2009 is going to be a touch year not just for you, but for me and many others supporting campaigning and e-campaigning. So I'll make you a deal: you tell me what you are likely to want/need in 2009 to help you get through the year and I (and others who read this) will try and provide it.

The State of Campaigning

The need for campaigning doesn't decrease when there is a recession - it gets greater. Globall, regionally, nationally and locally the planet and more people will need defending though campaigning than in 2008 Your going to need to defend against government budget cuts, donation declines and a decline in attention to environmental and social issues.

Conclusion: campaigning will be more critcal than ever.

How Can I (and others like me) Help?

I set-up FairSay to help more organisations have access to my e-campaigning skills, knowledge and networks than I could working inside any one campaigning organisation. I've identified critical gaps in e-campaigning and organised FairSay's services to help you ge the most out of e-campaigning and minimise the risk. That should be even more valuable in a recession as you don't have time to waste time and money doing things that don't work.

However now that I am outside the day-to-day operations of any campaigning organisation (I used to be in Oxfam GB), I don't know if what I can provide is what you want/need. If I am to help you succeed, you need to tell me what you need.

Next Steps...

Here's how we can prepare for 2009:

1. Comment below as to what types of things you think you'll need in 2009
2. I'll compile those into a number of key options
3. I'll launch a poll to help gauge opinion on what is the most/least important
4. Everyone will be able to view the results - so we'll all learn from it