HAWAII SCHOOLS CATCHAFIRE PROJECT GUIDE 1 PROJECT MENU GUIDE

Transcription

1 HAWAII SCHOOLS CATCHAFIRE PROJECT GUIDE 1 PROJECT MENU GUIDE

2 MARKETING & Brand Messaging Communication Materials Audit Communications Strategy Storytelling Copywriting Print Materials Design E-Newsletter FUNDRAISING Elevator Pitch Creation PEOPLE Public Speaking Coach Volunteer Recruitment Plan OPERATIONS Google Apps Setup Excel Training PROGRAM Online Survey ONLINE PLATFORMS Website Audit Website Copywriting Facebook Starter Plan Facebook Reboot Social Media Plan 2 PROJECT MENU GUIDE

3 CATEGORY: MARKETING & PROJECT NAME PROJECT USES PROJECT DETAILS Brand Messaging FOUNDATIONAL / MARKETING & Communicate your school s vision, mission and values in a compelling manner to: Internal staff, as a way of building cohesive culture and direction and consistency in how you pitch yourself Prospective parents and families considering your school, so they can understand what you stand for (and not) and how you are different from other schools Donors and volunteers who have the ability to help you, and are interested in learning about your unique selling points. Defining your school s key messaging is the first step in developing an effective marketing and communications strategy for any reason. Ensure all your messages are clean, consistent and unfailing at communicating your one-of-a-kind personality and vision. Document that articulates in a consistent voice key messages about the school s identity, constituents, and mission and vision Creation of taglines and talking points to help your school communicate clearly and concisely Recommendations on tailoring messaging for common communication channels (e.g., website copy, printed marketing collateral, pitching verbally) Deliverable Type: Toolkit Communication Materials Audit MARKETING & Assess the effectiveness of your communications and gain valuable feedback for how to improve them through this audit. Ideas for communications to assess are: Parent communications Information about programs (free and reduced lunch, extracurriculars, etc.) Your communication materials are integral to attracting, engaging and/or retaining your constituents (parents, students, teachers, etc.). Whether it s detailed information about programs, auto-generated s, or even job postings, make sure they are easy to understand, concise and consistent. 3 PROJECT MENU GUIDE

4 Marketing materials used to attract new students/ families, staff, volunteers, etc. *We recommend that you consider doing this project before a Communications Strategy or Copywriting aproject Thorough review of the existing communication and marketing materials to ensure writing is understandable, engaging and consistent Edits conducted with respect to writing style, voice, length, and proper spelling and grammar Revised materials should adhere to branding, communications and marketing goals Deliverable Type: Updated collateral Communications Strategy MARKETING & This project will help you develop a roadmap that you can easily follow to effectively communicate to your existing community that may include: Parents Teachers Students Volunteers Donors * We recommend this project if you are concerned that your current communications with your community are not effective and/or fragmented and need a new direction. This project is not intended to help you market to new audiences that are not part of your regular communications. Strategic communications are the key to maintaining engagement among your existing stakeholders. This project helps you develop a strategy for how to communicate in a way that speaks directly to your current audiences. A communications strategy that includes: Review of communications goals and target audiences Identification of the best delivery methods, and the best timelines to use, based on goals and audience Messaging guidelines and sample messaging, based on audiences and delivery methods Outline of execution steps to implement the plan Deliverable Type: Strategy Document 4 PROJECT MENU GUIDE

5 Storytelling MARKETING & No matter who you are trying to reach, you can always amplify your message with a clear story about what is special about your school, including: Growth / improvement over time School history Student success (testimonial/ interview based) Teacher success (testimonial/ interview based) Great stories can be the most effective tool for cutting through the noise and connecting with your target audiences in a deep way. Schools are ripe with amazing stories to tell - let someone help you identify and tell yours. A compelling narrative, or set of short stories that hold the attention of the organization s reader and convey their message. Persuasive copy that can be used in communications to parents, students, staff, funders, and others. Deliverable Type: Document Copywriting MARKETING & Get written text to include in any kind of communication materials, such as: Free & reduced lunch pamphlet Principal s message for beginning or end of school year Attracting and welcoming military families After-school program brochure Report of any kind Make sure your marketing and communications sings with clean, crisp, and engaging copy. Well-written and compelling copy for marketing or communication materials. Examples include a brochure, one-pager/fact sheet, or fundraising/ promotional material. Messaging that is consistent with brand identity, public relations strategy and communications objectives. Note: If you need copywriting for web pages, check the Website Copywriting project. Deliverable Type: Document 5 PROJECT MENU GUIDE

