Here are 10 areas of analysis that you can use in the process of strategy development:

1. Clarifying goals. What are the main problems and conditions that you want to address through actions, campaigns and organizing? What are the causes of the problems? What are the solutions you want to push for?

2. Identifying issues that are linked to your goals. What issue or issues can you organize around that will help build toward the goal?

3. Clarifying who must be involved in the struggle for social change to achieve these goals. Who is the main constituency? Does it include those who are directly affected by the problems you are trying to address? If not, why not? Who are your allies are what role will they play? Are there any "friendly" people among the powerful who could be involved, at some level?

4. Assessing your members' and constituents' political consciousness. How do they currently understand the issues, the causes, and the possible solutions? Is the issues one that resonates with them? What might hold them back from getting involved? What kind of education and analysis do you need to do with the members, constituents and allies?

5. Framing and frame analysis. What are the terms of the debate around these issues and how will you impact the debate? What are your members and constituents currently thinking and how will you develop their capacity to understand the issues differently?

6. Analyzing Power. Who has the power to block you, or to help you achieve changes? How do they exercise their power and which dimensions? What kinds of power do you have and how will you use it?

7. Assessing opportunities and constraints. What resources do you have? How best can you use those resources? What is missing, that you will need to get, in order to advance your goals? What problems exist within your organization that you need to address in order to do this work more effectively?

8. Identifying arenas of struggle. What institutions are involved in the problems or issues you are working on? Where do you need to focus your attention? Who are the main targets in these arenas?

9. Choosing the tactics you will use? Strategic analysis should help us make choices about which tactics are appropriate to use at any given moment, depending on the levels of goals we have, the arenas of struggle, who needs to be involved in the campaign, and our timeframe. A good practice is to develop criteria for choosing and evaluating tactics.

Does it unify your constituency and involve them in taking action?

Is it flexible and creative?

Does it make sense to your members? Will they support the action?

Are you clear about the target(s) of the action?

Does it build on your strengths while exposing your opponents' weaknesses?

How does it build your power as an organization? How does it confront the power of your opponents?

Does it build the political consciousness of your constituents and challenge the dominate frame. or terms of the debate?

Does it involve trade-offs that you may regret later?

Is it consistent with your goals?

10. Evaluating and re-evaluating, as you go along. As a part of ongoing analysis, education and evaluation for members and leaders, involve as many people as you can in the process of evaluating actions and readjusting strategy.

(Each part is interactive with the other parts. Changes in one area will affect all the others. Therefore, the process of analysis, action and reflection is more like a circle than a line.)