Effective Outreach Strategies Date: September 13, 2018 Location: - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Date: September 13, 2018 Location: Peoples Church Organized and Facilitated by: Toronto Local Immigration Partnerships (LIPs) Presenters: Nathan Stern, Community Development Officer (City of Toronto) Marco Campana, Non-profit Communications Consultant Nadine Nasir, Toronto South Local Immigration Partnership

Effective Outreach Strategies

Agenda

• 1. Peer knowledge sharing
• 2. Community engagement
• 3. Inclusive outreach
• 4. The use of technology in outreach
• 5. Creating an outreach plan
• 6. Train-the-trainer demonstration

Agenda

Resources To be Shared Electronically:

 Workshop PowerPoint presentations “Train-the-Trainer” PowerPoint presentation  Outreach Tips and Reminders  Outreach Ideas  Outreach Plan

Agenda

Peer Knowledge Sharing

Nathan Stern Community Development Officer City of Toronto

Community Engagement

Inclusive Outreach

• Remember to involve traditionally “marginalized” groups in society in your outreach.
• Accessibility is key to participation. Consider:
• providing child care
• reimbursing transportation fees
• ensuring buildings are accessible to people with disabilities
• Remember the power imbalances that exist. Ask yourself questions about power, such as:
• Is it possible that I will be seen as an “authority figure”? Will people be comfortable speaking to me? What can I do to

minimize the power imbalance?

• Will people assume that they have to participate because I have asked them to? Do they think that they should

participate in order to access a service? Are they just participating because they don’t want to upset me?

• Am I gathering people that may have conflict with each other in the same space? Are minority groups or oppressed

groups going to be comfortable contributing?

• Create a safe space. Remember the various levels of oppression and discrimination that people face, and keep

this in mind in every single part of outreach, program design and implementation, and service delivery.

• Consider how gender dynamics may impact your outreach.
• providing language interpretation
• rganizing outreach/events at times that people are most likely

able to attend

• ensuring that events are no cost (or low cost if necessary)

Marco Campana Non-profit Communications Consultant

The Use of Technology in Outreach

Create an Outreach Plan

Work in groups to create an outreach plan. You can either: A) Choose a scenario that someone in the group is currently working on; B) Choose one of the scenarios on the handout entitled “Create an Outreach Plan Exercise”.

Date: Sept. 13 2018 Location: Peoples Church Organized and Facilitated by: Toronto Local Immigration Partnerships (LIPs) Presenters: Nadine Nasir, Toronto South Local Immigration Partnership Nathan Stern, Community Development Officer (City of Toronto) Marco Campana, Non-profit Communications Consultant

Effective Outreach Strategies

Train the Trainer Presentation

 It's not all about technology; listen to your clients &

communities

 Figure out how newcomers access, find & use information and

how they use technology in their daily lives

 Technology is more than social media  Be strategic in your technology choices & implementation  Privacy, security & confidentiality are part of design, not

afterthoughts

 Just because newcomers are connected doesn't mean they're not

vulnerable

The Use of Technology in Outreach

1

 Create an outreach plan  Make community engagement your goal

• work collaboratively “with”, rather than working “for” or providing “to”
• build relationships with the community

 Learn as much as possible about the people you want to outreach to  Personalize communications  Be inclusive. Ask yourself:

• Is everything accessible?
• Are marginalized groups included?
• Have I addressed any barriers to participation?
• What are the gender considerations and dynamics that I should be aware of?
• Is it culturally appropriate?

Good Practices

2

 Reflect on power dynamics:

• Am I gathering people that may have conflict with each other in the same

place?

• Will minority groups or oppressed groups be comfortable participating?
• Is it possible that I will be seen as an “authority” figure?
• Will people be comfortable speaking to me?
• Will people assume that they “have to” or “should” participate in my

program in order to access a service?

• Do people feel pressured to participate because they don’t want to upset

me?

• What can I do to minimize the power imbalance?

Good Practices

3

Outreach Tips

 Address the needs that have been identified by a community  Remember your ultimate goal, as it is easy to forget with the pressure of

meeting “targets”

 Be confident!  Evaluate each outreach tactic used

• Did it achieve your goal?
• How could you improve if you were to do it again?
• Did anything surprise you?
• Were there any unanticipated barriers or obstacles?

4

Partnerships

• Form partnerships and build relationships with people that can help you outreach,

including community leaders. Always ask yourself:

• What does the person I am partnering/outreaching with have to profit or lose from this

collaboration?

• Is this person able to help me outreach to ALL people within this community?
• Will they act as “gate-keepers”? Who will NOT be outreached to if I work with this

person?

• Who will not be comfortable participating if I work with this person?
• What are the potential power imbalances that I need to be aware of? For example,

will people feel like they have to participate because their community leader asked them to?

• Build relationships with the broader community, and remember that reciprocity is

important.

5

Outreach Ideas

Events

BBQ Guest speakers Poetry slam Open house Arts & Crafts

Art

Organize a performance to capture attention and talk to people.

Skit Dancers Singers Displays

Announcements

Community events Cultural events Places of worship Meetings Conferences

Group activities

Zumba Knitting Book club Potluck Painting Embroidery Sports

WORD OF MOUTH

6

Nadine Nasir Adult Educator Toronto South Local Immigration Partnership

• St. Stephen’s Community House

647-460-1569 nnadine@sschto.ca