4. Issue Mapping

The purpose of this exercise is to establish the key issues at the heart of your campaign.

Completing this exercise will help your team identify items related to the issue, establishing a background for the entire campaign. Think of it like an evidence board that a detective might use to solve a case, showing relationships between elements with string. This relational mapping helps to identify themes that will be used to generate your issue statements.

The Exercise

1. As a team, brainstorm a list of items related to the issue, with one item per sticky note. Think broadly about your campaign and include people, places, and things connected to the topic at the heart of your campaign.

2. When brainstorming is complete, begin grouping the stickies in a logical way. Note that this part of the process is subjective to the group, so there are no incorrect answers. This is primarily intended to bring to light the logic and relationships that make the most sense to the group.

3. Draw arrows between categories showing the relationship between grouped items. Label the category or relationship in a way that makes sense to the group.

4. If there are any natural groupings or sub-groupings, circle them with a marker and label the grouping.

5. Take a few moments to ensure the map looks complete and accurate. If you need to rearrange, add, subtract, or redo anything, take a moment to do so. Again, this will be a living foundation for the campaign.

6. Provide each person 5 sticky dots, which will serve as 5 votes. Ask the participants to survey the map and identify the 5 areas where the campaign should focus. What has the team identified that should be the focus of the campaign or will have the greatest impact on what the campaign is trying to accomplish? Each person can place one sticky dot per sticky note or grouping. Ask them to decide their votes in their heads before releasing them as a group (diminishing voting bias) to add the sticky dot to their votes.

7. This exercise can also be completed virtually using an online collaboration tool, like Miro.

60 minutes

- Sticky Notes

- Markers

- Large Roll of Paper

- Sticky Dots

- Online Collaboration Tool (like Miro) optional

Notes:

4. Issue Mapping (continued)

Reflection

Discuss the following with your campaign team.

» Where do concentrations of votes exist?

» Using the top 3-5 Issue areas as identified by the voting, create one Issue Statement for each area.

» State the issue in the form of a short phrase, starting with “How might we….?”

» For example: “How might we help people understand why trails are important to our economy?” or “ How might we get people inspired about a new vision for their community?”

» Do the “How MIght We” statements align with your mission? If not, would including a partner help this statement make sense in the campaign?

» Refine the statements as needed.

» Capture the work completed with a series of photos.

Update the Campaign Canvas

Build your plan by completing sections of the Campaign Canvas that have Ex. 4 next to the heading title.

» Campaign Issue

» Issue Statements

» Cost/Benefit