1. Community Mapping & Power Analysis Wellstone Action
Two critical strategic planning and campaign organizing tools: Community mapping and power analysis
Wellstone Action

2. Community Mapping Power Mapping
→ Tool to assess community resources and networks
Power Mapping
→ Tool to analyze power relationships around an issue or agenda (more on this later)
Community mapping is about learning your community and identifying resources and important networks and relationships.
Power mapping is identifying and mapping the power relationships around a particular campaign or issue.
Wellstone Action

3. ? What we learn from each Community Mapping Power Mapping (more later)
Learn more about our community
Identify resources and community assets
Develop lists of key contacts/social networks
Help prioritize and focus outreach
Power Mapping (more later)
Analyze current power relationships
Help determine who/what you need to win
Help formulate strategy to move a target
Go into each a bit further.
Each tool has a related, but different purpose.
Community Mapping
Learn more about our community/district – especially for new organizers in a community
Identify resources and community assets – which can be used to build power around passing an agenda that matters to the community
Develop lists of key contacts/social networks – this is the organizers network of power. Proactively developing relationships with these existing networks and organizations makes it possible to mobilize their resources around a shared campaign
Help prioritize and focus outreach – so relationships are built with the networks that most deeply represent the community, not just the familiar and comfortable.
Power Mapping
Is issue campaign focused
Analyzes current power relationships around an issue
Helps determine who/what you need to win – key targets, coalition partners, etc.
Help formulate strategy to rearrange power relationships and move a target
Wellstone Action

4. Community Mapping Step 1: What defines and shapes your community?
Culture & Language
Public Institutions/Agencies
Shared Stories/History/Tradition
Community Groups
Informal Networks
Community mapping starts with the large question – what shapes and defines a community?
Walk through list quickly. Note that all of these are impacted by the demographics of the community and social and economic factors. These, too, are part of community mapping.
Do this slide quickly as a framework slide – go to next slide that visually represents it.
Impacted by a demographic, economic and social environment.
Wellstone Action

5. Our Community Opportunity/Threat Environment
Public Sector Institutions
Health Care
Social Services
Schools
Police/Justice
Politicians
Counseling centers
Senior support
Family support
Child care/development
Crisis intervention
Health care services
Housing services
Immigrant services
Issue advocacy groups
Food shelves/shelters
Service Organizations
Our Community
Private Businesses
Hospitals
Key employers
Banks
Developers
Manufacturing
Retail
Informal Networks
By culture
By activity
By geography
By unique skill
By service
Youth organizations
Mutual support groups
Sports leagues
Fraternal organizations
Anti-tax/govt. groups
Religious institutions
Cultural organizations
Unions
Business associations
Neighborhood groups
Community Organizations/Associations
Walk through in more detail each of these boxes giving examples that are most relevant to the participants. Each of these is meant to spark and help organize by category a brainstorm and listing of key sectors within the community.
Wellstone Action

6. Opportunity/Threat Environment
What does your community look like? What does it face?
Demographics
Age
Income
Family status
Socio-Economic
Public service funding
Community public infrastructure (e.g. parks, transportation, schools...)
Crime
Health/health care issues/access
Racial relationships
Age and condition of housing stock
This information can be determined through census data, and through 1:1s with organizations that have experience in the neighborhood.
It is relatively less important to get specific stats, although that can be helpful as well. What is more important is to start identifying the opportunities and threats/challenges the community faces. It also makes it clearer when we talk about power mapping who is represented and who is not at our organizing table and at the tables of public power and decision making.
Wellstone Action

7. Community Mapping Step 2: Narrow your scope and keep in mind:
Why am I collecting this information?
What do I want to use it for?
Community mapping can get to be huge and can be more manageable if the scope is narrowed. Keep in mind what the information will be used for – it is not simply to collect data for the sake of collecting data.
For example, if our focus is immigrant rights, our community map might focus on this as an issue – who then are the key stakeholders, immigrant groups, services that immigrants would require.
Likewise, if health care is our key focus, we could focus on the health care needs of the community, key health care stakeholders, access to services, funding of those services, etc.
These two maps would give different perspectives on the same community. There would likely be significant overlap, yet a different focus and priority given to different sectors and populations within the community.
Hint: Community mapping can be very involved and time consuming. It is helpful to narrow your scope to the task at hand – e.g. a specific geography or issue focus. It should be an ongoing process that evolves as you learn the community.
Wellstone Action

