To effectively expand your reach into the community, identify and connect with community partners. First create a list of contacts from those partners, which can range from individual community champions and cheerleaders to civic groups and organizations. For example:
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Chamber of commerce
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Local sports leagues
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Schools and PTOs
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Civic organizations
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Religious institutions
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Local businesses
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Veteran’s groups
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Local media
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Homeowners’ associations
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Local leaders and bloggers
Once you connect with a contact, let them know about Polco and your desire to engage the community on important issues, projects and priorities. Ask them to help spread the word within their organizations as well as with other friends and colleagues. Offer to give a presentation at one of their meetings, and follow up occasionally to remind them. When you are at the meeting, suggest that members create an account on Polco and subscribe to your community’s or organization’s profile. We find that community partners are often excited to know that you will be using Polco and are happy to help you reach out to the community.
Get your Polco questions into the hands of your community! Use the six main communications channels:
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Website (pages, blog posts and FAQs)
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Email
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Social media posts
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Printed documents
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Press releases
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Meetings and other in-person opportunities
Use as many of these channels as possible and as make sense. In addition, partner with as many city departments, public agencies and non-governmental organizations as you can so you can reach a broad audience.
General tips on messaging—these always apply!
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Let residents know why their response is important and how you will use the information.
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Give them a call to action—let them know what to do.
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Keep it short, interesting and easy to understand.
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Link to other resources, such as your Polco short URL, your FAQ page, the Polco privacy policy or a blog post that explains why the city is using Polco.