Community Outreach Plan Template

Community Outreach Plan Template Information Sheet

Objective: To help communities develop a communications plan for outreach to key local stakeholders about flood risk.

Description: A template for communities to use in developing their own, tailored plan for communicating to key stakeholders about flood risk and the importance of taking action to reduce flood risk. Plan includes a mechanism for communities to develop tailored goals, objectives, audiences, key messages, and communications tools and tactics.

COMMUNITY LETTERHEAD

[Community Name] Outreach Plan

SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

The purpose of this section of the Community Outreach Plan (Plan) is to describe where the community’s study/mapping project is in the FEMA mapping lifecycle and describe other supporting, related initiatives that would influence and/or inform the mapping process:

§ Include a brief description of current community conditions with respect to the status of studies/mapping projects within the community.

§ Include a brief description of related initiatives including such things as participation in Community Rating System, status and type of community hazard mitigation plan, status of floodplain ordinance, etc.

§ Include a brief description of community compliance issues identified in last Community Assistance Visit (CAV) or contact

§ Include a brief description of the past, current, and future development projects (public and private) in the floodplain/study area

Source Information: CAV documentation (e.g., visit notes)

COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The purpose of this section of the Plan is to describe the context and establish the need for the community to communicate to its stakeholders about flood risk and the importance of mitigation actions.

§ Describe other local communications strategies/initiatives that could potentially inform the community outreach plan.

§ Identify/describe “hot button” issues that are particularly problematic for the community (e.g., expiration of Provisionally Accredited Levee (PAL) designations, outdated coastal hazard information, unmet needs).

§ Describe desired outcomes/issues that will be addressed or resolved as a result of implementing the Plan.

§ Describe the community’s capacity to proactively communicate risk to constituents.

§ Identify a community leader who is responsible for Plan development and implementation.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Provided in this section is a list of individuals/other entities having a role in the development and implementation of the Plan. Include a brief description of the position, role, and responsibility for each person/position, contact information.

Name / Position / Organization / Responsibilities / Contact Information
John Smith / Plan Implementation Leader / Public Affairs, Community Emergency Management Agency / Drafts plan, seeks concurrence, updates plan, tracks implementation / 123-555-1212

OUTREACH PLAN GOAL

FEMA has developed a vision for Risk MAP projects, as follows:

“Through collaboration with state, local and Tribal entities, deliver quality data that increases public awareness and leads to mitigation actions that reduce risk to life and property.”

This section of the Plan will include a broad goal statement that describes what the community would like to achieve through implementing the Plan, and not current community conditions. Characteristics of a goal statement should follow the SMART principle:

§ Specific

§ Measurable

§ Action-Oriented

§ Realistic

§ Time and Resource Constrained

The following is an example goal statement for the community’s consideration:

“Through targeted outreach to key stakeholders during the Risk MAP project, the community will better understand its flood risk and become a more flood resilient community.”

The following is the community’s goal statement for this Plan:

COMMUNICATIONS PLAN OBJECTIVES

To support the communications goal, this section of the Plan will describe up to five objective statements to which measures can be applied to evaluate whether the objective is met. In addition, all communications activities (tools/tactics) undertaken by the community need to accomplish one or more of the objectives defined in this section. It is recommended that no outreach activities are conducted that do not meet at least one of the Plan objectives.

The following are example objective statements:

§ Increase understanding of flood risk by 50 percent among homeowners in high-risk flood areas.

§ Increase awareness of flood risk by 30 percent among insurance agents in [Community Name].

§ Ensure that all information sent to target audiences contains at least one key message about flood risk.

The following are the community’s objective statements for this Plan:

2.
3.
4.
5.

TARGET STAKEHOLDERS

Primary Stakeholders: List the primary stakeholders (e.g., insurance agents, business owners, surveyors, developers, homeowners associations) who will receive targeted outreach through implementing the Plan. These stakeholders should include the top three to five groups who will be in a position to effect behavior change, ultimately reducing flood hazard risk in the community (high return for the investment of communications resources). [Appendix A provides a list of stakeholders for consideration.]

The following are the community’s primary stakeholder groups to receive targeted outreach:

2.
3.
4.
5.

Secondary Stakeholders: List the secondary stakeholders who also will receive targeted outreach, but at a reduced level of effort.

The following are the community’s secondary stakeholder groups to receive targeted outreach:

2.
3.
4.
5.

KEY MESSAGES

Provided in this section of the Plan are the primary and secondary key messages that the community will convey in all information products about flood risk and the Risk MAP project. Primary messages convey broader, less detailed information, and secondary messages include more detailed information in support of the primary message. [Appendix B provides a list of key messages for consideration.]

The following is an example of a primary message and supporting secondary messages:

The new maps that result from our Risk MAP project will help us better understand which parts of our community are at a greater risk of flooding.

§ The new maps were prepared using information from storms and flood events that happened since the previous flood risk maps were developed.

§ The high-risk flood areas on the new maps are an indication of where flooding will occur.

§ Flooding can occur outside of these high risk zones, depending on the unique characteristics of a storm or flood event.

Each Risk MAP information product that a community prepares should include at least one of the key messages described below.

The following are the community’s primary and secondary messages for this Plan:

1. [insert key message]

1a.
1b.
1c.

2. [insert key message]

2a.
2b.
2c.

3. [insert key message]

3a.
3b.
3c.

4. [insert key message]

4a.
4b.
4c.

5. [insert key message]

5a.
5b.
5c.

COMMUNICATIONS TOOLS AND TACTICS

Provided in this section of the Plan is a description of the communications tools and tactics that will be implemented for each primary and secondary stakeholder group identified above, the objective that will be accomplished through the specific tool/tactic, and the means by which it will be evaluated to measure how well the tool/tactic helped to accomplish the objective. It is important to define the minimum level of effort required to accomplish the objective, which could be as simple as a checklist (e.g., send one letter/email to the targeted stakeholder group at key points along the mapping lifecycle).

The following is a tools and tactics example. [Appendix C provides a list of tactics for consideration.]

Stakeholder Group: Media [Lead: John Smith, Community Public Affairs]

Objective:

To ensure flood risk messages are included extensively in local media coverage at key project milestones throughout the community’s flood risk project.

Tactics:

§ Media kits (to include frequently asked questions, fact sheets, newsletters)

§ Press releases

§ Editorial board

Evaluation:

Conduct media content analysis to determine the frequency, accuracy and timeliness of local media coverage of the key messages.

The following are the community’s tools and tactics for each stakeholder group identified in this Communications Plan:

PRIMARY STAKEHOLDERS: