Jul 22, 2020
5 Methods for Non-Internet Based Remote Community Engagement
How governments can supplement public engagement efforts to be inclusive of residents lacking high-speed broadband internet access
This resource is a part of The Guide to Remote Community Engagement by What Works Cities and builds off the previously published Engaging Marginalized Communities in the Wake of COVID-19.
City leaders must maintain democratic practices of public engagement through the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, even as cities begin to reopen for business. At the onset of COVID-19 and as shelter-in-place policies took effect, cities adapted quickly, running remote meetings, virtual town halls, community Zoom calls, and more.
But what about those residents without consistent, high-speed internet access? The FCC reports that over 26 percent of Americans in rural areas and 32 percent of Americans in tribal lands lack coverage from fixed terrestrial 25 Mbps/3 Mbps broadband. Indeed, the most recent survey data from the Pew Research Center show that 10 percent of Americans do not use the internet — predominantly people in lower-income brackets, seniors, and households in rural areas. These figures do not account for those residents with varying degrees of access to high-speed internet, some of whom may disproportionately rely on public WiFi, and perhaps others with service too slow to stream video calls.
Consistent, robust and large-scale communication with the public is challenging in the best of circumstances. But lack of broadband internet access should not be a disqualifying factor in civic engagement, and cities looking to reach these residents need dedicated methods to ensure their voices are taken into account as part of broader public engagement efforts.
We’ve compiled the following list of five alternative methods cities can use to ensure residents without consistent access to the internet are included in outreach efforts.
1: Teleconference calls
Teleconference calls have been established practices for years for businesses and organizations looking to facilitate discussions between groups of people.
Advantages to teleconference calls
96 percent of Americans own a cellphone, which means that a significant portion of residents without videoconferencing capabilities can still participate in calls. Additionally, given how long this technology has existed, there exist numerous guides on how to facilitate large teleconference calls effectively and efficiently, and plenty of free and paid services to choose from. Some conferencing services even have functionality that allows callers to vote on specific topics.
Potential drawbacks
Calls don’t easily allow for visual aids to ground the discussion and hold attention in the manner that video conferencing allows. Call quality may depend on individual cell service, which can vary by region. It can also be challenging to address comments one-on-one in a group call setting and may be more difficult to accommodate individual needs — community members who are hard of hearing, or need translation services may have trouble engaging through this method.
Method in action
Long Beach, CA has conducted tele-town halls in Spanish as a way to engage immigrant communities and other Spanish-speaking residents.
Dayton, OH held weekly teleconferences with faith leaders serving as community connectors (see below) to senior populations who are especially at-risk from COVID-19.
2: Call & text-banking
Call & text-banking is a tactic best known for being used by political campaigns to conduct outreach to solicit volunteers and collect donations. Cities, however, might use the same resources (publicly available voter registration information) to engage with residents on important issues.
Advantages to call & text-banking
Cities can use voter registration rolls to access the contact information of residents; a number of platforms exist to help make these calls. Text messaging (often through textbots) has been used to great success in cities a number of ways: from connecting residents to services to helping them clear old criminal charges. Some research shows text messaging as an extremely effective method of outreach to young people in particular.
Potential drawbacks
Phone banking for individual feedback is time-consuming and labor-intensive (which, incidentally, is why many campaigns have legions of volunteers to help them). Some cities might not have the capacity to conduct this kind of outreach with any degree of consistency and may be best left to high-priority issue areas necessitating significant public feedback.
Method in action
Boston, MA’s text alert service relays urgent information related to COVID-19 to residents and is available in 11 languages to best serve the diverse community within the City. The Behavioral Insights Team (BIT) has collaborated with the NHS to create a text service to connect with residents who are high-risk to contract COVID-19 and offer assistance.
3: Partnering with community and/or neighborhood leaders
This method relies on cities partnering with leaders in various neighborhoods and communities. These representatives often already have the confidence and support of residents and, as such, can be asked to help develop creative ways to keep their neighbors informed. Many live or work within hard-to-reach or underrepresented communities and can provide opportunities for better two-way communication between residents and governments.
