Strategies for Building Community Awareness
Buzzwords like branding are being tossed around non-profit boardrooms a lot these days. Most organizations need to have awareness of their programming, services and needs in order to continue operating successfully over time. I think of that kind of awareness as your ‘internal loop’. But how much is known about you in the general public? The business community? Among other agencies within your field or parallel industries? Can you attract enough media support, potential clients, donors, volunteers or employees to your organization with your existing level of exposure? Depending on your group and specific objectives, this line of planning might be described as marketing, public relations or simply developing a higher profile within specific sectors.
So, what could this look like in your organization?
Step 1: Define the Goal
What does your organization want? Can you identify one or more objectives to focus on? These may be based on a vision for the future – a sort of ‘magic wand’ wish list, or simply drawn from a desire to resolve current challenges.
Here are some statements about goals for community awareness and participation as stated by the groups we have worked with through The Center for Board Development. Do any of them fit for you?
- To have more people in our community recognize our name, and understand the work we do
- To be able to attract more (quantity) or more (variety) of people (volunteers, employees, board members) with unique skills and experience to contribute to our group
- To educate a greater percentage of the general public by increasing subscriptions to our newsletter
- To identify specific sectors (eg. business, other health practitioners, media) where we would like to have a higher profile/interaction
- To understand where we fit in relation to our ‘competition’ in the minds of potential users of our services and/or funders
- To have support from our community in the form of ongoing donations and sponsors
- To have support/participation for a particular project, from the community or a specific sector
- To have our events well-attended, both internal (eg. AGM, industry-specific conferences) and public events (open house, press conference, dinner dance or other)
Part of deciding where you want to go is knowing where you are now. How are you perceived in the community? Within your sector? Do people know what programs you offer, the benefits, or criteria for service? How do they find this information?
Don’t assume you know. You may choose to invite input from your community of stakeholders; clients, your membership, neighboring businesses or organizations, employees, board members, funders, corporate donors or anyone who is impacted directly or indirectly by the work of your group. Can you host a Town Hall-style meeting? Send out an email questionnaire? Have a team of volunteers conduct an awareness survey in a mall or other high-traffic location?
Colette Acheson is an author, facilitator and award-winning business consultant. She is responsible for program development for The Center for Board Development and coordinates training and supports for board-governed organizations in Alberta through group workshops, on-site consultation, mentoring programs for individual board members and staff, and project management services.
Send your comments or questions to colette@boardcenter.ca or call toll free 1-877-327-3750
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