How can we best frame social-change efforts so they feel ambitious but manageable? How do we do story-based communications so as to celebrate small, “tactical” victories along the way, while connecting each of those efforts to a larger social-change goal that may take years to achieve?
President Franklin D. Roosevelt faced this very problem when building support for his strategy in World War II. Speaking of his “fireside chat” radio broadcasts, he said, “I want to explain to the people … what our problem is and what the overall strategy of the war has to be … so that they will understand what is going on and how each battle fits into the picture.”
The president was confident that people could “take any bad news right on the chin” if they understood the larger story.
Maybe your organization is fighting a war of its own. The fact that you’ve identified the need to bring people along for the long haul is an important step. Following are some practical considerations as you do this.
Keep your eyes peeled for organizations that strike this balance well.
I posed your question to Brett Davidson of Open Society Foundations, and he cited the example of the marriage-equality work of the Human Rights Campaign
That organization, he says, “does a great job of highlighting small or interim victories and featuring individual stories at the heart of these battles, while maintaining a clear long-term vision.” The organization’s website features stories of victories and setbacks in individual states, and maps and other tools to show the big picture.
Consider your time frame.
My colleague at Working Narratives, Nick Szuberla, has worked on criminal-justice issues for 15 years. He says different groups in the movement to end mass incarceration cast their work in different ways.
“Some are defenders of human rights engaged in an ongoing struggle,” he says. “Others are trying to reverse the trend of an ever-increasing prison population—that’s a long-term fight, but it’s got an end point. Still others are working towards a policy change in the foreseeable future.”
The same principle applies for any organization: Consider how big your big picture is, and plan accordingly for how to keep people engaged.
Avoid conflicts between short- and long-term communications.
Alan Jenkins of The Opportunity Agenda told me it may be tempting to use short-term messages that ultimately undercut your long-term “story” or goals.
“In California, for instance, one campaign argued that undocumented immigrants should have health-care access, otherwise immigrant nannies might, say, get tuberculosis and infect the kids they take care of,” he says. “That message moved some people in the short term, but it also ran counter to the overarching message that immigrants are part of us.”
Advocates realized the damage this message might do and shifted to saying that removing barriers to health care is important “so that everyone can participate and contribute to a thriving California.”
I hope these considerations help. I invite readers to add their thoughts and examples in the comments section. Please also read the Working Narratives blog for more discussion of storytelling strategy.
