5 Tips to Strengthening Community Engagement
Community engagement can mean different things to different people, but for purposes of this blog post we’ll keep it simple. For us, community engagement is working with the goal of making people aware of our organization and our organization’s efforts – as well as inspiring them to take actions that align with our climate action mission. The number of people that are following you on social media and sharing your posts, that are subscribed to your newsletter, that attend your events, that volunteer their time, that recognize you in the community, and that take action are just some of the metrics measuring community engagement.
If you’re looking to ramp up community engagement in your organization, the following tips could be helpful in achieving this goal.
Tip number one: It all starts with the message and the tone of the message.
In order to reach the broadest group of people of different ages, economic statuses, political beliefs, and neighborhoods, we believe that a positive, engaging tone is the most impactful. We refer to this as a Positive Urgency – meaning there’s a subtle urgency, but everything is communicated in a lighthearted manner. Nobody wants to hear about ‘gloom and doom’. People want to have fun, so use that to your advantage.
From your social posts, to your presentations, to your flyers, and your events, they should all have a consistent, ‘fun’ tone.
Number two. Provide hyper-local information.
People want to know about things relevant to their lives and surroundings. They want to know what they can do, what services are available, what the best options are in their community. And specific to the sustainability topic, community members want to know what transportation options are available, where they can get native plants, which local businesses are ‘green’, and who to call for a heat pump quotation. By keeping your information local, you’ll increase engagement ten-fold. Certainly there are valuable tips/actions that are generic but when most things are specific and unique to your community the unique resonance with community members can lead to increased action.
Number three: Meet people where they are.
Meet people where they are geographically, financially, and where they are on their own personal sustainability journey. Not everyone is in a position to install solar panels or buy an EV (electric vehicle), but everyone can reduce their use of electricity by turning off the lights. Everybody can reuse grocery bags, everyone can use a water bottle, everyone can give away clothes that they no longer need. So meet people where they are. Every little step, no matter how big or how small, makes a difference and helps people feel like they are part of a network that is all working to be more sustainable.
Number four: Help people work as a group.
Many people, maybe most people, don’t like to act alone or feel that they’re acting alone. They like to know that others are working to build a more sustainable community as well. They like to know what the City is doing. They like to know what their neighbors are doing. They like to know what their schools are doing. They like to know that they are not acting alone. By creating events and programs that are group oriented or, at a minimum, transparent, you can achieve this ‘group’ feeling.
And number five: Allow people to check multiple boxes.
Most people have a busy lifestyle; they are running here, they’re running there, they’re working, driving around kids, running errands, and cooking meals. Most people don’t have extra time in their schedule to go to an event (or sit on a webinar) that is solely focused on a certain sustainability topic (i.e. composting). So set up events, set up opportunities within their normal routines or events that allow them to check multiple boxes. For example, create an event like a carnival (like the Pumpkin Smash in Beverly) that allows community members to check five or six boxes. Let the kids burn off steam by running around outside, be in nature and breath fresh air, do something fun and entertaining – like smashing pumpkins, listen to live music, drink a beer with friends. This is what a Pumpkin Smash looks and feels like!
By following these top five tips, your Community Engagement efforts will soon be on fire! I can guarantee that with some effort you will have hundreds to thousands of followers on social media, you will be able to deliver events that attract hundreds to thousands of people, and you will soon get to a point of having hundreds to thousands of people in your community that are actively shifting their behaviors and creating habits for a more sustainable lifestyle and more sustainable communities.
I’m sure that there are many more tips out there. What have you found to be successful in your own community to engage people and to inspire action?