8. Finding potential allies
Other Potential Allies
Other Stakeholders
Core
Constituencies
Identifying and Prioritizing Who to Reach out to
Critical: Know who is impacted by issue and know what you have to start with.
As organizers – need to assess the capacity and commitment of our potential coalition partners
This is about targeting and understanding (and strategically building) a coalition’s capacity.
Start with what you have – often a very small group of folks.
Then think of concentric circles.
Core constituencies – start with those organizations that are immediately with you. This will likely be a very small group
Other stakeholders. Early in the process brainstorm who else needs to be at the table – to win what is needed, and who is most deeply affected by the issue. This is likely where there will be the most direct interest and higher likelihood of deep commitment
Other potential allies. Who else is needed to win on your goal, and which groups do you have ideological or previous relationships with. These are a third tier for potential outreach.
Wellstone Action

9. Community Mapping
Step 3: Reach out and inventory community assets and resources
Identify capacity: resources/assets
Determine interest
Identify relationships with other groups/parties
Once certain priority organizations, networks, and individuals are identified – start reaching out and assessing interest and capacity (or resources).
This is where the tools of 1:1s are critically important. We are learning information about our community, building relationships, and identifying people’s issues, interest and values and making assessments of their capacity and commitment to our issues.
Wellstone Action

10. What are Community Assets?
Person
Infrastructure
Business
Financial
Expert knowledge
Relationships or access
What is a community asset?
Community asset or resource is defined broadly. It is anything that can be used to improve the quality of community life.
It can be a person who gets things done -- the master mechanic down the street who can fix any car ever made. The stay-at-home mom or dad who organizes a playgroup. The church member who starts a discussion group on spirituality.
It can physical infrastructure or place -- a school, hospital, church, library, recreation center, social club – or computers, phones, central location, visibility on high traffic areas. It could be a town landmark or symbol. It might also be an unused building that could house a community hospice, or a second floor room ideal for community meetings. Or it might be a public place that already belongs to the community park, a wetland, or other open space.
It can be a business that provides jobs and supports the local economy.
It can be financial resources that can be used to pay for coalition work, for staff, mailings, or media.
It can be expert knowledge – person with knowledge who knows about a specific issue, or has access to media and media expertise, or database and computer expertise, or historical knowledge of the community, or how political processes work
It can be relationships or access with elected officials, with other community groups, with neighborhood residents, with the police or government agency, or a specific constituency (such as a religious community, immigrant community, or recreational group)
Wellstone Action

11. Our Organizing Challenge:
Our challenge as organizers is to connect the interests of community members and groups with our campaign.
Only if the community sees our campaign as their campaign and in their interest will their resources be made available to build the power needed to pass our shared agenda.
Just because we have identified certain resources does not mean that we will have access to them. Commitment follows self-interest. The deeper the interest, the deeper the commitment and the more likely the capacity (resources) will be deployed.
Wellstone Action

12. ! Summary: Key Points Every issue has at least one opinion leader
Every agenda affects at least one stakeholder
Every organization has at least one gatekeeper
Community Mapping is identifying and reaching out to these leaders, stakeholders, and gatekeepers most important to build power and mover our agenda.
Mapping helps identify them, so we can reach out to them.
Wellstone Action

13. Developing Strategic Issue Campaigns
Building Power to Win on Our Issues
Wellstone Action

14. Why plan?
Provides focus and direction – people know where they are going
Uses resources and people efficiently
Establishes benchmarks
Creates accountability
Know if you are winning
Why plan – for all of the reasons above.
So if planning is such a good idea, why don’t people plan? [hint: because it takes a lot of time to do it right]
Wellstone Action

