Taking Root

Communicating the College- and Career-Ready Agenda

Communications Channels for Every Budget

While certain communications and outreach activities cost money, many do
not. There is a plan for every budget. You can do a lot with very little, and if
you have more, you can augment your efforts with smart investments in chan-
nels that will give your college- and career-ready agenda greater exposure.
Knowing what you can and cannot do, and thinking through a few key issues
before you spend, can help you make the most of the dollars you have.

Before You Spend Any Money…

Review Existing Resources. Before committing to any activities or initia-

tives – and before you look to outside avenues for funding – you first need to
take a look at the existing resources you have at your disposal. While com-
munications is rarely a high priority of state departments of education, most
states do have a small communications department, with some budget, and
at least one full-time staff person dedicated to those efforts. As your state’s
college- and career-ready reform team draws from both K-12 and higher edu-
cation leaders, there may be opportunities for leveraging some of the commu-
nications budgets from both the state department of education and the higher
education coordinating body.

Moreover, outside-the-government supporters, such as business and com-

munity leaders and existing coalitions, may be able to provide in-kind support
such as loaned staff for research, writing, meeting convening, media training,
etc. The willingness of your college- and career-ready team members to vol-
unteer their time to work behind the scenes as well as to communicate about
the agenda is another important – and no-cost – resource.

Determine The Why. As you consider the different activities you want to
undertake, you should always consider first the reasons you want to under-
take them. Often times these reasons will help you determine whether or not
you need to pay for activities and, if so, exactly what you need to do to reach
your intended audiences. For example, if your audiences are the chairs of
the House and Senate education committees in your state, you might simply
need to spend money on running a print ad in the state capital newspaper
and then packaging that ad with a letter from your coalition and sending it to
each of their offices to make sure they saw it. Setting up follow-up meetings

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with key constituencies that these chairs listen to and trust will reinforce your
message. You do not need to execute a paid media strategy in every town
across the state to reach your key audience in this instance.

Mix It Up. Your communications campaign over the years will likely involve
activities from the no- to low- to high-cost categories. It is a good idea to con-
sider a mix of activities to get your message out through various channels; you
want your target audiences to see your messages in various news and public
sources. As you think through your goals and strategies – and then set them
against your budget – you will want to have activities that capitalize on all
media channels, from earned to paid to new media.

Mixing it up can also make a low-budget campaign seem larger than it is. A
few well-placed messages in several media channels can create a greater
sense of momentum for your reform agenda – which will in turn then give it the
momentum you are seeking to achieve. It can also make fundraising easier
for future efforts.

Set a Budget. After you consider the activities you could undertake and un-
derstand the reasons that you want to take them, you should set a budget.
The budget could be as sophisticated as having hard dollar numbers next to
all the activities you want to undertake or as simple as outlining the percent-
age of your budget you want to spend on certain activities versus others. The
key is to have a point of reference for your spending decisions – and then to
work against that budget and account for what you actually spend. This level
of transparency will also make team members more confident in your actions
and secure in knowing that you are acting responsibly and with a purpose.

Look for Outside Resources. In addition to any potential capital found in

existing department budgets or raised from external advocates, states should
consider looking to state and local philanthropies to support communications
campaigns or other activities. States that can demonstrate what they have
done already with no or a low budget may be well-positioned to find small
start-up funds to get their campaign off the ground.

Where to Spend the Money…

Earned media. Earned media is simply that: it is news coverage/exposure

that you earn rather than pay for. While some earned media activities might
take some investment, for example, paying a public relations firm to pitch a
news story for you, the general rule is that earned media is free (with the ex-
ception of your labor to earn it.)

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Examples of earned media activities include:

• Hold a press conference

• Distribute press releases
• Recruit a well-known stakeholder to author and place an op-ed
• Send weekly updates to your key audiences, including media, through
a listserv
• Draft regular updates/articles for supporting organizations’ publica-
tions, such as quarterly magazines, newsletters, etc.
• Draft “letters to the editor” or post comments on Web sites and blogs
when college and career readiness is addressed in articles, opinion
and editorial pieces
• Host regular informal media briefings on timely issues
• Get to know the key education reporters in your state and pitch story
ideas. The more you can become a trusted source, the better.

Paid media. Again, paid media is what it says: it is news coverage/exposure

that you pay for. Advertising, whether it be in print publications, on broadcast
outlets or online, is the best example of paid media. Paid media campaigns,
more often than not, require a large budget to make an impact, and you likely
will not have those types of dollars to spend, at least not often. However, key
paid media buys, like the ad targeted towards the legislators mentioned ear-
lier, can be effective on a limited budget. Thus, while it should not be ruled
out, paid media will most likely be the last kind of activity you consider.

Examples of paid media activities include:

•  Run print, broadcast (radio and TV), and online ads and PSAs
•  Write and run advertorials (an op-ed for which you buy print space to
publish)
• Run broadcast ads online or at targeted locations (e.g. run an ad
aimed at students on what it takes to be college- and career-ready at
selected movie theaters)
• Conduct a satellite media tour, which is often arranged by a PR
agency and involves offering your spokespeople to broadcast outlets
for one-on-one interviews, allowing for many interviews to be con-
ducted in a block of time
• Record a radio news release (a scripted news piece that is made
available to radio stations for airing)
• Submit a “matte release” (write a generic article that is made available
though a paid network for print publications, typically with small
circulations) to consider running

New media. Social networking sites and other Web 2.0 activities all fall under
the category of new media. Many of these activities are low- to no-cost and
can be very effective given that they can reach a large audience of users in a

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very short amount of time. For example, setting up a Facebook page is free,
and if you use earned media channels to announce and promote it, you can
possibly get great exposure for no money. There is some evidence that new
media is particularly well-suited to reach students, who are increasingly tech-
savvy, and less likely to listen to the radio or even watch television than other
stakeholders.

Examples of new media activities include:

•  Set up a social networking page, i.e. through Facebook or MySpace.

Such sites can be tied to a coalition Web site so that new content up
dates automatically load on all sites, increasing visibility and reach.
• Enable online organizing, such as an online petition that individuals
can sign in support of the reform movement
• Set up a blog for real-time commentary by you and featured guests,
with an RSS feed through which you can update subscribers on new
resources or planned activities
• Establish a campaign that sends text messages with key data points
and messages to supporters on a regular basis
• Host a regular series of online chats through your Web site
• Offer a real-time poll on your Web site to engage users and keep them
coming back for new and interesting poll questions
• Ask supporting organizations to link to your Web and social networking
sites. Once you’ve developed good content, you want supporters to
be able to find it

Additional Activities. Beyond these media channels, there are other activi-
ties you might consider that would have budget implications. For example:

•  Commission quantitative research, e.g., a survey, (cost) and then

release it for earned media coverage (no cost)
•  Conduct public opinion research, e.g. message testing through focus
groups and/or a quantitative survey (cost) to help you better under
stand which of your messages are most effective and how best to use
them (which could actually save money in the long run)
•  Create an award to honor an education leader (no cost) and then host
an event to award the honoree (cost) to which you invite key stake
holders and media

Putting it all together…

The options are limitless, and a communications plan can be executed on a

shoestring or a large-scale budget. The key is to determine the purpose for
what you plan to do, set your budget and then choose the right mix of activi-
ties that both adhere to your budget and get your message out through a
range of communications channels.

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Copyright © September 2009 Achieve, Inc.