List of Recommendations

Our team researched over 100 hours of literature to develop recommendations for the Brownsburg Units. This simplified list of our recommendations covers information pertaining to creating newsletters, implementing different messaging strategies, and offering incentives.

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Increasing Engagement Through a Newsletter

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Benefits of a Weekly Newsletter

• They have many benefits when it comes to communication and engagement of a company or organization

  • This will increase engagement throughout the Brownsburg BSA unit

 

Benefits of Information Shared on Paper 

• Paper copies of information can be more beneficial than an email when it comes to remembering information and people acknowledging what is being shared

  • In the Brownsburg BSA unit, parents are not receiving or acknowledging the important information being shared with them so I think they should consider paper copies when sharing important information or news

 

Messaging Strategies: Encouraging Parental Involvement

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Open Channels of Communication

• A place for parents to share stories, pictures, achievements, etc. from an event or activity

  • This should be separate from the direct messages, so parents don’t mute those texts

 

Direct Text Messages

• Update parents with important information regarding events/activities

  • Pro-tip: Use the opt-out approach here to encourage responses

 

Set Communication Goals

• Construct specific goals that merit rewards if met

  • Example: Achieve an 80% response rate and Scouts earn a pizza party or a fun non-scouting event like an Escape Room

 

Opt-Out Approach

• Increases the likelihood of parents seeing updates and responding/interacting with them

  • May be more effective than the opt-in approach, since parents will have to choose to back out of receiving information

 

Strengthening Communication: Through Incentives

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Group Incentives

• They are effective in enhancing communication and capturing parents' attention along with engagement, motivation, and accountability

  • Only for parents who want to participate

 

Individual Incentives

• These are highly effective for communication because of personal motivation, and personal effort wanting to engage in participation

  • More effective than group, but both are beneficial

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This list of recommendations is supported by expert insight, over 100 hours of database research, and input from local sources. Our findings are grounded in effective communication strategies that may increase parental involvement and responses, and they are relevant to current efforts to improve communication.