At JMSU we know and believe anyone can make change, all students know what matters to those who study at LJMU. They hold the key to change because they understand, more than anyone, what needs to change. They see it and live it, day in and day out. It is often easy to see that something needs to be changed, what is harder is to work out exactly what needs to change.

 

So, where to start? Sit down and ask yourself some important questions:

• Who does the problem affect? Who cares about this issue?
• What’s the problem people are facing? What do you want to achieve?
• Where will you be campaigning?
• When will you be able to achieve things you want to? When are there key times you might be able to build momentum around?
• Why is the campaign important?
• How will your campaign make a difference? How many resources will it need?

These questions should help you write your campaign aim and objectives:

• The campaign aim is the overall, general statement that sums up the change you want to be brought about by your campaign. This can be quite broad.
• Campaign objectives are smaller steps along the way to reach your campaign aim. You should only really have one campaign aim but could have a number of campaign objectives. These should be quite specific.

Top Tip: Campaign Objectives should always be SMART. The SMARTer your objectives are, the more likely your campaign is to succeed.

 

Specific: state what is to be achieved in a clear and detailed manner.

Measurable: progress towards the desired outcome can be measure during the campaign and you will know when it is complete.

Achievable: the outcome is something that is possible within the timeframe of your campaign – there are no barriers in place which means this definitely cannot be achieved.

Realistic: you have the resources available to achieve this outcome – this can take the form of time, money or even the necessary skills to take the campaign forward.

Time-Bound: in order to keep your campaign on track, it is important to set deadlines otherwise the campaign may lose momentum.

 

Once you have identified your issue and have your working aim and objectives, you need to do two important things:

1. Get in touch with Student Voice and Campaigns Team! They are there to support you make your ideas into reality, they are all about students making positive change – they can work with you developing your campaign and connect you with other student leaders and platforms to raise your ideas!
2. Do some research on the topic and gather evidence. It might be obvious to you why everyone should care about this issue but remember not everyone will feel the same way you do. This step will be really useful when you are talking to JMSU staff and student leaders about what you want to change and most importantly why they should support you achieve this!

Top Tip: It is really good to research what NUS might have done in your chosen area and have a look to see if other SUs have done anything on the topic – is there something you can use?

 

 

Contact the Student Voice and Campaigns Team at: studentvoice@ljmu.ac.uk