A practical guide for advocacy and changemaking organisations
With the date set for the general election on 7 November, it’s worth pausing to consider how election-year advocacy fits within a longer-term strategy for change.
For movements and advocacy organisations, the election can be a powerful opportunity to:
- raise public awareness of key issues
- influence the policy debate
- build relationships with candidates and MPs
- mobilise supporters and build or strengthen coalitions.
But for many advocacy or changemaking organisations and groups, there is a real risk of responding reactively: acting without a well-shaped strategy, or treating the election as an event horizon (a singular endpoint that absorbs all focus) rather than a strategic moment in an ongoing journey towards lasting, meaningful collective change.
To help organisations prepare for the 2026 election, we’ve created a 5-step guide that we’ll be sharing over the coming weeks. Each step will be sent separately and includes a reflective checklist to help you assess your election-year campaign readiness.
Election Readiness Step 1:
Strategy: start with your why
To achieve impact, your election-year efforts must be grounded in your organisation's core mission and guided by your vision and values.
Define your objective
Be clear about your goal. Are you aiming for soft voter influence, or are you lobbying hard to get a specific policy into a party's manifesto? The required resources and timeline will differ significantly.
Align with your Theory of Change
Ensure your election activities fit within your broader, long-term campaign or organisational objectives. Don't invent an election-specific tactic that doesn't advance your core mission.
A tactic is not a strategy
A checklist of desired government actions, a scorecard, or a social media post is a tactic, not a strategy. A tactic such as sharing a policy scorecard needs to be supported by a plan to share this resource beyond your base and to shift awareness into action. Your strategy must define how you will achieve your broader goals through the election cycle and beyond.
Assess and commit
Conduct a realistic assessment of your resources (budget, people power, time) before committing to election-related activities. It may be wiser to hold your resources and prepare for post-election engagement if you lack the capacity for a robust pre-election campaign.
Ready to dive deeper?
Download this step as a PDF, including reflection questions to help assess your organisation's strategic readiness for Election 2026.
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