10 Quick Campaigning Hacks from the Creative Organising Lab
The first ever Creative Organising Lab brought together teams from eight organisations around the world and four creative agencies for a series of one-hour creative sprints tackling real-world campaign challenges.
We’ll be closely following those teams and will keep you posted on their campaign outcomes, but, for now, here are 10 practical takeaways from the event you can start applying to your own campaigns right now:
1. Start with low-hanging fruit
You’re not going to win everyone over at once, so don’t try to!
Start with the people already closest to your cause; those are the ones most likely to care, act, and share with others.
Ask yourself:
- Who already gets this?
- Who is already half-in?
- Who would be proud to stand with us publicly?
Momentum will start building with the audience already warmest to you, not with people you have to work hard to persuade.
2. Ask directly and clearly
If you want people to act, ask them to act!
If you want someone to donate, sign, share, attend, or speak out, make the ask simple and visible.
Don’t bury it in copy, or imply it and assume they’ll figure it out for themselves. The strongest campaigns work so well because they don’t stop at raising awareness – they give their supporters clear next steps.
3. Talk less about your organisation and more about your audience
Too many campaigns waste time explaining their own organisation and not enough time speaking to the people they want to move.
Shift the focus:
- from your internal priorities to your audience’s motivations
- from your processes to their values
- from your identity to their role in the story
If people can’t see themselves in your message, they won’t be moved to take action.
4. Create messages people can wear
Test your message with this question: Would someone put this on a T-shirt, a badge, or a placard?
If the answer is no, your message might be too abstract, too technical, or too organisation-centred.
Strong campaign messages feel like identity markers. They’re simple, repeatable, and help people show others what they stand for.
5. Post regularly for rhythm, not just for the algorithm
Consistency matters – and not just because platforms demand it. Effective campaigns need rhythm.
If you’re not shouting about your campaign consistently and regularly online, you’re not campaigning. It’s hard to build momentum, recognition, or public energy when you only speak occasionally about your cause. Regular posting helps create a sense of movement and keeps your issue visible.
6. Hold weekly creative meetings
Set aside one hour every week purely for brainstorming and ideation. Time dedicated to creativity, not admin, reporting, or updates.
Use this time to ask:
- What are we trying to move?
- What’s working?
- What isn’t?
- What could we test next?
- What is the most powerful, simple, or most unexpected version of this idea?
7. Use time limits to sharpen thinking
Part of the reason the short sprints of the Creative Organising Lab were so effective is because they were just that: short sprints.
Sometimes, it can help to give yourself less time, not more. Tight deadlines enhance focus, cut out overthinking, and force decision-making.
You don’t always need weeks of development time to make progress. Sometimes, a genuinely focused hour can do more than a month of drifting discussions.
8. Fix your foundations before chasing the next big idea
Not every organisation needs a flashy campaign concept right away.
Your real need could be a lot more basic:
- Clearer messaging
- A better sense of who your audience is
- Stronger communications discipline
- Greater confidence in your core strategy
Big ideas work best when solid foundations are already in place. If your basics are weak, even the smartest campaign in the world will struggle to take off.
9. Localise everything you can
Make your campaign feel like it belongs to your audience.
Language, environment, and reference points all shape whether people feel spoken at or spoken to.
Before you go live with your campaign, publish new campaign content, or share campaign comms, check:
- Does this use language your audience actually uses?
- Does it reflect their environment?
- Will the references, symbols, and values feel familiar?
Localisation isn’t only about translation, but also about relevance.
10. Move people through emotion, not just reason
People don’t act because they’ve received the right amount information – they act because something feels necessary, urgent, or meaningful to them.
The facts matter, but it’s emotion and connection that drive action.
Connect with people through things like anger, hope, belonging, or responsibility to make them feel why your cause matters to them. In a crowded landscape, the campaigns that cut through aren’t the most informative ones, but those that people feel the most deeply.
You don’t need a full rebrand, a massive strategy overhaul, or a perfect plan to start campaigning.
All you need is one clear ask. One strong message, one creative habit, one next step. The most important thing is to start moving.
Want to keep up to date on the outcomes from the Creative Organising Lab and our other programmes? Pop your name and email into the box below to join our global community of fundraisers, campaigners, activists, and changemakers!