How to launch and conduct an Awareness and Motivation Campaign

Volunteering comes in different forms and different ways. Some main areas of becoming a volunteer are as follows

1. Awareness and Motivation Campaign

2. Advocacy and Signature Campaign

3. Resource Mobilization and Fund Raising

4. Organizational Assistance

5. Development Work / Disaster Relief

Launching and Conducting Awareness and Motivation Campaign

An awareness campaign is launched to inform and educate the targeted population about an issue that directly or indirectly affects them positively or negatively and makes them believe that taking an action will improve their quality of life. There are normally three types of campaigns-

1. Promotional: we should do it, i.e., protect the environment

2. Prohibitive: we should stop it, i.e., no smoking

3. Supportive: we support a cause, i.e., women’s right to equal pay

Objectives of Campaign

1. Information dissemination to maximum people

2. Motivating the stakeholders to unite at a platform

3. Giving them a voice to press for demands

4. Pressurizing the policymakers to formulate policy/ legislation

5. Forcing the executives to act

Activities Involved

After setting the goals and objectives of launching a campaign, a plan of action consisting of detailed and integrated activities is chalked out. Collectively prepared, this list of activities not only describes the tasks to be performed but also assign specific duties with clear-cut strategies and definite times to each volunteer involved for the successful execution of the campaign. Some of the activities which need special attention are as follows.

· Research and Planning: Get hold of as much information as possible about the issue at hand you can from every source possible-concerned persons, relevant papers and the internet.

· Targeting: Identify the group of people you intend to target for awareness and motivation to conserve resources and have an impact

· Networking: Again very important for a successful awareness campaign. Search for the right kind of people and connect with them through social media, written communications or face to face meetings. Convince them to join you by giving cogent reasons

· Resource Mobilization: Every campaign requires both, human and financial resources. All cannot be volunteers or philanthropists. Make estimates and find the right persons who can donate or devote time

· Media Management: Depending upon the availability of the human and financial resources and the time, all the three types of media-print, electronic and social should be used to the maximum extent possible. As essential as the event itself, media management can make or break a campaign. Assign specific duties to different persons for each of the above three media.

· Event Management: Several types of events are used for awareness campaign-writing letters, press releases, seminars, walks, meetings etc. Choose the event to be used, keeping in view your time/financial constraints

1. Fix an appropriate time of year that best suits the campaign.
2. Develop a tentative program for the mode you choose
3. Develop a Schedule of Charges for sponsorships to raise funds
4. Develop a directory of prospective partner organizations & sponsors
5. Send a letter to selected partner organizations/sponsors and send teams to visit them
6. Develop catchy slogans for different segments
7. Write a letter to the would-be chief guest to make the event important for the media
8. Write letters to partner organizations for the provision of volunteers
9. Send invites to International Organizations for participation and follow-up
10. Write a letter for traffic police to divert & manage traffic and arrange parking space
11. Develop placards for directions/guidance of participants & identify locations for display on roadsides
12. Develop designs for publicity materials e.g., shirts, caps, badges etc.
13. Develop advertisement for placing in newspapers and social media
14. Call a meeting of volunteers & assign tasks
15. Constitute a volunteers’ team for escorting the walkway
16. Write a letter to security agency/officials for arranging security
17. Identify a suitable location for site office camp/info Desk for distribution of caps etc. & commencement of walk.

· Monitoring & Post Campaign Evaluation: Do carry out an honest and in-depth analysis of what went right and what went wrong during the campaign. Document the lessons learned and archive them for future use of the organization. Keep a copy for your record and future use.