Community organizing is a valuable skill that can help you create positive change, build relationships, and advance your career. But how do you plan and execute a successful community event that attracts and engages your target audience? Here are some tips to help you get started.
Before you start inviting people to your event, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. What is the main goal or message of your event? Who are you trying to reach and why? How will you measure your impact and success? Having a clear purpose will help you define your scope, budget, timeline, and activities for your event.
Goalsetting is an important piece of event planning. Deciding on specific goals is essential whether they relate to revenue, attendance, participation of organizations, etc. It is a good idea to set both realistic and reach goals, and not all of them have to be quantifiable. If your goal is to ensure that the community your are hosting gains valuable experience from your event, the your purpose has been fulfilled. If not then you have an idea of the areas you need to work on for the future!
Your stakeholders are the people who have an interest or influence in your event, such as potential participants, sponsors, partners, media, and authorities. You need to identify who they are, what they need, and how you can communicate with them effectively. You also need to establish trust and credibility with your stakeholders, and show them how your event aligns with their values and goals.
Organizing a successful community event requires a thoughtful approach to engage both internal and external stakeholders. For internal stakeholders, such as employees, volunteers or clientele, a sense of ownership and pride is crucial. One should actively seek input through committees, focus groups or workshops throughout the planning process. Externally, reaching out to diverse community partners, businesses and government entities is essential. Tailor your messaging to highlight the benefits of collaboration, emphasizing the positive impact the event will have on the community as a whole. Leverage social media, local newspapers, and community bulletin boards to create buzz and generate interest.
Add value for their support- naming opportunities. Study their mission to align with yours and state the connection clearly.
Provide food and child care. That alone sends the message that we want everyone to feel included. Since most of our meetings take place during dinner time, providing food and giving the group a chance to share a meal breaks the ice and creates an environment that sparks conversation among them.
If the event involves community members, I would start with finding out as much as possible about the community where the event is taking place. Who are they, what would they like to see, are there barriers to entry for these stakeholders? Community conversations reveal learnings for a most successful event!
Once you have your purpose and stakeholders in mind, you can start designing your event. Think about the format, content, location, date, time, and duration of your event. What kind of activities will you offer to engage your audience and deliver your message? How will you make your event accessible, inclusive, and safe for everyone? How will you promote your event and register your attendees? Use tools like surveys, focus groups, or brainstorming sessions to gather feedback and ideas from your stakeholders.
Center your event around a theme that brings out the purpose of the event in an interesting way. One of the best ways to promote your event is to have local celebrities involved- TV anchors, etc. Most times this will help to have the media there to show clips of the event as well as promoting it on their broadcast the weeks leading up to it.
You can't organize a community event alone. You need a team of volunteers, staff, or collaborators who can help you with different tasks and roles. You need to recruit and train your team members, and assign them clear responsibilities and expectations. You also need to communicate regularly with your team, and provide them with support, feedback, and recognition.
You need to get your volunteers in place and meet with them as a group long before you begin to put things together. Divide them into different categories with each having a team leader who can report progress to you. However, meet periodically all together to keep the enthusiasm going.
With a community event, you want everything to have a multiplication effect. So as you recruit your leaders, communicate clearly your expectations. Clear communication is essential for large scale events. Communicating roles, tasks, schedules, results, are all vital elements to your events success. The leaders you recruit should then be able to recruit to fulfill their obligations and meet objectives. Another benefit of clear communication is that accountability is inherent when communication is done well.
On the day of your event, you need to be prepared for any challenges or opportunities that may arise. You need to coordinate with your team, your stakeholders, and your attendees, and make sure everything runs smoothly and safely. You also need to monitor and document your event, and collect data and feedback from your participants. After your event, you need to evaluate your results and outcomes, and share your findings and learnings with your stakeholders.
A focus on safety is imperative. We've created a detailed safety plan for our internal team (and local law enforcement), and an abbreviated version for volunteers and "day-of" staff. This safety plan only works if everyone knows it and can implement it in an emergency. Communication about the plan in the days and weeks leading up to the event are critical to its success. We do this during our internal meetings, volunteer meetings, and at on-site huddles.
Organizing a community event is hard work, but also rewarding. You need to celebrate your achievements and thank your team, your stakeholders, and your attendees for their support and involvement. You also need to follow up with them, and keep the conversation and the relationship going. You can send them thank-you notes, newsletters, reports, or invitations to future events. You can also ask them for referrals, testimonials, or suggestions for improvement.
Thank you letters are extremely important- hand- written notes preferably. Let your sponsors and volunteers know how much you appreciate them and how they added to the success of the event. Reach out and mention that you hope to have them involved for future events as well as appreciate all comments to better the event.