Download Communication is the Key

Building Community
Support
-Communication is the Key
Delivered by
Caroline Egan
Consultant & External Relations Manager
Carmichael Centre for Voluntary Groups
Quick Rule of Thumb
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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
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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?
C & V Groups
VEC, FAS, LEADER,
HSE, Childcare
Committees,
Taskforces, Council
Staff
Funders
Schools, Adult
Education, Sporting
Orgs, Voluntary Assoc,
Charities, Religious
Orders, Retirement
Homes, Hospitals
You!
Politicians
Councillors, T.D.s,
MEPs, PA secretaries
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
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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