For community engagement to succeed, stations need buy-in from the most senior leadership to interns or part-time staff and everyone in between.

Station Managers, CEOs, Presidents — however you refer to the people at the helm — set the tone for a public media organization. Supporting and committing to community engagement will require bold choices and healthy risk, balanced with a smart long-term strategy and an eye toward sustainability.

Committing to better understanding communities will lead to more authentic stories and improve your station’s connections to underserved audiences. It may even make your news staff feel better about their work and help you attract a more diverse and ambitious staff. Moreover, if you fully commit to the goals of community engagement, you will have a powerful message to take to members, funders and underwriters. 

Before you get started, ask yourself these four important questions: 

1. Are you expanding and attracting new audiences? 

2. Are you able to identify new funders to support your journalism, whether existing or aspirational? 

3. Are you satisfied with your station’s capacity and ability to provide the best news service possible? 

4. Are you meeting the information needs of your listening audience AND the broader community you serve?
   Community engagement can effectively address these critical leadership concerns. This section will guide you through how to make the case to oversight boards, funders and your staff — no matter the size. 

While this section tackles topics directly related to station managers, we highly recommend station leadership peruse the other sections as well to understand what you are asking of your team.