Integrated Campaigns

Advocacy efforts increasingly require a multi-faceted, integrated approach in order to achieve success -- whether legislative, cultural, or electoral. The importance of integrated campaigns in underscored in section 1 of Tech President's Year One of Organizing for America: The Permanent Field Campaign in a Digital Age.

This excerpt provides an overview of Organizing for America's effort to enact comprehensive health reform. It was critical for the health reform movement to utilize traditional tactics like lobbying and events, but it was also fundamental to build and activate social capital -- which was largely accomplished through digital tools. Without this integrated approach, health reform may have succumbed to the Tea Party backlash that was unleashed during the summer 2009 August recess.

Any campaign interested in integrating efforts -- both online and offline -- should read Ben Rigby's book, "Mobilizing Generation 2.0: A Practical Guide to Using Web 2.0." The book details what an integrated campaign is, and also provides detailed guidance on how to do it.