Community Engagement

Contrary to common practice, community engagement is not showing up with a table at events to hand people candy or swag in return for your visitor picking up a pamphlet or signing up for an email list.

Community engagement is about building authentic relationships. And it doesn’t matter how different you are from the person you are engaging. It is about listening—learning about the people you meet and the community they live in. And it happens before you design the product or service. It happens before you write the grant. It needs to happen early and ongoing.

When it’s done right, you don’t need to do “outreach.” The people who know and trust you go to you, send their friends and family to you. It’s your job to stay active in that relationship, maintain trust, and let your client or community lead the way.

In order to be successful, the space you build for your customer or community member needs to be welcoming and interesting and it needs to accessible and frequently visible. What does this mean? It means community engagement goes far beyond a table at an event. It ranges from showing up to an event, knocking on doors, holding listening sessions or focus groups. launching surveys, providing free resources and information, cleaning up streets, hanging posters, and more. And each strategy is unique to your organization and customer.

Engaged Communities is here to learn about your organizations and goals and to provide the expertise and strategies you need to build strong relationships within your community, with your customers, and even your employees so you can co-create a future together that benefits everyone.

Are you ready to engage?