Who is this guide for? What kinds of campaigns can I develop using this tool?
If you are looking to win support for an issue, impact policy, or get a corporation or government body to change its policies, this guide is for you. This guide is designed to work best with issue campaigns, policy campaigns and corporate campaigns. It could also help you with another type of campaign, like fundraising or long-term perception change campaigns, but we chose to focus on the types of campaigns mentioned above to make the tool more concise. However, it is not meant for marketing campaigns or those running for public office.
How long will it take me to complete my campaign plan?
This will depend on how developed your campaign is already. If you have your goal in place and your campaign has a basic structure, it could take you less than an hour. However, you may need more time to think through your answers to some of the questions in the tool. You may find it helpful to develop the plan over a series of short sessions, collaborating with staff or coalition partners as needed. You can create an account, start your plan and then come back to it later. The tool will resume where you left off. You can complete and revise your plan(s) as often as needed.
What are the plus and minus sign buttons for?
In places where you are asked to add content to the tool, there are often plus signs and minus signs. These buttons allow you to add more fields or take away fields. You can simply click on the plus sign button and a new field will appear or click on the minus sign button and the field next to the button will disappear. In some cases there is also a button with up and down arrows. This allows you to rearrange the text boxes in that area. In this case, you will hold down the arrows and drag and drop to achieve your desired order.
How do I export my plan?
To export your plan, go to the My Campaigns button at the top right corner of your screen. On the My Campaigns page, choose the “export plan” option from the Actions drop down menu next to the campaign you wish to export. This will direct you to an export page where you will see three options: Full Plan (Word document), Summary (Word document) and Management Chart (Excel spreadsheet). If you are logged with your Google account, you will also see the option to save these documents to your Google Drive.
The full plan includes all the information you entered into the tool, while the summary includes a selection of that information. The management chart contains the decision makers, influence strategy, influencers and major tactics for your first milestone. You can then fill in information about additional campaign milestones and how you will accomplish them.
How do I share my plan and collaborate with others?
There are many ways to share your campaign and collaborate with partners. You can either allow other people to edit your campaign on the Planning to Win website or share your completed plan with them.
To allow other people to access your campaign on the Planning to Win website, click on the My Campaigns button in the upper right corner of your screen. On the My Campaign page, select share. This will prompt you to enter email addresses for the people you wish to share with. They can then log onto the site, using their own username and password, and edit your campaign or leave notes on the Note Pad.
The Note Pad appears on every page of the tool and allows people who share a campaign to write notes to each other. Each person can either write their own note or edit each other’s notes. The name of the person who wrote the note, along with when they wrote it, will appear under the note. A blue pencil next to the note indicates that the note has been edited.
Finally, you can always share your exported campaign documents with others after you have finished your campaign. If you registered and logged in with your Google account, you can export your plans to your Google Drive and share them from there as well.
How can I share a resource in the Toolbox with other people using Planning to Win?
Please share any campaign resources that you find useful in your planning. You can do this by uploading them directly to the Planning to Win website. Go to the Toolbox page and click on the Learn More button in the Contribute your Content box. Then just submit a summary of your resource and upload the document or provide us with a link to your content. Once you have submitted your content, we will review it and notify you if we publish it.
