Staying Connected with Participants and the Community: It's Important for Sustaining Programs

Submitted by Student Associate Hailey Willerth

To sustain a program, updating participants and the community on progress and future events is crucial. Once these individuals are updated, they are more likely to share this information with the rest of the community. But there are even more methods for sharing this information, including blogs and social media. The benefit? Not just informing individuals, but possibly attracting the media or partners.

6 different methods for staying connected with participants and the community 

Photos

Images help bring your story to life and you can use them on almost all your marketing materials such as fliers, websites, videos, newsletters, and social media.

Video

You can create a video from photos you took at an event, or you can use a video camera to take some action shots and interviews of participants.

Newsletters

These can include print or e-newsletters. Both give plenty of space to showcase updates and reminders.

Website or blog

You may want a website or blog to help spread the word about your dialogues, post pictures and stories from your events, and share your success with your community and potential funders.

Social media

You can use sites, such as Facebook and Twitter to help keep people connected with your program.

Texting

This is often the best way to reach young people and those with limited Internet access.

In the resource “How to Stay Connected with Participants and the Community,” Rebecca Reyes discusses different mediums that can be used to update program participants and community members. Examples are included. Click here to view the full resource from Everyday Democracy.

Founded in 1989, Everyday Democracy strives to bring together diverse groups of individuals to discuss social and political issues. Their hope is that dialogue between individuals of all backgrounds will help communities facilitate solutions and change.