Nine Steps to Successful Campaigns

The guide warns against being so creative that people don't understand your name. Once you have a name, run it by a sample audience and see what they think. Also do an Internet search of the name to see if and how it's being used.

Stage 8: Operationalize your campaign
What are the day-to-day tactics you'll need to employ to run the campaign successfully? The guide notes that there are six main campaign tactics: intellectual knowledge, government relations, public mobilization/field organizing, communications, coalition building and fundraising.

Select which tactics you need for your campaign, and build them into your operational plan.

Stage 9: Stay on track
Prepare for the unexpected, and be ready to adapt to changes in the campaign. Build evaluation mechanisms into your plan that let you know when you're making progress and when you need to re-evaluate. Campaigns are going to succeed in some places and fail in others. Meet regularly with your team to discuss progress (preferably weekly) and go over benchmarks (preferably monthly). Ask a predetermined set of key questions to gauge progress and pitfalls. Celebrate small successes in the campaign, and use them to keep your audience and campaign team engaged and motivated.

For a more detailed analysis of each of the stages, including diagrams and sample charts, download "The Just Enough Planning Guide"

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