We are exploring help for Communities In Schools to simplify and strengthen how we communicate our model and impact. Specifically, we are seeking support to assess and potentially refresh key terms such as "Site Coordinator" and "Integrated Student Supports," which are meaningful internally but often create confusion among external audiences. While our work is highly effective and easy to understand when explained, the language we use can be overly technical, limiting understanding among funders, partners, policymakers, prospective staff, and families.
Driven by our 50th Anniversary starting in 2027 along with the launch of a multi-year comprehensive fundraising campaign, we have secured internal buy-in that historically prevented any review, let alone substantive change, to the language we use to describe key elements of our work.
Through stakeholder research, audience testing, competitive benchmarking, and messaging analysis, the pro bono consultant will help Communities In Schools assess how effectively our current language communicates our model and impact to external audiences, specifically individual donors and corporate and foundation funders. The project will produce an immediately implementable set of recommendations for more intuitive, audience-friendly terminology, along with a unified messaging framework that includes tested descriptions of key concepts, potential alternative names or titles, audience-specific messaging guidance, and implementation guidance.
Success will be a clear, research-informed messaging strategy that helps stakeholders more easily understand who we are, what we do, and how we drive student success. The completed project will provide CIS with language that is more accessible and effective for fundraising, recruitment, advocacy, and brand awareness, ultimately helping CIS become more fundable, findable, and understood by funders, partners, policymakers, prospective/current staff, and families.
