How Can You Creatively Engage Communities in Your Organization's Cause?
To discover innovative ways to engage the community in your organization's cause, we asked executive directors and CEOs for their creative strategies. From promoting skills-based volunteering to organizing a recovery art showcase, here are five inspiring ideas.
- Promote Skills-Based Volunteering
- Host Inclusive Community Events
- Share Impactful Stories
- Create Welcoming Community Spaces
- Organize a Recovery Art Showcase
Promote Skills-Based Volunteering
This is not a creative concept; it is an underutilized concept: skills-based volunteering! When professionals are allowed to share their skills and talents with your client population, they become more engaged in your work. People are always willing to share themselves with others. By asking individuals to share their skills or talents with others, it allows them to become connected with your clients, which connects them to the organization.
Host Inclusive Community Events
As much as nonprofits 'hate' events and try to limit them, they are also an easy way to build a movement around your cause. Our supporters like being part of communities that share their values and their passion. Creating different kinds of events, from small to large and from fancy to casual, is a way to bring like-minded people together to support the cause and meet others who make them feel less alone.
Share Impactful Stories
One key strategy we have consistently applied is something that I was taught years ago called the Knowledge-Information-Impact Pipeline. Nonprofits need to engage potential partners in the stories of life change through the organization if they expect them to invest themselves as volunteers, financiers, and ambassadors for the organization with others. We make it a priority to provide quality information on a consistent schedule that shares significant stories. We provide additional information to higher-level financial donors so they feel informed and enthused about the work they help initiate through their monetary partnership.
Create Welcoming Community Spaces
The joy and impact of our work come from community—coming together to celebrate the joy of biking and walking in Maine or to recognize the work still to be done to make sure everyone can bike and walk safely. The simple act of going on a bike ride can take so many forms, but the key component is creating a welcoming space. A few years ago, we launched a regular ride series called Women, Femmes, and Thems, welcoming female-identifying and non-binary riders to meet up for a fun, no-drop ride. It is one of our more popular events and such a joyful experience!
Organize a Recovery Art Showcase
One creative way we engaged the community at Ikon Recovery was through our "Recovery Art Showcase." We invited local artists, including our clients and alumni, to create and display artwork that represented their journeys through recovery. The event was open to the public, fostering a sense of community and raising awareness about addiction and recovery. This initiative not only provided a platform for individuals to express their experiences creatively but also helped to destigmatize addiction and build a supportive network around our cause. The positive response from the community was overwhelming, and it significantly boosted engagement and support for our organization.
