Turn stakeholders into allies

Stakeholders are everyone who benefits from or has a particular interest in seeing the library thrive. They can be powerful allies in delivering your message. Stakeholders include but are not limited to your library board, staff, Friends, users. They might also include the school superintendent, college president, mayor, county board chair, business leaders and others who see the library as a valuable asset to the community.

Questions to consider:

• Who is on your side and is willing to speak out?
• Who is the opposition?
• Who can be most helpful?
• Who are most influential?
• Who should approach them, when and how?
• What are the risks, as well as benefits?

Who needs to hear the message?

Everyone may be the easy answer, but it’s hard to reach everyone—especially with limited resources. Also, some audiences are more important than others.

Identifying high-priority audiences will help to ensure that your message gets heard by those who most need to hear it. These target audiences generally include those who have the most influence or are most likely to support you—including your staff, trustees and Friends.
Examples:

Funders/Decision-makers
Mayor, County board chair, Tribal advisory council, Board of regents, State & federal legislators, Foundations

Voters
Ages 55 and over, Young adults—ages 18-30, Parents, Grandparents, Caregivers, Library users, Teachers/educators

Influencers
Newspaper editor, Chamber of Commerce, PTO, College president, Civic groups/boosters, Richest person around, Local “do it all”

Internal stakeholders
Library staff, Board, Friends, Volunteers

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More tips for dealing with decision-makers

• Attend meetings. Participate.
• Offer to host a meeting of the county board, school board, board of reagents or advisory council at the library. Provide refreshments and a tour. Host chamber coffees.
• Provide candidates with information about the library. Make sure they have a library card.
• Provide candidates with information about the library.
• Support candidates who support libraries. Give money or volunteer behind the scenes.
• Send letters of congratulations to winning candidates and an invitation to visit the library or media center.
• Participate in state and national legislative days. If getting away is difficult, visit legislators in their home offices.

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More tips for speaking successfully

• Talk—don’t speak. Use language that is easily understood. It’s OK to use notes but don’t read.
• Focus your listeners’ attention: “When you leave here today, I hope you’ll do one thing�” Or, “If you don’t remember anything else, remember this—“
• Be prepared to answer questions—easy and hard.
• Use PowerPoint to reinforce your message, but not substitute for it. Avoid straight text. Arrive early to check equipment. Keep the lights up.
• Provide brief handouts. A postcard or wallet-size card highlighting a few key facts, e.g. “Did you know . . .?” or executive summaries of lengthy documents are more likely to be read.

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Answering hard questions

There is only one good way to deal with sensitive or difficult questions. That is to prepare answers ahead of time.

• Keep your answers to the point. Too much information can provoke more questions. If your questioner wants to know more, he /she will ask more questions.
• Never answer a question you don’t understand or are uncomfortable answering. No answer is better than a wrong answer. It’s OK to say, “I’m sorry I don’t know that.” Or “I’m not the best person to answer that.” If possible, add that you’ll
• Always answer with a positive. Stick to your key message.

  Q. Why do we need a new library when we have the Internet?

  A. Our library is a real place where you can help from real people. It’s a place where people of all ages come to learn and enjoy. Our community deserves a 21st century library.

• Never say “No comment.” You know why.

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Tools, tips and strategies

The following resources outline tools, tips and opportunities for you to use in getting your message out.

Advertising | Annual report | Column | Editorials | Email/Elists | Evaluation | Fact sheet | Feature stories | Guest columns/Op-eds | Letters to the editor | Newsletters | News release | Political Action Committee | Public Service Announcements (PSAs) | Radio/TV | Sound bites | Stories | Strategies | Tabloid/Insert | Telephone Trees | Testimonials | Websites

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