We’re bringing people together in community to convince organisations to publicly cut ties with deadly banks – by switching accounts to more ethical alternatives or ending sponsorship deals. Everyone is connected to different communities and every community has different types of organisations that they could target. 

Communities can be based on location, interests, beliefs, workplaces and many other things. Every community has its different targets, ways of influencing institutions, and networks that can support our campaigns. Which communities have you got connections to? Where do you work, study, or socialise? What about the people around you – who do they know? 

Here are some of the communities people are already organising in: Charities, Faith, Health, LGBTQI+, Local Government, Schools, Sports, Events, Unions and Universities.

Communities can be based on location, interests, beliefs, workplaces and many other things. Every community has its different targets, ways of influencing institutions, and networks that can support our campaigns. Which communities have you got connections to?

Here are some of the communities people are already organising in: Charities, Faith, Health, LGBTQI+, Local Government, Schools, Sports, Events, Unions and Universities.

Once you’ve decided which community you can have an impact on, it’s time to pick an organisation in that community to target. You can find information on who lots of organisations bank with on our map tool. 

You may consider the following things: 

Which organisations may be easier to shift? What information do we have about existing organisations – do we know who they bank with already? What impact would a switch from this organisation have – do they hold a lot of money, or are they particularly influential in their community or sector? Do we have any personal connections to this organisation that may help us convince them to switch? 

Some organisations, especially larger ones, have complex banking arrangements and will be harder to move. Starting with easier targets is a good way to build momentum in your community, but you should not be afraid to try and shift a more difficult target – with a good strategy and enough collective power, even large organisations are moveable! 

You may need to do some research at this stage to answer some of these questions. Our resources page has some information about how to do this, or you can get in touch with us at bankbetter@tippingpointuk.org for support and advice on researching your targets.

It’s almost impossible to run a campaign on your own, and the biggest wins always come from building collective power. If you’re part of an existing group, ask if they want to run an organisational boycott campaign: they can be a particularly useful tool for those organising for climate justice, Palestinian liberation, and migrant justice. 

If you’re not part of an existing group, or think this work is better placed elsewhere, speak to people you know (and other people in your community) to get a core group of people together who can run a campaign. We are in touch with many communities across the whole of the UK – if you are struggling to find folk to organise with, get in touch, and we’ll see who we can connect you to!

Your strategy is a plan for achieving your goal: how will you convince your target organisation to drop their deadly bank? This will vary depending on who you are and who you are targeting. 

For smaller organisations, or those who already care about their ethics, it may be possible to convince them to switch banks simply by asking and engaging in a conversation. For larger or less on-board organisations, it is likely that you will have to build and show power. You may consider asking yourself: 

What does this organisation care about? Could it be their image, their profit, or their success? What could we do to impact the things this organisation cares about? How do we make it so that the organisation doesn’t just ignore us? Which named individuals make decisions in this organisation? What tactics can we use to impact them? 

Tipping Point can support with strategy development, including through 121 conversations with activists and bespoke strategy workshops.

You can book a workshop with people in your area to help build your group and campaign.

Campaigns work best when a range of voices comes together to ask your target to drop deadly banks. Consider which industries the bank you are trying to drop finances, and reach out to groups organising in those struggles. For example, if you are a climate group trying to get an organisation to drop HSBC, you may think about reaching out to your local migrant justice group to ask if they’d like to collaborate with your work. 

Some groups might be up for becoming proactively involved in your campaign and you could co-organise events and actions. For other groups, banks may not be a priority but they do reject them in principle so they may be up for signing a letter or promoting your actions.

The larger and more diverse your coalition, the more convincing it will be. So keep on adding new voices along the way, with the understanding that our struggles are all linked.

Before you go public with your campaign, contact the people making the decisions at your target organisation to discuss the issue with them. Make sure you make what you want clear (that they switch from Bank X to a more ethical bank), and that you clearly lay out the reasons why you want this (Bank X funds genocide, the climate crisis, etc). You can find a template letter to reach out to your target organisation in our resources page. 

Your target organisation might commit to drop the deadly bank before you even launch a public campaign. This would be an easy win, and should be celebrated! 

If they don’t commit to drop, ignore you, or give you a hostile response, you can escalate your campaign. Make sure to keep engaging with your target organisation at every step in the process.

Top Tip: Showcase similar organisations that have already moved.

If the decision-makers at your target are resistant to moving straight away, then you’ll need to go public and show that there is wide support for your demands. While the steps before this are important, don’t spend too much time on them – start doing stuff, get people talking about the issue, and start building some momentum. 

There are loads of things you can do to show public support including: starting a petition and getting people in your community to sign it, getting a story in the media about the campaign, and asking allied groups to sign an open letter.

We can host your petitions and open letter – so that you can email the people who sign-up.

Consider getting out, in person, so that your target organisation notices your campaign. A simple way of doing this is to host a picket or protest outside their main office or building. This could be as simple as holding a couple of banners and placards! 

Make sure you engage with people entering the building to try and get them on board, and take good photos of the action. If your target doesn’t have a great office location, then try your local shopping street or go door to door in your streets, chatting to your neighbours and asking them to sign your petition.

Running a creative protest is a great way to get some local media attention. It doesn’t have to be a big action – it could be something simple.

Getting creative is also a great way to get more people involved. You can run fun sessions where you come up with exciting ideas, make banners and props and have a social after the action.

Pictures tell stories so think about what the image you want to make is and how that links to your demands. We can help you plan an action if you’ve not done this before.

If they’ve still not boycotted deadly banks, then you’ll need to think about how you can increase the pressure on your target.

There are loads of other ways you can make sure your campaign doesn’t slip off the organisation’s radar, including letter writing, phone calls, through social media and going back to do more creative actions and pickets.

The four key ways you can build pressure are: getting more people involved, increasing the diversity of voices in your movement, taking more regular actions, and increasing the disruptiveness of your actions.

Every time an institution ditches a deadly bank we can use this to help increase the pressure on other targets. We’ll announce wins through the WhatsApp group so keep an eye out. Help get the word out on social media and let your target know.

When your campaign wins make sure you let us know so we can help you to spread the word and maximise your impact.

As well as making every bank boycott as public as possible, we want to make sure the banks know about why customers are leaving. We can support organisations with their public announcements and communications. 

Take the time to celebrate. Then pick another target!