Hi Reader -

Your campaign plan calls for a policy platform document. You know it can create a strong backbone for your campaign – a clear blueprint for the change you’re fighting for.

But you've been here before. You've tried to get ideas out of your team's heads and into a document that speaks to decision-makers. And you've watched it turn into weeks of people-wrangling and revision rounds that go nowhere.

So how do you keep it from turning into a six-month slog?

Embrace the mess to get the expertise out of people's heads. Your team knows your issues inside and out. The problem is it lives in their brain, and they don’t have the time to write it all down as they juggle their day-to-day campaign work.

Rather than fighting their busy schedules to wrangle a dream first draft, embrace some messiness. Get on a call and tell them to just talk it out. Ask them to tell you what the policy blueprint should be. Record the call and take notes along the way.

The conversation will circle around a bit. They’ll think out policy decisions in real time. That’s ok. Push and ask probing questions to get to as many specifics as you can. You’ll have enough for an outline to gut-check the direction, and enough to write a first draft. It’s easier for experts to react to something in writing than to draft it themselves.

Write for a newbie, not the policy expert. Policy experts write for other policy experts. Decision-makers and their staff are busy and don’t know your issues like you do. Your platform has to work for that audience.

Write so someone completely new to your issues will understand what it means. Define jargon. Avoid acronyms. Explain what policy reform will actually mean for your community in plain terms. The goal is a document a busy staffer skims once and immediately understands.

Assign a clear project lead – and protect their time. Revision is where most platforms stall. Without someone holding the process, you get round after round of comments and no document. Someone needs to own the deadline, keep decisions moving, and have enough room in their workload to actually do it.

Repurpose your platform into launch collateral. The document isn't the finish line – it's the source material. Turn it into a one-pager for meetings. Pull the outline into a messaging document. Write a blog post from the plain-language sections. Draft a press release to get it in front of media. By the time your platform is done, you should have everything you need to put it in front of decision-makers.

If you're working with a coalition, build in more time. Coalition platforms take longer. Partners share goals but don't always agree on approach, and getting everyone to sign off without damaging relationships takes real facilitation. Build in extra revision rounds, connect with key partners early to understand where the real common ground is, and make sure someone owns the sign-off process – or you'll spend more time chasing partners than working on policy.

Knowing you need a policy platform is one thing. Creating a deliberate process to get it done is another.
​

Jennifer ​Founder, Buoy 231 Consulting​

P.S. If a policy platform is sitting on your campaign to-do list, let's talk about what it would take to actually get it done. Find time on my calendar to chat.

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