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These days, we assume everyone has internet access at home. But here’s the thing. That’s still not the case. 2024 Pew Research Center data tells us about a fifth of homes in America still don’t have broadband access.
We’re including tips to reach these families – while celebrating your district – below.
Read MoreShould I throw my cap? I don’t want to lose it, so maybe a gentle toss. Which hand do I accept my diploma with? I wonder where we’re going out to dinner after the ceremony?
These were all questions I had during my high school graduation. And with all of this running through my brain, I couldn’t, for the life of me, tell you who my graduation speaker was or what they said.
So how can you, as a superintendent (or the PIO writing this speech!), use your time at the podium to cut through the noise and make a difference as these graduates embark on the next phase of life? I’m sharing my top 3 tips to help you write a graduation speech that resonates with teens.
Read MoreReaching families without internet access isn’t a new challenge for communicators. As of last year, one in five households in America were unable to get online at home.
But in April, millions more families across the country are poised to lose their online access as the Affordable Connectivity Program funding runs out.
This could make reaching kids and families in your district or community more challenging. So today, I want to take a moment and share what we’ve learned about reaching and supporting offline families.
Read MoreHave you ever read or updated your organization’s style guide and paused to think, “Wait, why do we do it this way?” You’re not alone.
After countless communications audits and years of helping organizations discover what they need to say to reach their people, we’re convinced — good rules require great reasons.
Here are three tips to help you create a style guide that shows your team how to communicate and helps them remember why it matters.
Read MoreWe’re headed to Charlotte this weekend for the National Black Child Development Institute’s national conference! Forthright’s own Michael Ramsey is joining our partners with the North Carolina Coalition for Inclusion, Not Expulsions at the conference. Michael is presenting alongside Coalition members Dr. Valerie Jarvis McMillan of North Carolina State A&T University, and Dr. Nina Smith of North Carolina Central University. They’re sharing about a topic that affects all of our communities: eliminating racial inequities in suspensions and expulsions in early care and education settings.
Read MoreWe’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: simple writing is…weirdly hard? That’s why we *just* updated one of our most popular resources – Writing for Your Community: How to Ensure Your Messaging is Easy to Understand – with fresh new data and updated best practices!
Read MorePeople hate change.
It makes us feel uncertain, uncomfortable and like things are out of our control. And that’s not just coming from me – that’s directly from Dr. Joseph Ciarrochi, author of “What Makes You Stronger: How to Thrive in the Face of Change.”
And this fact is really, really important for our work – because to best serve kids and families, we often have to lead innovation – also known to your families and team as change.
Here at Forthright, we’ve done a lot of research and work around tricky topics. We’ve included a few key takeaways from our most recent research project – school redistricting – below.
Read MoreWhen you’re used to writing emails, white papers and journal articles for your peers and colleagues, it can be really hard to switch up your writing style and draft something easy to read for a different audience. What if I told you that it doesn’t have to be that way? With a little bit of effort, and some “tricks of the trade,” I know you can create high-quality materials that are easy to read. Here’s how…
Read MoreWe’ve spent years creating campaigns to reach both families with AND without internet access. Through our extensive research, we’ve put together a list of tactics that you can begin to implement – or use to improve your existing strategy – to effectively reach audiences without internet access. In the worksheet, we’ve included five tactics, the data that support each tactic and best practices to use while implementing each one!
Easy-to-read messaging is kind. It helps your audiences understand your work and what you want them to know. On the flip side, when a message uses big words, acronyms and jargon, it is – by definition – exclusionary. Today, we’re sharing more about how we recommend approaching your messaging.
Read MoreThrough her work with school districts and nonprofits, Forthright senior advisor Lauren knows how to reach a variety of audiences. Today, Lauren is sharing how organizations and districts like yours can better include grandparent caregivers in your tactics and build more inclusive communications.
Read MoreAs a PR firm founder, it’s my job to watch for macro-trends and patterns across our work. I’m keeping an eye on the big picture and constantly taking a pulse on the audiences (parents, school district administrators, child care providers, etc.) we frequently target through our work.
And honestly? I’m concerned.
Read MoreI was in DC this spring, and I spotted someone wearing a tee shirt reading “words mean things”.
My husband, a software engineer, didn't understand why I instantly fangirled over this shirt.
But as leaders and communicators, you get it — words DO mean things. We have a responsibility to choose them wisely and understand how they land and how different people interpret them.
Read MoreWe’ve all heard the phrase a picture is worth a thousand words. And that’s true – but in marketing and advocacy, the images aren’t just about the pictures themselves and the words they represent. They are also about the feelings they evoke and the narratives they help shape.
Read MoreThe way we process information in a crisis – like, you know, an ongoing pandemic and wartime – is different. Right now, our attention spans are shorter, and we’re more forgetful, too.
This means that to best serve our audiences, we need to focus on delivering information as clearly as possible.
The key to this clarity? Breaking it up!
Read MoreNow more than ever, it’s time to invest in our principals, our assistant principals, our front desk staff and everyone in a school who communicates with parents. Our school-based communicators deserve thoughtful leadership from our district offices, clear expectations about communications and the tools they need to do a good job.
Read MoreWe asked a few members of our team what they imagine when they hear the phrase “hold your horses.” The results were nothing short of hysterical.
Today, we’re challenging this narrative in our work and want to help you do the same, informed by fresh data and new research on school-family engagement. Why? Because we know that the moment district leaders like you reject this myth, something amazing happens. You can begin the hard work of developing compassionate and effective strategies to reach every family.
Read MoreSearch Engine Optimization (SEO) is a vast and seemingly endless topic. But, with more than half of all web visits coming from unpaid search, SEO—which helps make your website easier to find for people—is an important strategy for every organization. So, in typical Forthright fashion, we’ve done the research so you don’t have to. Here are your “must knows!”
Read MoreA recent Chronicles of Philanthropy report shared that your supporters and families want to hear from you during this pandemic. We’re sharing one of the best ways to communicate with them—and as always, we’re sharing the data behind our specific recommendations.
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