way animals are housed in the zoo, etc.
  
• What is the minimum that you’ll accept from your target?
  
• Are your goals realistic? If your case is too weak, it’s better to face that fact earlier rather than later.

Once you have a good target, it’s time to start developing your strategy. Design a timetable for your campaign and establish short-range goals that build to your long-range goal. For example, if your long-range goal is to close down a pet shop, begin by writing a letter about the subject to the editor of your local paper. Your next short-range goal might be to get another community group to support your cause.

Decide whose support you really need to win – and don’t just say ‘the public’. Which part of the public? Which groups or individuals in particular? Consider ways to reach them. Whose support can you count on from the beginning? How will you work with those people? Analyse the ways that you can win over or neutralise your opposition’s supporters.

CHOOSING YOUR STRATEGY

You may be able to accomplish your goals with low-level efforts, such as letter-writing campaigns or a series of leafleting and tabling activities – not all campaigns require demonstrations or rallies. But if you do decide to start out with a bang, you must be able to sustain it.

After you’ve done plenty of research and planning, try to communicate with your opponent. Write to the head of the company or organisation, politely state your grievance and ask for action. Give them time to respond, but set a deadline so that they don’t keep you waiting forever. It’s always possible that your opponent is unaware of the abuses, and there may be room to negotiate change. Regardless of your opponent’s situation, if you don’t go to the source of the problem first, your credibility will be impaired. Don’t forget to document all your communications. Keep copies of letters and a written record of telephone calls.

GAINING SUPPORT

Before you go public, try to gather expert opinions that will back up your viewpoint. Expert statements lend credibility to your campaign and make it easier to convince both the public and government officials. Approach scientists, veterinarians, doctors and anyone else who has the experience and credentials to be considered an expert on the issue in question. Give them the details of the situation, and ask them to give you a written statement that criticises your target and recommends alternatives to the current situation.

You can start a campaign on your own, but gaining the support of other groups, politicians and your community will greatly increase your chance of success. Contact civic associations and political clubs and arrange to meet personally with as many elected officials as possible to enlist their support. You can involve your community by setting up information stalls and handing out leaflets to publicise the issue at hand. Writing to news editors of local papers and related trade journals to ask them to do a story on the issue, writing letters to the editor, and running advertisements in newspapers are also great ways to educate the public and gain support.

CAMPAIGN LITERATURE

Basic campaign literature provides essential factual information for the pubic and the media. PETA has factsheets and leaflets on a variety of topics that you can use as a reference. It’s a good idea to create the following literature for your campaign:

• General campaign factsheet
  
• Factsheet providing background information and the history of the issue in question
  
• Factsheet listing humane solutions to the problem
  
• Page of expert opinions
  
• Short leaflet listing your demands and tells people what they can do to help

ESCALATING THE CAMPAIGN

Escalation means finding ways to exert more pressure on your opponent. Before you decide to escalate your campaign, give your opponent a second chance to negotiate with you. This may also be the time to issue an ultimatum.

If negotiations fail and you are forced to escalate to a new level, don’t abandon your original activities. Public education should be a constant effort, complementing all your other tactics. You could also try organising a boycott, holding a march or rally, picketing, holding a candlelight vigil outside an official’s home, or doing street theatre at the company headquarters.

STAGING A DEMONSTRATION, RALLY OR PICKET

Organising a successful demonstration requires planning. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What do you want your opponent or target to do? What are your demands?
  
• What do you want the public to do or learn?
  
• Will your event be silent or noisy, militant or peaceful?
  
• Will you need a permit from the police or council?
  
• What type of visual aids (posters, banners or costumes) will you use?
  
• What type of leaflets will you hand out? Your leaflets should clearly list your demands and indicate what the public can do to help.

You should generally allow a few weeks to secure any permits that you might need, but don’t hesitate to organise a demonstration on a day’s notice if you have to. You usually don’t need a permit to hold a picket line on a public sidewalk, as long as you don’t block traffic on the sidewalk or go into the street, but permits are usually needed weeks in advance for street marches. Plan accordingly.

You’ll have to make important choices about the timing of your event. If you can stage it during normal business hours, it will have a better chance of being covered by the media. On the other hand, if you hold it on a weekend, you will probably get more demonstrators, but news coverage will be less predictable. And although a demonstration is almost always worthwhile, media coverage is important because it brings your message to the public. Holidays are also good times to get media coverage; they’re generally light news days, and the media are often looking for public-interest stories. Choose your time carefully so that you don’t conflict with a major sporting or community event – unless you’re responding to an emergency situation that gives you little choice. No matter when you decide to hold your event, notify the media – radio, TV and newspapers – with a telephone call and news release at least one day before your demonstration, and be on site at least half an hour before starting time.

A demonstration must be visual – more than just a picket line and signs. Consider eye-catching costumes, cages or street theatre. Get your group together for a sign-making party to inspire the group and ensure that you’re all on the right track. Use simple, dramatic pictures and slogans to illustrate the issue, and stay away from offensive language that might turn people off. Use stencils (but fill in those gaps) so the lettering looks neat. Visit the site beforehand to get an idea of how to set things up. Once you’re at the site, keep your group together, and remind them (quietly) to hold their signs so that they can be clearly seen and photographed.

In addition to signs, costumes and street theatre, consider using chants. Chants make more people take notice and create good background noise for the media. Prepare short, easy-to-understand chants ahead of time, and when appropriate (not during silent vigils), keep the chants going throughout the demo.

Before the demonstration, decide on a spokesperson for your group, but make sure that each person is prepared to give a short statement to the media or to bystanders who have questions. You may be photographed, so dress neatly and ask your group to do the same (unless you decide to wear costumes). The spokesperson should not wear a costume – the audience wants to hear from an authority figure, not someone dressed like a clown. Remind activists not to smile or laugh if they’re protesting serious abuse. And never argue or make derogatory comments to bystanders.

Write down the names and telephone numbers of the people who attended the demonstration so that you can contact them for future actions, and if you were able to get media coverage, assign one person to tape each television station that was present at your event so that you can start a library of media coverage. Don’t forget to pick up the newspaper the next day to look for coverage in the print media.