15. Step by Step Strategic Planning
Step 1: Establish clear goals
Step 2: Power Analysis
Identify key players
Assess strength: yours and your opposition
Develop a strategy to move targets
Step 3: Put together plan
Message, Tactics, Resources, Timeline
Step 1: Establish clear goals – what is our common ground, and when do we know we have won?
Step 2: Power Analysis –
Assess power relationships
Identify the key players
Determine the relative strength between you and your opponents
Develop your strategy to rearrange power relationships
Step 3: Put together plan – Who will do What to Whom When for How much?
Determine your message appropriate to the targeted audiences
Determine what tactics will be most effective in demonstrating your power
Determine how much each activity will cost (and staff resources) and when it will occur
Wellstone Action

16. Overall Strategic Goal
This is your overall “victory” goal
Be concrete about the issue or problem to be solved? (Hint: this is harder than you think)
Be concrete and specific in order to identify a solution.
Setting goals is harder than it seems.
It also must be a shared goal.
At a recent training for a labor union, we asked the participants: “What is your goal?” One person says the goal is to pass fair tax reform. Another says the goal is to protect health care. Someone else says the goal is to protect jobs.
If your goal is to protect jobs, and the mayor says ‘Okay, but we’ll have to cut health care,’ is that okay with you?
If you get health care and job protection but in order to pay for them the mayor tells you that poor people and the middle class will have to pay higher sales taxes, are you okay with that?
There can be multiple goals, but the entire group/coalition has to agree to them. Defining a goal is the single greatest reason why coalitions break up.
Wellstone Action

17. SWOT Analysis Weaknesses
What’s your capacity? (Organization or coalition)
Strengths
Weaknesses
What is the political environment you are operating in?
Opportunities
Threats
Before we can develop our strategy, we have to assess our world. We do this through something called a SWOT Analysis, which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
The first two—Strengths and Weaknesses—refer to our own organizational capacity. It’s really critical to be honest here.
Opportunities and Threats are the things in the external world that impact our group.
Wellstone Action

18. Strategy
Your strategy is a general plan for building your power to achieve your goals.
Your assessment of existing power relationships determines what you will need to do to rearrange them.
Wellstone Action

19. Who do we need & What do we need to do to win?
The driving question behind strategically building a coalition is who do I need to win on my issue/campaign.
Ask the question – “So, how do we know who we need to win?” [discuss]
Note: Too often groups do not ask this very basic question, and as a result do not approach their work very strategically, or maximize their resources and precious time.
Mapping existing power relationships through using a power analysis tool helps focus outreach and develop a strategy for rearranging the power relationships necessary to win.
Wellstone Action

20. Power Analysis & Mapping
This is a powerful tool to analyze power relationships and help develop a strategy for winning.
The next tool is power analysis mapping
Wellstone Action

21. Definitions:
Decision-makers = The people/groups who can actually make the decisions to change or resolve the problem, not the people who can influence the process
Organized Allies = Organized groups who support our agenda
Organized Opposition = Organized groups who oppose our agenda
First some definitions:
Decision-makers actually make the decisions. These are the people we need to move to support our issue.
Organized Allies are those organized “groups” that support our agenda. There may be individual “tour-de-force” individuals who can rock an issue on their own, but the power map is an analysis of power relationships.
Organized Opposition are the organized “groups” that oppose our agenda.
Targets are the people/groups who can influence decision makers. These will likely come from the lists generated above for allies and opponents, but could also include individuals who have power.
Wellstone Action

