Communicating Your Cause WINGSForum 2010 Communicating Your Cause

Vital Signs: Taking the Pulse of Canadian Communities Annual program built around a report on quality if life Implemented locally by members; nationally by CFC Common data and indicators Issued same day across Canada, close to elections Launches year round activity

Goals of program Bring data to citizens in simple and accessible language Include citizens in discussion of issues Inspire conversations about community/ issues Inform donors about community priorities

Goals of Program (cont.) Inform community foundations, media, organizations Inform and influence debate among policy makers Help shape public policy Position community foundations and CFC as knowledge centres

Elements of Program Research and data collection on ten key issue areas and numerous indicators Local process for citizen engagement National process for citizen engagement through polling National and local reports that are easy to read and accessible

Elements of Program (cont.) Local and national media strategies Community dialogue throughout the year Community foundation strategies around findings Full membership prepared for launch day

Media strategy – the key to success CFC leads national media and supports local media strategy Agree with members on key national messages, based on research/data Develop strategy to include print, broadcast and social media Implement media campaign starting with media alert well before report released Engage a media specialist for a few days work

Media strategy – the key to success (cont.) Contract a media monitoring agency Recruit high-profile bloggers/commentators Circulate embargoed reports to media/ key people/gov’t Brief CEO for interviews One week later, an insert in Canada’s national newspaper A second week later release national poll

Outcomes of Media Strategy Top story in local news all day of launch Close to top story in national news in broadcast and print media Interviews (all forms) day before report publicly released Story lives on; no longer just one day media event Raised profile for Community foundation profile Collective action multiplies impact

Key learnings Importance of working closely with CFC members to complement, not compete Media loves new data or new twist on old data Three weeks in row of news from CFC may be too much. Lead up work with media is important; relationships kept year round To build awareness of VS/CF connection (brand), takes several years in a row

Challenges Balancing interests/expectations of members (local) and national (CFC) Capacity - financial and human Ensuring freshness – hard to find new data Measuring success, especially in public policy area Can’t control the story once it is in media hands