Now that you've learned about all the incredible actions you can take to help children around the world, you've got to get to work. One of the most important things that you have to do in the beginning is make sure that it is okay with your administration to plan these campaigns, and to mobilize them in your school. Although normally you may tend to be upset with these people for assigning you homework, administrators can be very helpful in planning and implementing your campaign...but you've got to get them on your side!

Your first step is to start by telling your friends and chapter members about the campaign so that they can get excited and help you brainstorm your approach. Amongst your group of friends or chapter members, decide who will talk to the adults and teachers at your school.

The next step is to educate yourselves about the issue that your campaign is centered around. When you meet with administrators they will be judging you, in part, based on whether or not you can be trusted to responsibly run a campaign, and the more you know about your topic, the more they will respect and trust you. Make sure to involve as many as you can in the research process. Everyone will have something positive to contribute!

Make sure to find these key things in your research:

• Basic facts about your issue
• More in-depth research on whatever topic interests you the most (example: when you are researching children and war you can narrow your study to landmines, child soldiers in Colombia, etc.)
• The history and the current situation that centers around your topic
• Stories about real people affected by the problem
• Actions that people can take to help solve the issue
• If you are working in partnership with an organization, make sure that you know some basic information about that organization

As you are researching, keep thinking of questions that people will ask you, and make sure to research the answers. Your goal is to know the information well enough to educate others and answer any questions they may have.

Next, find a supportive teacher or administrator that can help you as a liaison to the rest of the administration. If you do not have anyone in mind, some good teachers to go to are teachers of foreign languages, history, or leadership since it is very possible that they are involved in current affairs. It's important that you go to this person with the campaign before you go directly to the principal, because if the principal says no, that word is final, but if the teacher says no you can still find other supportive teachers. You may want to see if you can get a group of teachers together that will help you, but if you only have one, that's fine too.

After you find a teacher that's willing to help, you have to get ready to present your idea to the principal. First, start to plan some of the details of your campaign. This way, when you present your campaign to the principal you will be able to answer any questions that he/she has. Include your advisor in planning, because he/she will be able to gage the reaction of the principal to many of your ideas. Also, make your plan flexible because there may be some things the principal will need to change in order to allow it.

Once you've made a basic plan of how your campaign will run, start to put together some visual aides to use. Do you want to give them a flier, handouts, show them a video? If so, have those ready. Try to anticipate his/her concerns and come up with solutions for them. When you feel confident that you have planned everything well, schedule a meeting with your principal. If you don't know how to do this, ask your advisor.

When the meeting is scheduled and ready, make sure that you have a group of students who will go to the meeting together, and make sure that everyone knows the points that they are covering. Dress neatly, and be extremely courteous. When you are in the meeting just remember that you're there to sell your idea! Outline all the benefits of the campaign to the student body and the larger community. If you think she/he will be difficult to convince, prepare and bring in a list of names of all the students who are interested in the campaign.

Hopefully at this point the principal will say yes(!!!) to your campaign. However, if they don't, do not leave with the answer no. Instead, take down a list of all their concerns with the campaign, and then request a meeting at a later date to present solutions to those problems (which you will then come up with). Whether the answer is yes or no, make sure you still thank them for their time.

Once your principal has agreed to house the campaign in your school, be sure to thank her/him especially profusely! Any time you give a presentation or when you talk to the media, be sure to give thanks to your school and to your principal - let people know how supportive he/she has been. When the campaign runs smoothly and you have given recognition to the administration's support, you are more likely to get their support in the future!

Throughout the campaign, be sure to keep your principal and the appropriate administrative personnel informed each step of the way. A good way to keep everyone out of the dark is to ask to do an announcement, to have an announcement read at faculty meetings, or to place an announcement in the handouts that get sent to administrators. Get permission early on in the campaign process to hold an all-school assembly or to give talks in individual classes. Make sure you have permission to set up displays, posters, flyers, etc. Your display ideas may be against school rules, so be sure to check with administration before you go forward with your ideas!

On a final note, make sure to always look at your administrators as allies, not enemies. You are doing something extremely good for the school and for people around the world. Just keep reminding yourselves and the administration of that and you will get along fine!