Personal touch helps deliver CAB Wellington’s first comms strategy

After an organisational review, Business Development Manager Dulce Piacentini was tasked with developing one, to increase the organisation’s reach in the community and awareness of its services, and to ensure its ongoing relevance.

After making a start on a strategy herself, using resources on the Community Comms Collective website, Dulce reached out to the collective for support from a volunteer to review her draft, provide feedback and help polish it off for board approval.

“Even with so much resource available online, nothing replaces the opportunity to discuss with an expert and receive specific feedback and suggestions to your work,” says Dulce.

Matchmaker Asher Wilson-Goldman quickly matched new volunteer Amy Stapleton, who had skills and experience well suited to the task at hand.

Amy says she had been looking for a new volunteer opportunity and had noticed a poster for Citizens Advice Wellington when visiting Karori Mall earlier in the year. “When the Community Comms Collective reached out to me to ask whether I had time to support Citizens Advice Wellington, it seemed like fate had stepped in!

“I was more than happy to sign up for this assignment because I believe Citizens Advice Wellington plays such a valuable role in connecting people with new ideas, with valuable information and with each other. I wanted to use my communications skills to support a cause that I am passionate about and that would benefit the wider community.”

Amy says she worked with Dulce over two months to develop a high-level engagement strategy and comprehensive communications plan.

“I helped create a framework and structure for the great ideas that Citizens Advice Wellington had for increasing their reach through targeted communications and engagement. It was fun to work together and share ideas to craft the narrative. This included creating an event calendar, coming up with ideas for social media content and giving direction on the newsletter to ensure that all communications channels had broad appeal to the identified target audiences.”

Dulce says Amy helped her understand the difference between communications and engagement and everything that is involved in each of them.

“She supported me through the whole process of writing both strategies, helped me think things through, and also with numerous resources for now and for the near future, through implementation.

“The more I work on these strategies the more I understand the difference it makes when you’ve put some proper thinking into how to communicate to your audiences and stakeholders, and prepare a document with a clear strategy, objectives, messages and actions,” says Dulce.

“Amy dedicated a lot of time and energy to supporting us, and it’s been a real pleasure to work with her! We’re very thankful to the Community Comms Collective and Amy for all the support provided, and we’ll be seeing the positive impact of our work together for many years to come, I’m sure!”

Amy says working with Dulce was an absolute joy and very enriching. “I learned a lot about the local communications and events field here in Wellington. It was incredibly enlightening. As a result of the work, I feel a stronger connection with various community groups. It has given me a new, fresh perspective on Wellington.”