How are you innovating community engagement and outreach?

1 Use digital platforms

One of the most obvious ways to innovate your community engagement and outreach is to leverage the power of digital platforms, such as social media, websites, podcasts, webinars, newsletters, and online forums. Digital platforms can help you reach a wider and more diverse audience, communicate your message and stories more effectively, create interactive and engaging content, and collect feedback and data. You can also use digital platforms to collaborate with other non-profits, partners, influencers, and media outlets, and amplify your voice and reach. However, using digital platforms also requires careful planning, management, and evaluation, as well as ethical and responsible practices.

2 Adopt a design thinking mindset

Another way to innovate your community engagement and outreach is to adopt a design thinking mindset, which is a human-centered approach to solving problems and creating solutions. Design thinking involves empathizing with your community, defining their needs and challenges, ideating possible solutions, prototyping and testing them, and implementing and iterating them. By using design thinking, you can co-create with your community, involve them in every stage of the process, and ensure that your solutions are relevant, feasible, and desirable. You can also use design thinking tools, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, workshops, personas, journey maps, and prototypes, to facilitate your community engagement and outreach.

3 Experiment with gamification

A third way to innovate your community engagement and outreach is to experiment with gamification, which is the use of game elements and mechanics to motivate and reward behaviors and actions. Gamification can help you make your community engagement and outreach more fun, interactive, and rewarding, as well as increase participation, retention, and loyalty. You can use gamification elements, such as points, badges, levels, leaderboards, challenges, quests, rewards, and feedback, to encourage your community to engage with your non-profit, learn about your cause, donate, volunteer, or advocate. You can also use gamification platforms, such as apps, websites, or software, to design and deliver your gamified experiences.

4 Integrate social impact measurement

A fourth way to innovate your community engagement and outreach is to integrate social impact measurement, which is the process of assessing and reporting the social value and outcomes of your non-profit's activities. Social impact measurement can help you demonstrate your impact and accountability to your community, as well as improve your performance and learning. You can use social impact measurement frameworks, such as logic models, theories of change, indicators, metrics, and tools, to define and measure your impact goals, outcomes, and indicators. You can also use social impact measurement methods, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, case studies, and stories, to collect and analyze your impact data and evidence.

5 Foster a culture of innovation

A fifth way to innovate your community engagement and outreach is to foster a culture of innovation, which is a set of values, beliefs, and behaviors that support and encourage innovation within your non-profit. A culture of innovation can help you embrace change, challenge assumptions, experiment with new ideas, learn from failures, and collaborate with others. You can foster a culture of innovation by setting a clear vision and strategy for innovation, providing time, space, and resources for innovation, rewarding and recognizing innovation efforts and achievements, and building a diverse and inclusive team of innovators.

6 Learn from best practices and examples

A sixth way to innovate your community engagement and outreach is to learn from best practices and examples, both within and outside your non-profit sector. Learning from best practices and examples can help you gain insights, inspiration, and guidance for your own innovation journey, as well as avoid common pitfalls and mistakes. You can learn from best practices and examples by conducting research, benchmarking, networking, attending events, joining communities, and seeking mentorship and advice from other non-profits, experts, and innovators.