Advantages to working with community leaders
Community leaders hold important roles in times of crisis, especially in a climate where residents are facing information overload from numerous sources. Community leaders have established trust with their neighbors and circle and are able to condense relevant information and pass it on in a highly digestible way. They’re also well-positioned to act as advocates for the greater community, enabling great two-way communication channels and closing feedback loops. Cities might reach out to any number of community organizations to identify leaders with whom to collaborate: community boards, neighborhood associations, faith leaders, block presidents, etc.
Potential drawbacks
There may be budgetary considerations for cities to take into account as community connectors are often offered a stipend for their work.
Method in action
Boulder, CO used this strategy to emergency response program after a flood in 2013, and fully implemented it in March 2020 in response to the pandemic, finding it very successful.
New Orleans, LA is planning to launch a similar initiative over the next few months.
4: Print flyers in community gathering places
Community gathering places often have bulletin boards and other spaces for people to post important news and notices. Libraries, community centers, neighborhood service centers, food banks and other community spaces tend to be dispersed throughout a city, making it easy for residents to access needed information and services. Any posted print information by cities should include a point-of-contact to allow residents to respond to the topic at hand. Make sure translated versions are posted in neighborhoods with greater non-English speaking populations.
Advantages to distributing print materials
Flyers are easy to make, and a number of design templates exist to assist in creating them. Posting flyers or leaving literature in public locations is an easy, low-cost way to cover a lot of ground. Even during mandated social distancing, certain offices, and essential services (such as food banks) may remain open even while most businesses close.
Potential drawbacks
Many of the most highly-trafficked community gathering places are still shut down or operating on limited hours and availability; therefore, outreach attempts may have low impact. It may be difficult to strategize which places are best-suited for print outreach, and it may be difficult to know how visible posted flyers are to the target audience.
Method in action
Arvada, CO achieved an 80 percent response rate to their 2020 Census mailers by combining a mailer campaign with a paid community connector program. They used historical census response data to identify low-response communities and recruited individuals from those communities to be connectors.
5: Mail-in survey postcards
Direct mail outreach can help cities reach residents at their homes. Mailing lists can be compiled from public records or other government resources, and plenty of guides can help cities design compelling mail.
Advantages to mail-in surveys
Sending postcards is relatively simple. And because they’re short and quick to review, there’s a good chance that residents will read the mail upon receiving it. Cities can also review research on how to increase mail survey response rates and adjust their strategy to increase the rate and quality of responses.
Potential drawbacks
If the idea is to solicit feedback from mailings, it should be noted that there exists a risk of spreading COVID depending on how many people are handling the mail. According to the World Health Organization, that risk is pretty low: “The likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low and the risk of catching the virus that causes COVID-19 from a package that has been moved, traveled, and exposed to different conditions and temperate is also low.” Still, engagement via mail may have other drawbacks and out-of-date mailing lists may also result in the surveys failing to reach the target audience.
Method in action
Some cities have combined the use of mail-in surveys with other methods of outreach to reach broader groups of residents. Austin, TX has used surveys to gauge resident satisfaction with the City’s projects and programs.
Have you had success engaging residents with limited to no internet access? Have you made use of these or other strategies? We’d like to hear from you! Reach out to us at cityprogress@results4america.org.
Becca Warner was the primary author of this installment.
The Guide to Remote Community Engagement is written and compiled by Charlotte Carr, Becca Warner, Greg Jordan-Detamore, and Owen O’Malley. This collection of resources is designed to support cities that wish to create and maintain strong, institutionalized practices of community engagement during periods of remote working and in an increasingly digital world.
What Works Cities is a national initiative that partners with cities as they tackle pressing community challenges and improve residents’ lives through data-driven decision making. Learn more about the program and how to get access to support, here.
