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Local governments often succeed when the people they serve are meaningfully engaged in the decision-making process. Whether it is to plant trees (or remove them), raise rates, change a policy, or add a new service—whatever it is—the best outcomes happen when the governed have a say in the governing. Our clients often ask us, but how do we get our community members to engage with us? Here are the top five strategies we’ve seen that yielded the greatest success for our clients.
When Austin Water (TX) conducted a cost-of-service study recently to determine fair and defensible rates for water and wastewater services, it asked its customers what was most important to them, such as preparedness and resiliency, equity and fairness, affordability, and stable and predictable rates. To receive feedback, Austin Water conducted 10 in-person open houses (one in each City Council District), one virtual Zoom meeting, a digital survey, three focus groups, and a neighborhood council meeting. Opportunities to participate reached 200,000 Austinites through traditional and social media, emails, and notices from Councilmembers. Through this, more than 400 voices were heard. Their feedback helped them recommend a rate structure to the City Council that customers backed, and the staff learned the best ways to reach its diverse community and where they need to focus more on messaging.
The City of Fairfax (VA) partnered with Fairfax County in a unique project to jointly redevelop an old health clinic into a new health and wellness community center. The challenge was to get input on the center’s design elements and features from the incredibly diverse community to be served across a vast geographic area. The City-County teams used a mix of engagement opportunities, like Austin Water, that also included virtual Zooms, in-person open houses, and digital surveys at both City and County websites. Open houses and Zoom sessions were offered on different days of the week, including Saturdays, and at different times. The City and County staff also engaged more than nine community groups and more than a dozen businesses to help reach traditionally underserved communities. Materials were available in multiple languages, and interpretation at meetings was offered upon request. More than 50,000 people were reached, and approximately 2,000 voices were heard. How their input was used was shared back with the community for full circle communications.
Following the pandemic, Charlotte Water (NC) wanted to reduce the number of its past due accounts to minimize the number of customers who would be shut off for non-payment. They had payment assistance programs to offer, but they weren’t sure who in the service area needed the help, so they didn’t know who to offer it to or how. To understand their audience, Charlotte Water sent a survey to all past-due accounts, they interviewed staff at partner agencies in the City’s social services departments, and they spoke to their 3-1-1 Call Center staff. From these efforts, a clear picture emerged of the audience most in need of payment assistance. With this very specific demographic information in hand, they could target their messages, the channels they used, and their overall approach. This effort helped Charlotte Water reduce their past due accounts to pre-pandemic levels.
A solid waste master plan study is a regulatory requirement for many communities. It’s about data, sustainability, and money. It’s also about quality of life, so a successful master plan must have input from the people using the system every day. Madera County (CA) recognized this and knew that most people wouldn’t likely respond to an invite to provide input into a solid waste master plan study. Instead, they invited the community to come “Talk Trash” with them. The County used imagery of trucks picking up bins along streets and dumping trash in landfills. They used common, descriptive language like, “that paper coffee cup you discarded this morning,” to connect the community to the study and its impact on their lives. On social media alone, the County reached more than 24,000 people, earned more than 21,700 impressions, and received more than 1,000 comments. The feedback helped shape how Madera County will plan solid waste and recycling services for the next decade.
Someone once said you can never overcommunicate. This is especially true when it comes to making sure all impacted stakeholders in your community know about big decisions coming up and the opportunities to engage in those decisions. After all, the most common phrase spoken at public hearings is, “we didn’t even know you were doing this.” The right amount of communication might feel crazy to you, but it will be at this crazy level of effort that your community will begin to hear you.
Each of the examples shared so far were success stories because the communications were frequent, consistent, targeted, and distributed across a variety of channels. Consider mailing more than once. Consider email and texting services. Consider advertising in print, online, on transit, and on roadside signs. Consider social media and remember that pictures and videos are watched more than text. Consider using ambassadors and partners in your community who can get the word out for you. Traditional media is still an option, along with streaming media and, of course, the use of influencer marketing.
The bottom line in all of this is to consider your audience when planning your program. Think about how your decisions may impact them. Think about what input or concerns they may have. Make the stakes crystal clear. Make the opportunities to engage easy and convenient. Then listen carefully and report back what you heard and how their input was considered. In the end, you will have more than community support for the decision—you’ll have their trust in you going forward.
To learn more about strategic communication, contact Samantha Villegas at svillegas@raftelis.com.