6 Print Materials Design MARKETING & Use this project to get graphic and visual design on projects like: School history and fact sheets Brochure/booklets for: Free and reduced lunch program Military families *We suggest you have all content/ copy written prior to beginning this project. If you need help writing content, we suggest you do the Copywriting project first. Once you have the copy you want to send in a printed format, it s important that the design includes attractive visual images and formatting. This project will help you connect with a graphic designer to take your print materials to the next level. Designs for a pre-determined number of marketing or communications materials (examples: one-pager/fact sheets, case studies, fundraising collateral, event invitations, annual reports, and pamphlets). Templates with accurate, print-ready specifications Note: This project does not include printing Deliverable Type: Design E-Newsletter MARKETING & Design an e-newsletter template that you can use over time to periodically communicate with a particular audience, such as: Parent e-newsletter Student e-newsletter Teacher e-newsletter Donor/volunteer e-newsletter An eye-catching newsletter is an invaluable tool for communicating recent developments and upcoming events to your stakeholders. Showcasing your content in a professionally designed template will be sure to grab your audience s attention, compel them to action and leave them wanting more. Creation of an e-newsletter from scratch, or an overhaul of an existing one Training on how to input content into a template Deliverable Type: Tool + Training 6 PROJECT MENU GUIDE

7 FUNDRAISING Elevator Pitch Creation FUNDRAISING This can be especially helpful if you need to: Promote a new program or idea to several audiences Tell prospective teachers/staff or parents why they should choose your school A concise, compelling elevator pitch (60 second pitch) is an essential tool to win over new donors, gain supporters, or forge new partners. In addition, going through the process of creating an elevator pitch will help sharpen your overall messaging. A script for a 1-2 minute verbal pitch, with the following guidelines: It effectively communicates who you are as an organization, what you do, and why people should care Has a clear ask or call to action Deliverable Type: Tool 7 PROJECT MENU GUIDE

8 CATEGORY: PEOPLE PROJECT NAME PROJECT USES PROJECT DETAILS Public Speaking Coach PEOPLE If you get nervous or have a hard time speaking in front of an auditorium full of parents, students, teachers, administrators, you are not alone. But this project can help! Everyone who speaks to large groups of people can benefit from coaching, whether it is to make minor or major adjustments and improvements. Feedback and coaching on public speaking performance (including up to 5 coaching sessions) of one individual member of the organization Document outlining strengths, weaknesses, and suggested next steps and/or resources for the member Deliverable Type: Training Volunteer Recruitment Plan PEOPLE Recruit volunteers for: A big event Afterschool programs Classroom support When you re strapped for resources, one of the best investments is having a solid volunteer recruitment strategy. Having this plan will help you think comprehensively about how to attract, recruit and enlist volunteer help. Your professional will work with you to understand what roles can be volunteer based, come up with a executable plan to attract potential volunteers, and strategize on realistic methods for volunteer retainment. A document that outlines: potential volunteer market, timeline, strategies for outreach, and plan for volunteer retainment. Deliverable Type: Strategy Document 8 PROJECT MENU GUIDE

9 CATEGORY: OPERATIONS PROJECT NAME PROJECT USES PROJECT DETAILS Google Apps Setup OPERATIONS Even if you already have Google Docs, this project can help you create an organized system and strategy to store all of your school s internal documents in a way that allows for easy sharing or not! You can set this up so that: Teachers can easily find and download forms, permission slips, planning templates Your administrative team can collaborate on planning documents Data is stored and shared with the relevant team members A boost in productivity and simplicity has Google written all over it. Get your team setup with Google Apps, an integrated suite of products (word processing, spreadsheets, forms, presentations, calendars, and more), file management, cloud storage, and custom addresses wrapped into one. Systems setup and implementation of Google Apps Training and technical support for the staff Deliverable Type: Tool + Training Excel Training OPERATIONS Data is everywhere and with excel, it is easier to manipulate and analyze. Use this opportunity to train: Yourself Data teams Department heads Grade level chairs New teachers *We recommend you plan how you will conduct the training before you list the project. If you have means to connect virtually through web conference, Skype, etc. you can work with volunteers that are not locally available but based on mainland U.S. Harness the impressive power of Excel to turbocharge your effectiveness. Learn how to manage your tasks and projects effectively, sort, filter, analyze, and format your data properly, create powerful graphs and charts, and productivity tips such as shortcuts and commonly used functions. Customized Excel training session(s) over the course of 1-2 days Sessions may be broken up into Beginner, Intermediate, and/or Advanced Sample topics may include formulas, commonly used functions, autofill, sorting and filtering, freezing, hiding, and grouping, formatting tips, keyboard shortcuts, pivot tables, charting and graphing, print readiness, collaborative work issues, and overall best practices Deliverable Type: Training 9 PROJECT MENU GUIDE

