The role of allies versus decision makers
Launch library · evergreen read
Allies are people and organisations who already broadly support a campaign's aims, while decision makers are the specific people with the power to grant its ask. Confusing the two leads to a common mistake: spending most of a campaign's energy persuading people who were never actually the obstacle in the first place.
Allies are still valuable, since they can lend credibility, resources and reach that a campaign could not generate alone, but their support is a means to an end rather than the end itself. The real test of a campaign is always whether it moves the decision maker, not simply whether it pleases its allies.
Effective campaigns keep this distinction visible throughout, using allies to build the conditions, evidence and pressure that make it easier for a decision maker to act, rather than mistaking enthusiastic agreement from allies for genuine progress toward the actual decision being sought from someone else entirely.