Outreach Methods: How to Increase Community Engagement for your Nonprofit
No. 1 Rule to Increase Engagement.
Human beings are naturally social creatures. We strive to make connections. Community engagement and outreach are especially important for building a successful nonprofit. Not only to gain recognition but to become a recognized and respected part of the community.
This is an opportunity to form relationships with fellow community members and to encourage people to support your cause. At the end of the day, outreach is about the human experience.
Diversify Your Approach.
It’s important to understand the type of audience you are trying to reach. Try to think about their motivations and their challenges to better understand how to create a message that will resonate with them. Consider how to implement methods to increase engagement with this audience.
Resorting to email as the only form of outreach is not advised. Mix it up a little and incorporate phone calls, networking, and even snail mail into your approach. Traditional mail is often overlooked, but if you can give your audience something that is tangible and starts a conversation, they’re likely to remember you.
By being transparent about your values and intentions, your audience will have that initial reaction to trust your organization and ideally seek out more information. Here are nine tips to consider when thinking about how to increase your engagement.
Top Nine Tips to Consider:
- Encourage discussion to forge relationships
- Participate in local events
- Be a partner for your community
- Target the leaders on the ground
- Use your space to inform your neighbors
- Leverage the community for knowledge
- Let ambassadors lead the way
- Be consistent and get involved
- Create mutually beneficial opportunities
To break it all down, what is most important to consider when building a successful outreach approach is creating a human connection. Go out into the community, talk to people, ask questions, attend networking events, get on the ground floor and engage with industry thought-leaders. This process will help you to understand what they value as well as give you the opportunity to connect with local ambassadors and form relationships that will be mutually beneficial. Now get out there and start making some connections!
We would love to hear your opinion on Nonprofits that you think are rockstars with their outreach.
Comment or reach out to us with your thoughts!
