Making Our Voices Heard: The Art of Successful CAA Story Telling

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Making Our Voices HeardThe Art of Successful
CAA Story Telling

• Presented by
• The National Association for
• State Community Services Programs

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What are You Going to Tell Them?

• Your stories should
• Clarify the unique and unforgettable identity of
  your state agency or CSBG eligible entity.
• Show an image of competent, positive approaches
  to tough community and personal problems.

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Choosing Words that Speak to Others

• Some words and phrases can be received in a way
  that does not reflect your original intentions.
• Too many communications about the poor and
  poverty have stereotyped both poor people and the
  condition of poverty.
• Poor is someone else to most readers,
  regardless of their own income level.

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Frames that Work
(The Bold words in the left column are
recommended over the non-bold.)
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Frames that Work, cont.
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Individuals and Their Successes How Do Their
Stories Fit In?

• Many readers of personal stories frame the
  story by assuming that personal character flaws
  caused the difficulties that brought the person
  to a CAA.
• This assumption is related to the values of
  making it on your own and which regards
  government help as an undesirable mark of
  failure to make it.
• Without your frame, the person you write about
  may invoke an unconscious stereotype (such as
  poor lazy) OR remind your readers of a personal
  experience with someone they know (i.e. shiftless
  cousin Jane).

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Use the Personal Story as Just One Example, not
as the Central Theme

• Dr. Donna Beagle, author of See Poverty...Be the
  Difference reminds us that people living in
  economic poverty are blamed for their plight,
  even though poverty rarely is caused by personal
  deficiencies.
• She urges us to work to shatter myths by
  presenting the structural causes of poverty as
  part of every narrative or frame.

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CSBG IS Success Stories

• NASCSP helps the CSBG Network report on stories
  that focus on the values and goals to which they
  are committed, such as supporting working
  families, bringing new services into areas where
  they are lacking, changing conditions, opening
  new opportunities, and expanding economic
  security, ownership, assets, and community
  engagement.

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Strategic Thinking for Long-Term Solutions

• Please describe an agency strategy which
  addresses a long-term solution to a persistent
  problem affecting members of the low-income
  community. Address the following questions
• How did the agency identify the community need?
• How were CSBG funds used to plan, manage, and/or
  develop the approach?

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Strategic Thinking for Long-Term Solutions, cont.

• What local partners were involved, and how did
  each contribute to the program?
• What outcome indicators did the agency use to
  measure success?
• What outcomes have resulted in FY 2009? If no
  outcomes yet, when?

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Agency Management

• Please describe what you consider to be the top
  management accomplishment achieved by your agency
  during FY 2009. Show how responsible, informed
  leadership and effective, efficient processes led
  to high-quality, accessible, and well-managed
  services.

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Mobilizing Resources to Support Innovative
Solutions

• Please describe how your agency addressed a cause
  or condition of poverty in the community using an
  innovative or creative approach. Showcase how
  your agency relied on mobilization and
  coordination of resources to help reach interim
  and final outcomes.
• Demonstrate how CSBG works as it funds staff
  activities, investments, or services to meet a
  community need.

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Providing Positive Results for Vulnerable
Populations

• Please describe one youth-focused and one senior
  focused initiative that illustrates how CSBG
  funding was used and coordinated with other
  programs and resources. Include the following
  elements
• Description of initiative
• What local partners were involved, and how did
  each contribute to the program?
• Outcomes achieved (include the number of people
  enrolled and areas affected)
• How were CSBG funds used? Please be specific.

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Impact of ARRA CSBG Funds

• Please describe how an agency program, funded at
  least in part by ARRA CSBG funds, created or
  saved jobs in your community. Include the
  following elements
• Number of jobs created and/or saved
• How were ARRA CSBG funds used? Please be
  specific.
• If applicable, how were regularly appropriated
  CSBG funds used? Please be specific.

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Impact of ARRA CSBG Funds

• What percent of participants had incomes in the
  following ranges when they enrolled in the
  program?
• 0 to 125 of Federal Poverty Line (FPL)
• 126 to 200 of FPL
• Describe the community improvement created or
  supported using ARRA CSBG funds. Include
• The role of partners or collaborations
• Type of resources contributed by each partner
  (monetary, in-kind, services, etc.)
• Had the need addressed by this initiative been
  identified in previous community assessments or
  was it an emergent problem?

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Impact of ARRA CSBG Funds

• Please describe one major agency initiative
  supported at least in part by ARRA CSBG funds.
  Include the following elements
• Was this a new initiative or the expansion of a
  previously offered program/service?
• Which factor(s) allowed for the creation or
  expansion of these services? (Check all that
  apply.)
• Increased funding
• Expanded income eligibility
• Operational changes such as expanded hours, new
  service centers, etc.
• Other (Please explain.)

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Using Photos to Tell Your Story

• In the following photos we will identify the
  positive and potentially negative messages
  conveyed by the image.
• We will also discuss whether or not these photos
  accurately represent the work of Community
  Action.

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Should Your Organization Use Social Networking
Sites?

• Six Signs that Social Networking Isn't for You
• You're still trying to get a handle on your basic
  software infrastructure.
• Your target audiences aren't using social
  networking tools
• You don't have time to experiment with something
  that might not work.

Source TechSoup (home.techsoup.org)
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Should Your Organization Use Social Networking
Sites? (cont.)

• Six Signs that Social Networking Isn't for You
• You're not willing to deal with technologies that
  don't work as well as they could.
• You're not ready to invest in gaining a real
  understanding of the medium.
• You want clear editorial control over your brand
  and message.

Source TechSoup (home.techsoup.org)
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Should Your Organization Use Social Networking
Sites? (cont.)

• Opportunities in Social Networking
• Establishing a simple Web presence.
• Promoting specific actions or petitions.
• Consolidating existing, unofficial social
  networks related to your organization.
• Informal outreach that blends the personal and
  professional.

Source TechSoup (home.techsoup.org)
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Should Your Organization Use Social Networking
Sites? (cont.)

• Opportunities in Social Networking
• Researching VIPs, potential employees, and
  others.
• Strengthening relationships between people who
  already know each other.
• Encourage and respond to constituent feedback
  quickly.

Source TechSoup (home.techsoup.org)
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Group Activity

• In groups of three or four, please create a story
  using the five steps.
• Please select one person in your group to present
  your story.

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Create Your Narrative in Five Strategic Steps

• Choose stories that focus on the values and
  goals, to which your organization is committed.
• Begin with a widely-shared framework, a broadly
  shared concern.
• Continue with a description of the specific
  problem itself frame it in terms of the
  categories people recognize and respect.

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Create Your Narrative in Five Strategic Steps,
cont.

• Lay out the well thought-out and effective
  solution as it was implemented by the CAAs
  leaders and staff.
• End with a description of the outcome, and if
  appropriate, future expectations.

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Make Your Stories Heard

• Now that you know how to tell your story in an
  effective way, you need to make your success
  known
• Agency websites are critical
• Brand your photos and your stories
• Know your audience

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Summary of Questions to Address

• What are the results?
• How do you know?
• What is the importance of these results?
• What will you do next?
• Who do you need to tell?
• What will you tell them?
• How will you tell them?
• Who will deliver the message?

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Questions please contact

• Jovita Tolbert, NASCSP jtolbert_at_nascsp.org
• Jenae Bjelland, NASCSP bjelland_at_nascsp.org