A few suggestions:
Identity
Decide on a name for your campaign.
Find a suitable image to represent your campaign (probably landscape orientation)
Communication Channels
Create a contact email address – a protonmail address may be a good idea as this is secure and encrypted if messages sent between protonmail accounts. Include your campaign location rather than your name in your email address. You can set up a free account at protonmail.com.
[It may also be useful to have a gmail address for your campaign which you can use to link to Google Drive, YouTube etc. Better not to host any particularly sensitive information on Google Drive.]
Set up a Facebook Page for your campaign – this is useful for posting links and events that are accessible to the public (without the need to join a Facebook group). Links to Facebook Page Events and Notes can also be seen by those who are not on Facebook.
Set up a Facebook Group for your campaign for campaign members and other interested parties to share information. We would suggest making it a Closed Group and asking Questions on entry so that you can screen members. Draft some guidelines outlining any rules for your group – respectful relating is a good requirement. Appoint one or more moderators for your group and ensure posts are appropriate.
Update April 2020: Facebook groups and pages are being censored and may be taken down – particularly if they contain posts making links to the current health situation. Where possible, please collect email addresses e.g. by setting up a free Mailchimp account (see below). Update 26 April: A large Stop 5G Mailchimp account has just been shut down without warning. We will be researching alternative providers and will let you know.
You may want to set up other communication channels for your core campaign members – e.g. on WhatsApp or Signal (probably more secure than WhatsApp which is owned by Facebook) – both are free to use and require all members to have a mobile phone number and a smartphone – ironic! – but at least make sure all campaigners know how to minimise their exposure from smartphones.
Website or webpage – this is really useful as an information hub to direct people to. Information can be found more easily than in a Facebook group and links are accessible to all (as long as they can connect online) regardless of whether people use Facebook.
You can request to have a webpage on the stop5g.co.uk website (if you are in the UK or Ireland) which has contact details and brief information for your campaign – the page link can be used as your web address on any flyers or other publicity, unless you have your own website address.
In addition to circulating your meeting minutes to those who attend meetings, you may wish to send an email newsletter to a wider community updating them on your campaign and 5G news generally. Those on your wider mailing list, may help with flyering, supporting at protests and donating towards campaign costs even if they do not attend meetings regularly. We no longer suggest using Mailchimp for email newsletters which is free up to 2000 subscribers. We will research an alternative. N.B. You must ensure that people consent to be added to your mailing list and that you are complying with GDPR privacy legislation.
[To find the link to your Mailchimp sign up form which will look something like http://eepurl.com/gBNCLr, login to your account and select Audience – Manage audience – Signup forms – Form Builder and then copy Signup form url ]
Enusre that you back up your database of email contacts by regularly exporting and saving as a csv/Excel file.
Consider creating an offline communication channel for those who, for whatever reason, are unable to connect online.
Campaign meetings
Currently all meetings need to be online or via phone. If you use Zoom for calls (recent security alerts), please ensure the security of your calls by using a password and by ensuring you know everyone on the call. More Zoom security tips here. Be aware that no system is completely secure so be mindful of what personal details you share.
If possible arrange for these to be held in spaces with low emfs.
Create an agenda and have someone chair the meeting.
Take minutes and highlight action points for all meetings.
Have a signup list with name, email address, perhaps phone number and first half of postcode. If you have a newsletter, ask people if they would like to be added.
Consider inviting a speaker from a more established campaign group to speak at your first meeting – or you might arrange a talk first and then see if there is enough interest amongst attendees to start a local campaign group.
Publicise your meetings online* – you can set up a free event on Eventbrite free of charge. The Eventbrite link can then be shared elsewhere online e.g. by email, in a newsletter, in a Facebook Event, on Facebook, Twitter etc, on local networks such as Nextdoor (you can also create an event on Nextdoor and share the Eventbrite link for more information).
Create a public Facebook Event* on your Facebook Page (visible to all on Facebook) and then share it also in your Facebook Group. Not everyone is on (or wants to be on Facebook) so a link on Eventbrite or similar is a good idea.
*During the current situation, you might be wise to publicise online meetings via your email list rather than posting a link on social media.
Create an online Calendar or Upcoming Events listing for your campaign meetings, demos, Council meetings, related talks etc. A simple and free way to do this is to create a Google Document on Google Drive and make the link shareable (view only). See an example.
Suggest a small donation to cover room hire and to go towards campaign flyer printing costs.
Useful free tools: Doodle to find the best days and times for your meetings; Zoom for holding online meetings.
Publicity Material
Create a flyer including your campaign contact details – preferably a website address and an email address. You may also want to create one or more QR codes on your flyer which people can scan on their smartphones and which will take them to your webpage, or other important page such as a petition.
You are welcome to download and adapt the flyers in our Campaign Resources section. And please return the favour by sending us and sharing your new designs with us – we’re all in it together! We suggest you use InDesign (Adobe) for new designs. Stickers and banners are also useful. If you don’t have a designer in your team or amongst your contacts, you could find a low cost designer on Fiverr.
Campaign Activities
Protests and on the street presence
Ensure campaigners are well-briefed. You might want to provide new campaigners with a crib sheet to refer to .
Interviews with the Media
Ensure your spokespeople are well-briefed. Consider creating a briefing document including how people can get involved with your campaign. A friendly interviewer may allow you to give a contact email address, website address and Facebook Page or Group name, but regular press interviews will generally not report these details. If, however, you introduce yourself as a spokesperson for XYZ Campaign, they are obliged to quote you as ‘a spokesperson for XYZ Campaign said…’ – so hopefully listeners/readers can Google your campaign name and find you.
Connect with local influencers
Compile a list of people who are likely to be sympathetic or at least open to hearing about your campaign who also have access to groups of people – offline and online – e.g. community leaders, workshop or classes facilitators etc etc. You can collect Influencer details for follow us using a free Jotform account. You can see an example of this on the Bristol campaign page. Contact them if you would like them to send you a clone of their Bristol Influencers and Experts form for you to import and adapt (very easy). [Similarly for the Join our Campaign form.]
Connect with your Local Council
Contact local councillors, educate them about 5G, attend public forums at council meetings.
Connect with other national Stop 5G campaigns
Let’s not re-invent the wheel, but help newer campaigns get off the ground and focus together on approaches which will be most effecting in stopping 5G nationally (and internationally).
Useful free tool: Trello for organising your actions.
Please add any additional tips and suggestions in the comments below.