Skip to content

2 min read

Action Planning Template

A one-page worksheet for planning a single action — a sit-in, a march, a lobby meeting, a phone-bank, a direct-mail drop, a press conference. The template is designed to be filled in by the action’s lead + 2-3 other team members in a 30-60 minute planning meeting, then printed and distributed to everyone staffing the action.

For the method (what makes an action plan good, the canonical arc), see action-planning.

Frontmatter (copy verbatim)

---
title: Action Plan — <NAME> (<DATE>)
status: stub
languages: [EN]
categories: [tactics]
license: link-only
updated: 2026-MM-DD
template_for: action-planning
---

Action summary

  • Action: <one-line description, verb-led>
  • Date & time:
  • Location / virtual URL:
  • Lead: <name + contact>
  • Tactic star (Sharp): <e.g. “nonviolent protest — march”>
  • Decision rule: <what we do if is / isn’t met>

Why this action, in this moment

  • Strategic intent: <how this action moves the campaign — e.g. “raise cost of inaction by putting the issue in the local press”>
  • Phase in the campaign arc: <visible-but-routine / disruptive / confrontational — see campaign-planning>
  • What we’ve learned from the last AAR that shapes this:

Audience and power

  • Primary target:
  • Secondary targets:
  • Audience we want to reach: <whose attention matters — media, base, opposition, the public?>
  • Audience we are NOT optimising for: <who is this not for?>

Logistics

Volunteer headcount needed*<e.g. 20> *
Volunteer headcount confirmed*<e.g. 14> *
Materials*<e.g. signs, scripts, water, marshals, banner> *
Permits / legal*<jurisdiction, who applied, deadline> *
Comms plan*<who posts what when, press release timing> *
Cost*<$XYZ> *

Run-of-show

  • —
  • —
  • —
  • T+0:30 — <check-in, what worked / didn’t>
  • <T+2h> — <de-brief, who’s writing the AAR>

Risks and contingencies

  • <risk 1> — mitigation: — if it happens:
  • <risk 2> — mitigation: — if it happens:

After-action