The Program Evaluation KnowledgeBase : Element 3 : Activity 1 : Task 1: Identify Target Audiences
Guideline: A communications message should be targeted to the needs of its audience. The evaluation team will interact with a range of audiences with different information needs. It must be cognizant of those needs when designing their message. The primary target audiences to plan for include funders, project staff and administrators, project participants or customers, community leaders, collaborating agencies, and others with a direct, or even indirect, interest in program effectiveness.
A broad range of stakeholders should be involved in the improvement process. This checklist may help the improvement team identify stakeholders in its community.
This U.S. Department of Transportation worksheet from the "It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air" website identifies specific primary and secondary audiences for a communications plan. It may be a useful example for educators.
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This W.K. Kellogg Foundation toolkit provides eight basic steps for creating a communications plan.
This document contains a chapter from a larger brochure advising nonprofit organizations how to implement a communications campaign. This publication from Fenton Communications was funded by a grant from the Packard Foundation.
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