<aside> 💡 Campaigns use leverage to influence our target and interrupt the status quo.

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Leverage is how we move our target. It’s our ability to interrupt something our target needs or that enables the status quo. Identifying points of leverage is about mapping the pillars of support of our target — their own interests. What do they care about so much that, no matter how unpreferable it might be for them, they’d rather agree to our campaign demand than have it threatened. For example: their ability to serve as CEO, operate their business, run for office, or even participate on a cherished local nonprofit board, etc.

Leverage is something we have access to now or could reasonably build toward. It may require a few people or masses of people. It may require activating one key ally, or it could mean shifting broad public opinion. Clarifying our points of leverage helps us identify allies and tactics and helps us measure our progress along the campaign arc. Without a clear theory of leverage and what will actually shift our targets, many activists plan actions designed to “blame and shame” that don’t actually focus our grassroots pressure in the ways we want and that make it difficult for us to assess our progress.

Identifying Points of Leverage: Targeting Key Relationships

Challenge the targets…

Example: SOS DC Campaign

Worksheet

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Other Resources

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