AJWS Social Movement Tool_vers3_ENG.xlsx

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2	In 2016, American Jewish World Service (AJWS) developed and launched a new tool for funders to better understand the strength and health of social movements to inform our human rights funding strategies. Since 2019, the tool has gone through a period of iterative review and adaptation to better support directly the needs of social movement actors and those of funders supporting progressive social movements across the globe.
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4	WHY A TOOL FOR REFLECTING ON THE STATE OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS?
5	The tool is designed to help social movement actors and supporters (such as donor organizations) assess and reflect on the state of their movement, to better understand who is participating, how the movement is led, and how it achieves its goals. These insights can then contribute to the development of strategies and future growth of the movement. The tool is not meant to evaluate a movement, but rather provide a framework for social movement actors and supporters to take stock on the state of the movement and facilitate systematic reflection on different aspects that contribute to the strength of the movement and the achievement of its goals.
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7	WHAT DOES THE TOOL EXAMINE?
8	The tool features 23 questions focused on assessing each movement according to the characteristics of successful social movements. Questions require participants to choose from a 5-point scale that includes descriptions presenting possible scenarios for each point on the scale. We have organized characteristics of social movements into three critical domains:
9	BASE: To gain power and momentum, social movements need a critical mass of diverse participants, including those most affected by the issue at hand, who believe the overall movement—its mission, leaders, tactics, etc.—is credible and worthy of their involvement.
10	STRUCTURE: To authentically engage and represent participants and ensure sustainability, social movement leaders need to foster democratic communication and coordination and support other people directly affected by the issue to take on meaningful decision-making and leadership roles.
11	STRATEGY: To create lasting change, social movements need to have clear, collective agendas, engage influential people and allied groups, and strategically use a variety of tactics—research, coalition building, demonstrations, communications, advocacy, litigation, etc.—in a responsive, timely manner.
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13	BASE	STRUCTURE	STRATEGY
14	Diversity of participants	Channels for participation	Agenda setting
15	Critical mass mobilized	Leadership by affected populations	Integration of new or contentious issues in the agenda
16	Role of people most affected by the issue	Distributed leadership	Strategic actions taken
17	Narrative and mobilization of public opinion	Culture of democratic decision-making	Joint learning and planning
18		Communication and coordination between movement actors	“Fit for purpose” strategies
19		Culture of self and collective care and wellbeing	External collaboration and engagement
20		Resilience to external shocks	Monitoring and responding to strategic opportunities
21		Resource mobilization
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23	HOW IS THE TOOL APPLIED?
24	The tool can be applied in two different settings: in a convening of social movement actors and by funders as part of reflecting on and developing strategies for supporting social movements. In both cases, it is of paramount importance to provide framing that the utility of the tool is for structured and systematic reflection on the social movement and not for evaluating it. Its purpose it to inform strategic action by stakeholders. The tool may trigger defensive responses by certain movement actors, so it is important early on to make clear the need for keeping an open mind and considering different viewpoints in the reflection.
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26	Convening of social movement actors:
27	AJWS has also developed a participatory methodology that can be utilized by social movement actors for completing the tool. The tool can be applied in a face-to-face gathering of social movement actors but also in a remote or hybrid setting depending on the circumstances and context. When the application of the tool is done by a group of actors of a particular social movement, it is crucial to include diverse viewpoints and perspectives of the movement. The methodology provides guidance for how to ensure that a diversity of voices is included in the assessment and reflection process to avoid the perpetuation and recycling of existing biases within a movement and invite a fresh look at the issues affecting it. During the convening, social movement actors respond to the different items to the tool, responses are analyzed and key themes for joint reflection are selected, which are then examined in detail using a selection of participatory methods and tools in a workshop setting.
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29	Funders:
30	The tool can be completed by the corresponding program officer and in-country representative, where applicable, together with one or two grantee partners that participate in the movement. Grantee partners are selected based on their availability and interest in participating in the reflection. Each participant first completes the tool individually, then the group reviews item-by-item together and decide on a final collective answer by consensus. If the tool is meant to be completed as part of an organization-wide reflection process, it may be burdensome to involve grantee partners for each movement. Program officers can decide when they should involve grantee partners in the process.
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32	HOW WAS THE TOOL DEVELOPED?
33	The tool was initially developed in 2016 at AJWS with the support of an internal working group. The tool was tested with AJWS staff and in two pilot convenings with social movement actors and supporters. Since 2019, the tool has been reviewed, tested and iteratively adapted. Following a documentation process of lessons learned, an extensive literature review on the characteristics of successful movements, and detailed feedback from experts, funders and social movement actors, it is currently in its third version. A participatory methodology for its application by social movement actors was also iteratively developed and has been tested with a social movement in Senegal in a remote setting, due to restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Before the end of the project in 2024, the tool and methodology will be implemented in additional convenings with social movement actors and will be used by AJWS staff for informing the organization’s strategies in support of social movements across the globe. An Advisory Body of experts on social movements has provided expert input on the refinement of the tool and accompanying participatory methodology.
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