building community support -communication is the key
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Building Community Support -Communication is the Key. Delivered by Caroline Egan Consultant & External Relations Manager Carmichael Centre for Voluntary Groups. Quick Rule of Thumb. 10% of community members will support you 5 – 10% of community members will oppose you - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Building Community Support
-Communication is the Key
Delivered by
Caroline EganConsultant & External Relations Manager
Carmichael Centre for Voluntary Groups
Quick Rule of Thumb
10% of community members will support you
5 – 10% of community members will oppose you
Remaining 75 – 80% are undecided (silent majority)
WIN OVER THE SILENT MAJORITY!
Building Community Support – The Key Steps Know the community. Who’s affected or interested? Who
should be? Keep the community informed. Information should be
open, honest and timely Invite the public to express views and give feedback Keep in touch with people – informal communication Build relationships with the media Let the public learn more – hold open house events Circulate information through other organisations
(reference centres) Circulate fact sheets with “tear off” response options If public is hostile, prepare well and hold a public forum
Know your Community- Community Mapping
The maps become a source of collective knowledge about place – a level of knowledge that no single individual, corporation, or government agency is ever likely to match. This leads to empowerment, and to decisions about growth and development that better helps us to achieve the goals that most of us share: social justice and ecological sustainability (Aberley, 2002)
Mapping the Locality. Who can help? Who are the opinion leaders?
Funders Politicians
C & V Groups
You!
Schools, Adult Education, Sporting Orgs, Voluntary Assoc, Charities, Religious Orders, Retirement Homes, Hospitals
Councillors, T.D.s, MEPs, PA secretaries
VEC, FAS, LEADER, HSE, Childcare Committees, Taskforces, Council Staff
Who do you need to communicate with in your community?
EXERCISE: Who are the top ten
people you need to influence? How do you influence these people? What is in the relationship for these key people?
Communication Issues
Communication is more likely to be effective if the source is perceived to have expertise or is likeable
The communication process starts with a clear concept of the organisation’s identity
Organisations must consider not alone how people are to be reached but how people can reach the organisation
Employees, directors and volunteers must be aligned around the organisation’s identity