Create your Action Plan

Once you’ve identified a policy solution to advocate for during your Hours of Action, you will need to compile an Action Plan for your group to follow. The Action Plan can include one or more actions; that’s up to you. Below are a few examples of how you might want to structure your Action Plans: 

  • Choose this option if you’d like to experiment with a less labor-intensive process before committing to all three actions, or if you only want to commit to hosting a single Hour of Action.

  • Choose this option if you want volunteers to be able to chart their own path by taking actions in their preferred order. With this option, you’d feature all three actions simultaneously at the start of the campaign. When selecting Featured Actions, you want to optimize for making the biggest impact while keeping it simple and clear-cut.

  • Choose this option if you anticipate running the campaign for more than three consecutive Hours of Action and expect some participants to attend every event, or nearly every event. This option works well for groups/chapters that are just starting out and have a consistent membership that will likely commit to regular attendance. You’ll want to choose the most high-leverage, clear-cut actions as your “Featured 3,” then add an expanded list of optional, “leveled up” actions for as many weeks as you plan to run the campaign. While all Climate Changemakers actions are designed to be completed in one hour or less with no preparation, some actions go “deeper” into strategic advocacy and require more mental dot-connecting. Here’s an example of an expanded Action Plan. The “Featured 3” should always be completed first.

To create your Action Plan, you’ll select from the policy playbook library on the Climate Changemakers Action Hub. The library can be filtered by level of government (e.g. federal, state, local) and estimated time required. As you browse the playbooks, ask yourself a few questions: 

  1. Which government officials have the power to enact my selected policy? Are they at the federal level (Congress or the president’s administration), the state level (governor’s administration, state legislature, or public utilities commission), or the local level (mayor, county officials, or city council)? 

  2. Is my policy better suited for an executive action or a change in the law? (If you’re using a Climate Changemakers Issue Briefing, you’ll find the answer under Clear Policy Ask).

  3. If you’re opting for sequential actions, do any actions jump out as a logical first step? We typically recommend contacting the decision-maker directly via email, phone, and/or social media for the very first action. 

If you feel stuck, a good formula that works for most policy solutions is to 1) contact the decision-maker directly, 2) ask a friend to take the same action, and 3) tell the world.

Sample Action Plans

Click here for an editable Template Action Plan Google Doc that you can customize and share at your Hour of Action.


➡️ Keep It Simple

Issue: Carbon Standards for Power Plants 
Featured Action: Submit a public comment to EPA 


➡️ 3 Featured Actions

Issue: Carbon Standards for Power Plants 
Featured Actions: 

  • Submit a public comment to EPA 

  • Write a letter to the editor 

  • Contact your member of Congress to help pressure EPA 


➡️ Extended Action Plan

Example 8-part Action Plan found on this campaign landing page.