22. TARGETS Primary Targets = Secondary Targets =
The people/groups who can actually make the
decisions to change or resolve the problem.
Secondary Targets =
The people/groups who can influence the decision makers
Targets
Once we know who all of the possible players are, we want to hone in on our TARGETS. These are the individuals and groups that we see as most able to deliver our victory—either directly or indirectly.
If an individual or group is in a position to give us our victory, they are a primary target. This doesn’t necessarily mean everybody who will be voting on the issue, but those whose votes are critical to us (either because they tip the balance of power or add strength).
Secondary targets (key influencers) are the people/groups who can influence these decision makers. These will likely come from the list of ally and opponent groups that you generate in the brainstorm, but could also include individuals with power. Key influencers are the people/groups who can influence these decision makers. These will likely come from the lists generated above for allies and opponents, but could also include individuals who have power.
Students usually come up with other politicians, and organizations with dollars and power. Make sure to include family members of decision-makers, significant others and religious congregations.
EXAMPLE: Ben was working on a Living Wage campaign in Montgomery County, the wealthiest county in the country. The county board and the county executive were going to make the decision, so they were the primary targets. The campaign had commitments for a majority of the people running for county council that they would vote yes on a living wage law, but once elected two of them flipped. The campaign needed those votes back. They found out and that one of the “flippers” was on the Board of Trustees in Ben’s synagogue. They organized the guy’s rabbi to host a forum on living wage at the synagogue and the county council member would be invited to share his opinion. Lots of people from the congregation were at the forum, and even though he could say screw you to the campaign in private, his congregation’s opinion of him really mattered. Their personal opinion of him (or the threat of it changing) changed his positions, and he voted for a living wage and we won. His congregation was a secondary target because they influenced his decision.
Wellstone Action

23. Position or Perspective on our Agenda
Power Map 4
Taken into Account
Can Get Attention 3 6
Power to have Major Influence on decision-making 8
Active Participant in Decision-making 10
Decisive Decision making Power or Influence 1
Not on Radar
Amount of Power
Position or Perspective on our Agenda
Before going further on the example – we’ll walk through the basics of how to create and analyze the map using a much simplified version.
The map has two axes:
On the vertical axis is a scale 0-10 which corresponds to decision making power (or the ability to deliver an agenda). There are few, if any 10s out there, and few if any 0’s. At the top is , which is active in the decision making. An 8 would be someone who is sitting in the room when the decision is shaped as an active participant. Most decision makers are at least at this level. By contrast, few groups make it to this level. On the lower part of the scale is “not on the radar” – a group that isn’t noticed; a 3-4 can get attention – can get a media story, can get a response from an elected official, maybe get quoted; will get a meeting with an elected official; a 5-7 has an impact – will be consulted and asked what they think (or have to calculate the damage if going against the group because the group can affect damage), may be asked at the upper levels to review legislation that impacts members before it is passed, will be actively approached by decision makers to be included in the process.
The horizontal axis. This measures relative support for our agenda.
Die Hard Support includes those groups who have committed organizational resources to the campaign – staff, money, lists, time, etc. They are actively involved in the strategy and implementation of the campaign.
Active Support includes a whole lot of groups who give their verbal or written endorsement. They may write a letter, or present to the city council. They are not, however, committing significant resources to the campaign.
Inclined towards are those groups that are likely potential allies – who share an ideological predisposition for support, have worked with you n the past, or are major stakeholders who would be impacted positively by your agenda.
Middle. The middle is neutral or unknown.
The right side is the same as the left except in terms of relative opposition.
Die Hard Against
Die Hard Support
Inclined Against
Active Against
Active Support
Inclined Towards
Wellstone Action

24. Key Influencers
Who do the decision makers listen to? Who has influence over them?
Note: This often requires people who know the decision makers and the process, or additional research.
Wellstone Action

25. Next Steps
Using the map we have picked our targeted decision makers, developed a strategy for winning, and identified the key members of our coalition.
Now we need to develop our message and write our plan, which will outline the activities we will deploy to demonstrate our power to the targeted decision makers, and assign responsibilities and a timeline with deadlines for action and outreach.
Wellstone Action

26. Key Messages Who is your audience?
Your message must be in a language that makes sense to your audience
What is the vision you are communicating?
Develop an overall campaign message
What are 2-3 specific talking points to emphasize with different audiences
Wellstone Action

27. Putting it all in a plan Who What Whom When How much?
will do
What to
Whom
When
for
How
much?
Assign who is responsible
The most effective activities and actions to demonstrate and leverage our power
Key decision makers and outreach targets
A timeline for the campaign with each action and activity
How many resources – time, people, and money – will it take?
Wellstone Action