10 PROGRAM Online Survey PROGRAM Use this project to create surveys to assess: Parent feedback or engagement Teacher satisfaction and staff culture Volunteer satisfaction and feedback Event follow up surveys for volunteers, donors, parents, students, etc. Online surveys are like assessments - they can be tricky to get just right in design to ensure the most reliable answers and information. Let someone help you create a survey that produces clear information that you can actually use. A professionally designed online survey ready for use Training to equip staff to execute and manage survey Deliverable Type: Tool + Training 10 PROJECT MENU GUIDE

11 CATEGORY: ONLINE PLATFORMS PROJECT NAME PROJECT USES PROJECT DETAILS Website Audit ONLINE PLATFORMS / MARKETING & Assess the quality of your school s or your program s website in terms of functionality, different audiences and their online experience. *We recommend you do this before engaging in a website overhaul or change. Note that this project is not intended to get you feedback from a communications expert, but rather help you understand the technical adjustments you need to make to make your new/ updated website more user-friendly. If your website feels stale, it probably is. Getting an objective opinion from someone who understands website design and development on what works and what needs to improve is an essential first step to making a change. A Website Audit report that includes: Outline of organization s goals for the website Feedback on current website s layout, user functionality, visual design, content and other features Recommendations for improvements to help achieve organization s desired goals Deliverable Type: Strategy Document Website Copywriting ONLINE PLATFORMS / MARKETING & Have someone help you write the information that needs to go on the most important pages of your school s website: Welcome / homepage Information about testing Programs your school offers Let s face it. The first place we go when we hear about anything a nonprofit, a movie, a restaurant is the website. Make sure your school s website is compelling and clear for everyone who visits it. A well-written website not only educates, it persuades and even calls to action. Tightly-written web copy of up to to 8 pages of words each. A list of SEO keywords incorporated into the copy. The opportunity to work closely with an experienced, SEO literate copywriter. Deliverable Type: Document 11 PROJECT MENU GUIDE

12 Facebook Starter Plan ONLINE PLATFORMS Create a Facebook page that people want to visit and learn how to best use it to communicate with your school community about: School closures or calendar changes Upcoming events Accomplishments Everyone is on Facebook and in fact it is where most people get their information and news. Communicate easily with students, parents, teachers, volunteers, and your community through the power of social media. Update of the organization s Facebook page, including creation of a compelling profile A document outlining a content plan and engagement strategy for the organization s Facebook page Suggestions for style, tone, and types of content to showcase on the Facebook page Best practices for using Facebook to implement campaigns and build an online community Deliverable Type: Toolkit Facebook Reboot ONLINE PLATFORMS Update and improve your existing Facebook page and how you are communicating with your school community through it. *We recommend this project if you already have a Facebook page for your school that needs a facelift. You have a Facebook page but you barely use it or no one seems to see what you are posting. It s time to get some help so that you can leverage the power of Facebook to communicate with your school community. Feedback on current Facebook page design, past content, and engagement strategy Update of the organization s Facebook page, including creation of a compelling profile A document outlining a content plan and engagement strategy for the organization s Facebook page 12 PROJECT MENU GUIDE

13 Suggestions for style, tone, and types of content to showcase on the Facebook page Best practices for using Facebook to implement campaigns and build an online community Deliverable Type: Toolkit Social Media Plan ONLINE PLATFORMS / MARKETING & This project can help you develop a plan to make the best use of your limited staff time when it comes to using social media to: Keep students motivated and inspired Inform your school community about updates on a regular basis Engage alumni Having multiple social media accounts is not enough if you are not using them effectively. This project will allow you to have a plan that you can follow to keep your school community engaged as well as understand which social media channels are more effective for you than others. A document outlining the most appropriate social media channels for your organization, strategies for usage, goals and key metrics to evaluate success Expert consultation on messaging, scheduling and frequency Tailored suggestions for style, tone, and types of content to best showcase your organization Deliverable Type: Toolkit 13 PROJECT MENU GUIDE