<aside> 💡 Campaigns identify “pillars of support” to help focus on key targets and map vulnerabilities of a specific target.

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Strategy is built on an understanding of power, or the ability of different groups to get their interests met. A social view (or bottom-up view) of power sees the status quo as inherently unstable. It rests on the support of many other people and institutions - the “pillars of support” - that make it possible, for example, for government agencies to avoid regulating polluters, or for employers to avoid paying living wages.

If certain “pillars” enabling our target are removed or weakened, it forces them to shift behavior to maintain their power, status, or interests. The pillars of support framework can be used to identify targets on an issue or to map vulnerabilities of a specific target.

The underlying question when identifying pillars of support is: “what specific actions by which people or institutions are necessary for the status quo to continue?”

Identifying Targets - Pillars of Support for the Issue

• Which people or institutions are necessary to maintain the status quo? Who is keeping our issue from being solved? Who is standing in the way of our solution?
• What key action (or inaction) is required by them?
• These ‘pillars of support,’ for our issue, are potential campaign targets. Focusing on a key primary target who can change the status quo focuses our efforts.
• Common pillars include: elected officials, appointed officials, regulatory agencies, corporate leaders, financial services, investors, thought-leaders and spokespersons.

Identifying Strategy Opportunities - Pillars of Support for the Target

• Which people or institutions does our target count on in order to maintain the status quo? Who’s support, participation, or consent is required?
• What key action (or inaction) is required by them?
• Common pillars include…
  • For elected officials: voters organized in defined constituencies, campaign donors, political party leadership, campaign consultants, employees, support of peers, their employers (if they aren’t full-time elected officials), reporters, and influencers
  • For CEOs and corporate targets: Shareholders and investors, lenders and financiers, boards of directors, employees, reporters and influencers, support of peers, and business partners
• These ‘pillars of support’ for our target are opportunities for demands, actions, messaging, and help us identify secondary targets - people we could move to undermine our target’s power.

Guiding questions to help us assess campaign targets:

• What public statements have they made on our issue? If applicable, what is their voting record on this issue?
• What past behavior or actions have been consistent or inconsistent with these statements?
• How are similar campaigns approaching this issue elsewhere? Who are they targeting; what are they demanding, and how successful are they?
• What do their financial records tell us? E.g.,donor rolls, tax information, annual reports, etc.
• What private statements or insider knowledge do we know or could we find out?