What you say and how you say it matter. Why? Because image matters.
We offer an assortment of communication packages for our School District and Municipal clients. Regardless if you have communications staff or not; or need to outsource your communication needs to a trusted partner, Avakian Consulting can help.
In helping clients communicate with their community, we focus and utilize professional, high quality survey research to arrive at tried and tested themes that resonate. Doing so helps save you time, money and resources. It also keeps you from spinning your wheels and keeps you engaged in your community.
Community engagement is not about sending out one piece of mail, blast email or a Tweet. It is about having an ongoing communication with your community and/or its shareholders. It takes on many forms and it never stops. At no point in our history has so much money been spent to grab just 30 seconds of your attention. If you are not engaging your community someone else is, and they will not always have your best interests at heart. We can help you keep the engagement going and counter and opposition you might have.
Often, that is the result of opposition within the community to the development. Opposition that causes the local decision-making bodies to believe that the community is against the project and that they may be defeated in the next election if they approve it.
This is the kind of opposition that can kill a project.
Avakian Consulting can help you deal with local opposition in a proactive way that can help get the approvals needed. We will re-assure the local leaders that they can approve your project by finding and motivating supporters.
Let us study your situation and use our years of political and community organizing experience to help you get your project approved and under way.
Situation: After three failed levy attempts, Sidney City Schools, a rural school district in Shelby County Ohio, was desperate to pass a $9.9 million operating levy, or risk a state takeover. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and under the guidance and direction of Avakian Consulting, a tenacious and dedicated group called M.O.M.S., (Moms on a Mission to Save Sidney Schools), made it their mission to talk to every parent, and non-parents alike, about the schools’ grim future pending another levy failure.
Intervention: Survey research results and focus group findings showed that passing any kind of new money initiative in Sidney would be a tremendous and challenging task due to tough economic times and staggering unemployment in Shelby County. Meanwhile, parents and business leaders were realizing that reviving the areas economy would be almost impossible if the levy continued to lose – ultimately causing a state takeover of the schools, which according to survey research data, the majority of the community did not want. Survey data was also showing that most parents and community members were feeling disheartened and disengaged from the schools. This information prompted the M.O.M.S. group, led by Avakian, to develop and implement a plan to re-connect, re-engage, and inform with a critical message: there’s no tomorrow for our school if the levy loses again on November 3.
Resolution: Our firm, using data from survey results and M.O.M.S. as messengers, developed a grassroots plan that invited and engaged enthusiastic volunteers who all jumped on board the mission to save the schools. They showed up at events wherever parents gathered, and used palmcards, phone banks, Facebook, letters and ribbons to communicate important key messages. Eventually, most residents felt the impact and the enormous importance of the issue. The M.O.M.S. group accomplished something critical that eventually led to overwhelming support at the polls. Spreading the word that Sidney is too great a community to turn its back on children was mission accomplished for M.O.M.S. After some controversy that resulted in a recount, the $9.9 million levy won by just one vote. No one can deny that the M.O.M.S. golden effort and cooperation made the difference that led to this victory.
Situation: The client was a large local grocery chain in a big metro area, which has just one direct competitor. That competitor was increasing their efforts to reach higher-end customers and take market share from the client. That competitor has just opened a new 80,000 square foot superstore with high-end departments and offerings. This requires that the client build a new store at a completely new site close enough to their competitor to retain their market share, especially in the more profitable high-end products. However, the neighborhood is very dense already and the client was able to secure just one site for the new store after four years of quietly purchasing smaller, adjacent commercial properties. Local officials told them that the residential neighbors would be opposed.
This site was the only one that worked for the client and they had to develop it. They recognized that they needed to deal with the neighborhood opposition and mollify it at least enough for the local officials to be willing to support the development in the face of that opposition.
Intervention: The client understood that they needed outside help. The client’s real estate department was more used to dealing with residents in the context of land acquisition, not community relations. However, they were very willing to try due to the importance of the particular site. A plan was developed that created a partnership of the client’s people and outside professionals. This group spent time in the neighborhood listening to people to find just what their objections were to the new store. This included lots of door-to-door and small group meetings once we found some allies willing to host them. It also involved reaching beyond what might be considered the affected area to find residents who would show support. The local officials understood that having the new store in their jurisdiction meant increased tax revenue and wanted to support it but would not do so if they felt it would hurt them politically.
Resolution: Based on the information gathered during the intensive outreach, very small changes (which the client could live with) were made to the store’s footprint, parking lot and access. These changes satisfied some neighbors living near the site, but not all of those opposed to the plan. While there were still opponents, many of whom were quite vocal, we found enough supporters (and quieted enough of the initial opponents) that the local officials felt comfortable in approving the project.
Situation: A suburban school district just came off a landslide victory in November following a tough May election loss. Although the election win was solid, the school district was under constant scrutiny from a demanding public. The community expects a lean and efficient budget operation that provides a high quality education. The district knew it had to keep telling their story and maintain its support base even when they were not on the ballot.
Intervention: Knowing they needed to utilize outreach and messaging experts, the district hired Avakian Consulting to assist with a comprehensive communications plan. Under Avakian Consulting’s guidance, the district established a “key communicators” group to assist with getting the message out about the goal of efficiency and to help deal with communication crisis situations on an as-needed basis. They also established regular communications through monthly op-eds in the local newspapers and regular communications with parents through school buildings and “backpack express” letters. All avenues emphasized the district‘s dual goals of striving for lean operations while maintaining excellent schools.
Resolution: The community is receiving regular, positive information from the district about its financial priorities – not just during levy times. The district is prepared and proactive when challenges arise with an established group of “key communicators” ready to assist with messaging. They are succeeding in maintaining strong momentum and community support of the schools through consistent communication and continuous outreach.
