Step 1: Set Specific, Quantifiable Goals and Break Into Realms

Start grouping your goals together into task groups – create general categories, or realms, for each component of the plan. You might decide to group your media goals together in one realm, your fundraising goals in another realm, and so on. Each realm is an area of responsibility and can make delegation of duties easier.

Whether planning a major event or just a week in the life of an organization, a number of things need to be accomplished. Start by thinking about the end result of that week, that event, or that task. What does it look like when finished? Get specific. For example, if the event is a rally, ask how many people will attend, who are those people are, what people will see and hear, where people will be, who will speak, whether media will attend, whether other groups will attend, and so on.

Goals should be tangible and/or numerical. If the goal cannot be seen, touched, or counted, it is not specific enough. Set goals using real numbers. Goals based on real life rarely end in clean 5’s and 0’s. Avoid approximations. If approximations are necessary, make sure the numbers are attached to a meaningful end result 

Setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Specific - Is the goal based on hard data and research or estimates and approximations?
Measurable - Can your goal be measured accurately?
Achievable - Is this goal really achievable?
Relevant? - Does accomplishing this goal mean success?
Timely - Is there a long enough timeline by which to achieve this goal?

Step 2: Identify the Timeline.
Once goals have been identified, figure out how much time is allowed to accomplish them. If the planner is drafting a plan for a set period (i.e. weekly planning), as opposed to event planning, this is already established. The tasks need to be arranged on the timeline, so create space to write these tasks into the timeline. 

There are a number of ways to write out the timeline. If the plan is done in paragraph outline, each unit of time can be its own paragraph or heading. If the timeline is written in a chart or table format, each unit of time has its own column. 

                                                  Rally for Health Care

Realm

Thurs.

Fri.

Sat.

Sunday

Mon.

Tues.

Goal

Crowd
building
(Chris)

- Crowd = 120
· DFA =60
· Phones, email
- Signs = 40

Media 
(Noreen)

- Messaging, media
advisory, media release,
blog release, radio feed,
pitch calls to all outlets,
prep 10 media packets.
- 3 print, 3 TV, 2 radio, 2
blog hits.

Speakers,
Coalitions 
(Tom)

- Recruit speakers,
uniform messaging,
press quotes, recruit
other groups

Finance
(Dina)

- expenses <$120,
- checks as needed.

Logistics
(Kyle)

Venue, security, parking,
transportation, sound
system, tabling and data
collection.

Step 4: Identify Priorities and Determining ‘SWOT’ 
(Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats)

One of the most important aspects of planning is prioritizing. Everyone has experienced the kind of day or week when everything seems to demand your attention all at once. Because time is limited and work is not, planners must determine what tasks get attention when they are both competing for the same time. It is important to build this explicitly into the plan. 

After planning out each realm, add an additional row titled, “priorities.” This row will settle resource disputes before they arise. If the campaign is thrown off course for the day and little gets done, then the plan dictates what does get done, and what is left for another day. 

A person should expect to spend most of the day on the plan’s top priorities for that day. Priorities typically are those items which have hard deadlines or function as prerequisites for other important items in the plan. 

Not every item can be a priority. A good rule of thumb is to decide on three specific priorities for each basic unit of time (i.e. three priorities per column). 

Take a look at the plan and look for SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). If one day in the plan has a light workload and another day has an unreasonable workload, this is an opportunity to spread out your workload. The plan might stretch other resources (people and money) thin at some places. Look for opportunities to combine resources. For example, if you have volunteers coming in to phone bank for you the same evening you need volunteers to paint signs you could: 1) Move or reschedule the lower priority task to maximize available resources. 2) Ask the phone bankers to stay and help make signs after their shift.

Look for items which require prerequisite tasks in other realms. A News Advisory might be scheduled on Thursday, but if the venue information is not scheduled until Friday, the news advisory cannot go out. Items which are prerequisites to other tasks have the most potential to set back your whole plan. In order to stay on task and meet the benchmarks of the plan, prioritize these items and make sure to leave enough time in the day to complete them. 

Step 5: Revise as needed. 
A plan is useless without the ability or the will to change it promptly and frequently. Revisit the plan every morning to review and make adjustments. Immediately revise the plan if or when something disrupts the plan. Involve others in these revisions to keep them interested and on task.

Things change quickly in a campaign. Your plan is your compass as well as your rock.  It will help you stay on track day to day and will serve as a foundation when you need to improvise.  Nothing ever goes strictly according to plan, so you need to continually update and revise your goals and tactics. Find what works and keep doing it.  If you are consistently missing your benchmarks, your plan needs a change.  Think of your plan as a living document that will grow and change as it progresses.