There's no magic to this sustainability method. It's a process that never stops and can make the difference for your programs long term success (and success includes being in operation to serve new children). Community leaders (elected, appointed or opinion leaders) need to know you exist, how many families are served, what the outcomes are, and success stories with students. Project coordinators will need to orchestrate this communication and engagement. School principals and others in the neighborhood can be a part of your communication effort. Do this early in the program's life and do it often. Community leaders have a lot of problems they are asked to solve, so they need to be reminded that afterschool programs are a valuable community resource that should not be allowed to languish. You may have to piece together 5 different funding streams, where you used to have just one big grant. However, in the end, you'll still be operating and serving children.
Do you know the following people? superintendent of schools, president of the school board, head of the city parks and recreation Department, programs manager for United Way or equivalent, neighborhood leader liaison from your mayor's office, your city council person, your state legislator and your state senator. Who else may be important to know? Who do you know that knows them? Enlist the help of others in order for the communication and engagement to take root. Set up a face to face meeting. Sending them your newsletter or a letter will not be sufficient. You want them to think of your program, every time they think about afterschool programs. See tools for sustainability on www.afterschoolalliance.org website. Look for sustainability tools on the left side of the homepage.
Friday, March 2, 2007
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2 comments:
Hi Janelle,
I think you make a great point that you want your community leaders (especially those that have access to resources) to think of you/your program, and meeting F2F is a good way to remind them/educate them about your work. But I'd add that BEFORE you request a meeting, make sure you're clear on what you're bringing that makes THEIR life/work/project/organization better and easier. For example, if you are meeting with the police chief, be sure you know how many kids are at-risk or are court involved in your program. You are helping those kids stay out of trouble, which helps the police do their job. The topic you'd want to discuss with the police is "how can we work more effectively together to keep kids safe?" And you need to think this through before asking them for a spot on their no-doubt overfilled calendar, I think.
Thanks Janelle for your great comments. This is a nice follow-up to the work you did at the Sustainability Institute last fall about the importance of engaging community leaders.
It's always a great reminder that one cannot overestimate the importance of building relationships.
I'll never forget the time when a friend of the former Senate Ways and Means Vice Chair spoke to him about supporting funding for a human services program while they were fishing together. Not a big surprise, the program was funded! Sometimes face-to-face meetings can take many forms.
Thanks again for your comments.
Deb
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