Strategic Communications
Effective Financial Communication for School Districts: Best Practices for Levies – Part 3
As school districts work to effectively communicate their financial strategies and engage their communities, utilizing diverse platforms and creating key materials becomes essential. This final blog in our three-part series on financial and levy communication will explore additional strategies for enhancing financial communication efforts, focusing on the best platforms for delivering your message and the essential materials needed to inform and engage stakeholders. By leveraging these tools, districts can strengthen community support and ensure a well-informed decision-making process regarding school finances. Platforms for Your Messaging Armed with your 3-30-3 messaging and your pass/fail information, you are now ready to build ...
Effective Financial Communication for School Districts: Best Practices for Levies – Part 2
As school districts strive to communicate complex financial information effectively, it becomes crucial to craft messages that resonate with all stakeholders. In our first blog post in this series, we focused on using the elements of our strategic communication model to establish a solid foundation for communicating about district finances. This blog post, the second in our series, discusses the intricacies of creating impactful communications using the 3-30-3 messaging model. By breaking down messages into digestible chunks tailored for varying levels of audience engagement, districts can ensure their key points are both clear and compelling. Develop 3-30-3 Messaging Our go-to tactic for ...
Effective Financial Communication for School Districts: Best Practices for Levies
As the new school year approaches, many school districts find themselves facing the challenging task of communicating about finances and the potential impact on taxpayers. These communications typically involve topics such as the five-year forecast, the potential need for facilities or other capital improvements, and funding challenges in light of the expiration of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Programs (ESSER) funding, often resulting in a levy being placed on the ballot for taxpayer vote. To navigate these complex topics effectively, districts must adhere to factual information while employing strategic communications best practices. But as a school district, where do ...
Seven Features of A Must-Read School Newsletter
In the dynamic and fast-paced world of education, effective communication is the cornerstone of building strong, engaged communities. For school districts, a well-crafted newsletter serves as a conduit for sharing important updates, celebrating successes, and fostering a sense of belonging among students, parents, staff, and stakeholders. In this blog, we are excited to offer you tips, tricks and recommendations on creating your next newsletter from our team of account leads - the experts behind countless successful school newsletters. From captivating content and visually appealing design elements to punctual delivery and accessibility, we will explore techniques to ensure that your newsletter ...
Empowering Student Voices: Shaping School Culture and Community
In our recent Digital Leadership Academy Webinar, we explored the dynamic interplay between student voices and school leadership. Let’s dive into the insights shared, including why student voices matter, how to involve them in school decisions, and tips to better capture their perspectives. The Vital Role of Student Voices Sometimes, it’s easy to forget that students are primary stakeholders in the education system. Their experiences, needs, and points of view directly influence the effectiveness and relevance of a school district’s policies, programs, and practices. Moreover, their unique insights into their learning environments can offer valuable feedback for administrators; after all, ...
Thinking Strategically About Your Social Media as a Superintendent
Education in the 21st century has experienced a technological revolution, changing the way we reach our audience and communicate with them. The world has gone digital, and social media has become a tool for communication, student and staff engagement and collaboration. As a school superintendent, it's important to understand the best practices for using social media effectively. In this post, we've gathered tips on how to engage with your audience, share your school district's highlights, and promote your most important priorities. Share Student Celebrations and Day-to-day Activities It's no longer enough to be known for academic excellence - community engagement ...
3-30-3 Messaging
The 3-30-3 messaging framework is a concise and impactful method for communication, particularly in written formats like emails, presentations, or pitches. It's structured to swiftly engage the recipient by focusing on the most critical points within a brief span of time. The breakdown is simple: 3 seconds: This represents the initial attention-grabbing phase. In these precious moments, your message needs to capture the reader's attention. It could be a compelling headline, an intriguing question, or a bold statement that makes the recipient want to continue reading. 30 seconds: This is the core of your message. In this short span, you ...
Communication in the Age of Shortened Attention Spans
At any given moment, people are connected to the Internet, social media and their cell phones. This on-the-go society has greatly impacted our ability to complete a very simple task: pay attention. It's no secret: we're living in the digital age. According to a Microsoft Corp. study, the average person now loses concentration after eight seconds—one second shorter than a gold fish. Prior to 2000—the year that's considered the start of the mobile age—our attention span was 12 seconds. What accounts for this four-second deficit in our mental capacity? The easy answer: technology, social media and a drastic transformation in our ...
10 Ways to Close your Emails that Guarantee a Prompt Response
When writing a business email, it is critical to make sure you structure the email in a professional way. From choosing the right recipient to having a clean body, a tidy email is paramount to effective communication. The average worker spends around 28% of their time on email each day, and each workday around 144 billion emails are sent worldwide. When writing an email to a coworker, boss or client, it’s important to make everything clean and to the point so you aren’t wasting anyone’s time—we all have hundreds of emails to sort through! Signing off properly in an email can ...