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If 2025 taught campaigners anything, it’s that winning rarely comes from a single ‘perfect’ tactic. But there were some recurring themes, be it building coalitions that look wider than your usual suspects, lowering the barrier for people to act, or finding pressure points that force decision-makers to respond.
In Movement and Organise’s January Campaigning Playbook webinar, we heard from campaigners who’ve been doing exactly that: Andy May (Centre for Progressive Change) on building a coalition that delivered tangible sick pay reform; Caitlin Durham (Living Wage Foundation) on making employer accreditation a mainstream norm; and Roxy Khan Williams (Organise) on using unexpected allies, customer solidarity and smart partnerships to move big brands. Here are the takeaways I’m carrying into 2026.
1) Coalitions win when they’re loose, purposeful, and built for momentum
Andy described the Safe Sick Pay campaign as a coalition that grew over time; from worker representation and unions; to patient groups; think tanks and even voices in the business community. The important part wasn’t building a heavyweight “umbrella” with perfect policy alignment. It was building something functional: a coalition that could show decision-makers the issue wasn’t niche or partisan, and could create moments of pressure when it mattered.
Takeaway for 2026: Don’t wait for a perfectly aligned alliance. Build a coalition around a clear shared goal, keep the governance light, and plan for timed interventions that help partners show up when they can.
2) Find the lever that makes your target pay attention
Roxy shared the brutal truth that sometimes when you bring evidence to a big company, they ignore you. The breakthrough came when Organise pulled other levers:
- Charity partnerships as pressure: Primark moved only after Breast Cancer Now was alerted and intervened.
- Customer solidarity as momentum: Boots started engaging after thousands of customers piled in, highlighting the public health implications of weak sick pay.
- Insider + outsider strategy: A partnership with ShareAction combined shareholder pressure with public campaigning to push M&S on living wage accreditation.
Takeaway for 2026: When your target ghosts you, don’t just shout louder change the channel of pressure. Ask, who do they need approval from? Who do they rely on? Who do they fear disappointing?
3) Make participation feel easy (especially for high-bar actions)
Whether it’s workers sharing evidence, supporters emailing decision-makers, or customers joining a solidarity push, campaigners win when the “yes” is simple. Tools that reduce friction matter, especially email-to-target actions, where people can speak directly to an MP, employer, or executive without having to jump through hoops.
Takeaway for 2026: Audit your journeys like a sceptical supporter. Where do people drop off? What’s confusing? What can be pre-filled, simplified, or broken into smaller steps?
4) Relationships are a tactic not a nice-to-have
Caitlin’s point landed hard: the Living Wage Foundation’s growth wasn’t just a communications success — it was years of relationship-building with employers, councils, mayors and trusted community partners. Those relationships became a distribution network for change: employers convincing peers, mayors amplifying the ask, and communities keeping the moral case front-and-centre.
Takeaway for 2026: Don’t treat partnerships as a one-off “logo list”. Build a small set of relationships you can activate repeatedly — and measure the impact, so you can tell the story back to partners.
5) Campaigning in 2026 will reward blended strategies
A theme across the whole webinar was balance: local and national, worker stories and policy detail, insider and outsider tactics, community building and fast mobilisation. This is where modern campaigning is heading — and where campaigners can outpace better-funded opponents.
Your 2026 checklist from the webinar
- Start with a clear demand, but stay flexible on how you get there.
- Build a coalition that can grow, not one that requires perfection.
- Identify 2–3 pressure points beyond your obvious target.
- Reduce friction ruthlessly (especially for high-bar actions).
- Collect stories ethically and consistently — real people move power.
If you’re planning your 2026 strategy now, my encouragement is simple: design for momentum. Winning is rarely one big moment but what happens when the right people can act quickly, at the right time, through the right pressure point.
If you’re experimenting with tactics this year, especially around workplace power, consumer solidarity, or coalition campaigning - I’d love to hear what you’re trying.
Ros Goates is part of the Organise team, working to help workers build power and win change.
