in learning
What my friend Sam taught me…
My friend and former Tearfund colleague, Sam Barker passed away last month, after a short but brave battle with bowel cancer. You can read more about Sam in this obituary here. For the last few weeks, and at his funeral last Friday, I’ve been carrying around with many many thoughts about Sam; about what he …
in government, tactics
When is a petition, a BIG petition?
A colleague asked recently – what I’d consider a ‘big’ petition number. Putting aside the discussion about the role of petitions in campaigning and their effectiveness, plus the reality that a big petition is so dependent on the context that it’s being used as a tactic for – if you get 1,000 people in a …
in lists
Summer Viewing – 5 great campaigning films on Netflix
It’s the summer holidays, so I’m going to take some time off from blogging – normal service will return in early September – but if you’re looking for some campaign inspiration here are 5 great campaigning films on Netflix. 1 – Joshua: Teenager vs Superpower – a brilliant film following Joshua Wong, one of the …
What happens if you don’t open any campaign emails for a year?
Last year I started an experiment, to sign up to a bunch of campaigning organisation, and then find out what happened if I said ‘yes’ to every request they sent to me. So for a month, I did that for every email I got from 38 Degrees, Avaaz, Sum of Us and We Move. Over …
Full Spectrum Engagement – blending effective community building practices and new engagement tools
If I’m honest, I’ve been distracted by the World Cup over the last few weeks, but one paper that I really enjoyed reading while I was away on holiday, was Full Spectrum Engagement – Build Community Power to Win Campaigns. A short paper pulled together by the team behind NetChange, New/Mode and others looking to bring together …
in learning
A summer reading list for campaigners…
I set myself a challenge at the start of the year to read a book a week – and it means I’ve got a few recommendations for those looking for a good campaigning read as they head off on holiday. If you’re looking to dive into the lessons from successful movements of the past – …
in learning
Could ‘unsafe thinking’ help us come up with better campaign approaches?
I’m reading a lot at the moment – so forgive me if the next few posts are based on thoughts solely derived from the last book I’ve read. I’ve just finished Jonah Sachs ‘Unsafe Thinking’. If you recognise the name, Sachs is the author of Winning the Story Wars, which is a brilliant read on using …
Can we stop the inevitable? Some thoughts on the theory of change behind stopping Brexit
I’ve got a campaign frustration that I need to be honest about – what is the theory of change behind the ongoing ‘stop Brexit’ campaign. Now put aside for the moment if going back on the original referendum is a good thing, both for the public faith in democracy and if it’s legally possible, but …
We need to talk about Twitter – the shortfalls of protest in an age of social media
If I had a pound for every time someone had said to me “we just need to put something on Twitter” as a response to a campaign problem, I could probably retire. I don’t believe that somehow armchair activism can win change along – I believe to do that we need to build power in …
Why the ‘general public’ isn’t an audience for your campaign
I’m on a train heading back from Birmingham where I’ve been sitting in on some focus groups that we’ve been running. It’s been literally the most interesting few hours of my week, and I’d recommend to any campaigner that they get themselves in to view a focus group (or do their own impromptu research in …
mrtombaker
Head of Mobilisation at Save the Children, was Head of Campaigns at Bond, co-founder Campaign Bootcamp, blog about campaigning because I'm passionate about seeing more campaigns win, election geek (and former Labour Party activist), interested in monitoring and evaluation, blog is all my own views. Prone to bad spelling!