Conducting outreach for conversation participants can be a long and lengthy process. Here are some helpful tips based on some successful partners’ recruitment strategies:
Collaborating with Trusted Messengers
A highly effective strategy involves the identification and collaboration with trusted community figures, known as 'trusted messengers,' to engage with your target audience. These trusted messengers have already established credibility and trust within specific communities, such as the program coordinator at a local community center, a respected church leader, or individuals with deep-rooted connections in the community.
For example, in an outreach campaign focused on gathering community experiences related to fossil fuels, you may seek to connect with key networks like power stations, oil and gas industries, and workforce development centers. By identifying a trusted messenger within each of these networks and equipping them with the necessary tools and language to effectively convey the conversation campaign's objectives within their respective networks, they can play a pivotal role in conducting outreach and recruiting participants for meaningful conversations.
Similarly, if you want to hear insights about the experiences of young folks in schools, consider designating young individuals as 'trusted messengers' to facilitate conversations. Young people tend to open up more to their peers than to adults. By empowering youth ambassadors to convey the objectives of the conversation campaign within their own networks, you create a relatable and comfortable space for authentic dialogue about both positive and negative aspects of their school experiences. This approach leverages the credibility and trust that young messengers inherently hold within their peer communities, fostering meaningful engagement and recruitment for your conversations.
Budgeting to Reduce Participation Barriers
Some individuals may face logistical challenges when participating in conversations. Partners can strategically allocate portions of their project budget to address these barriers.
For instance, providing support such as on-site daycare, transportation, or meals can significantly lower obstacles to participation, ensuring that a more inclusive audience is engaged.
Strategically allocating funds for participation incentives has consistently proved to be an effective way to engage participants and maximize the success of outreach efforts. Many partner organizations opt to provide incentives to conversation participants, often falling within the range of $20 to $50. This approach serves several key purposes:
- Improved Commitment and Follow-Through: Incentives act as a motivating factor, encouraging participants to commit to and actively participate in conversations that often span approximately 90 minutes. The monetary reward not only recognizes their time and input but also fosters a sense of commitment.
- Incentivizing Action: In addition to facilitating initial engagement, incentives can also serve as a way to encourage participants to take action beyond the conversation. Whether it's participating in debrief sessions to share their experiences or joining follow-up activities such as the sensemaking process, incentives can be a strategic tool for promoting sustained involvement.
By thoughtfully considering the role of incentives and their impact on participation and engagement, organizations can tailor their outreach strategy to best suit the needs and motivations of their target audience while achieving their project's goals.
Creating Roles within projects
As your outreach strategies evolve, it becomes increasingly important to consider the intricacies of your project and the specific tasks required for its success. By creating project-specific roles, you can efficiently distribute responsibilities and ensure that each aspect of your initiative is well-managed. When thinking of what project roles you may need for your conversation campaign to be successful, consider:
Role-Specific Tasks:
Clearly articulate the tasks associated with each role. For instance, if you are seeking individuals to host conversations, consider creating a facilitator role. If you want to create more opportunities for community participants to engage with the data after conversations have been recorded, consider creating a sensemaker role.
Incentives and Certificates:
Specify the incentives or certificates associated with each role. Whether it's a stipend, recognition, or a certificate of participation, being transparent about the rewards ensures that individuals are motivated to contribute actively to the project.
View our article on helpful project roles here to get you started.
Multilingual Needs
Consider having all of your outreach materials translated into the languages that the communities you want to engage with primarily speak. You can have your materials translated through the third party translation service that Cortico uses for an additional cost. Please reach out to kimberly@cortico.ai to inquire about additional details.
Note: Our Fora Platform currently supports and can transcribe conversations in; Spanish, English and Bilingual Spanish/English conversations at this time.
Planning considerations
By exploring these strategies and adapting them to suit your unique context, you can enhance your outreach and engagement efforts. Remember, any provided materials are meant to empower you and your team to create impactful outreach materials that resonate with your target audience.
When planning your outreach strategies, consider:
- The first-hand knowledge you possess about your community. For example, you may know that community members will be very distrustful of having their conversations or voices recorded. How can you explain the purpose of recording concisely and transparently so that participants feel empowered to join these conversations? How might this influence the language and messaging you use to talk about this project?
- Meeting communities where they’re at. For example, if you want to reach out to an organization that primarily works with mothers of young children, you may want to consider offering childcare at the time of your conversations to ensure that any barriers affecting participation in a conversation are addressed.