After spending a third of my career in public schools, I have learned that school communications is uniquely positioned in the communications space. In many organizations, communications is seen as an afterthought and often overlooked in the planning stages. In schools, particularly during this pandemic, communications professionals have come to be relied on more than ever to deliver key messages, ensure transparency and gain trust through storytelling and positive narratives.

What has also come to light during this time are the disparities across the country regarding human and budgetary resources to meet the ever-growing needs of the school district’s communications and engagement team to carry out its critical work. 

To this end, there are several factors to consider and promising practices to implement when building your communications and engagement budget. These key strategies can help you make the case for funding:

• Develop your communications and engagement budget in support of the school district’s strategic plan,
• Use your storytelling skills to show the value of communications and family and community engagement through metrics and analytics, and
• Become an ally of the Financial Services team.

Develop Your Communications and Engagement Budget in Support of the School District's Strategic Plan

Having a seat at the table is critical for communications and engagement to work in school districts. This is especially true when the operating budget is being developed. How can you effectively manage a communications and engagement program without the resources and staff to support the district’s  strategic plan? In short, you cannot.

In fact, communications and engagement must be considered in every aspect of the budget. For example, say the Human Resources team plans to launch a recruitment campaign to attract more diverse candidates—a key part of the strategic plan. How can it execute this campaign without support from the communications and engagement team? How will the team know how much to budget for videos, materials, promotional items, events and other important elements to create a successful campaign? You need communications and engagement expertise to do this.

At Alexandria City Public Schools, our Department of School and Community Relations team is immersed in the budget process at every step. We have even instituted annual listening tours with schools and departments to assist in anticipating these needs well before the budget process begins, always asking: “How does this support the strategic plan?” This helps build the case for communications and engagement come budget season.

Use Storytelling to Show the Value of Communications and Engagement Through Metrics and Analytics

Being the in-house storytellers of the district comes with its advantages, and we must leverage this skill to communicate the value of our work through a robust evaluation process. This includes regular monitoring of metrics and analytics associated with our work, and then, communicating about it.

In schools, we are accustomed to looking at charts and data reports, but often, we do not see the stories behind the numbers. This is where our team shines by identifying the bright spots and noteworthy accomplishments and amplifying them through various communications channels.

Once the news hits the streets, it is vital to circle back with the stakeholders you partnered with and share the reach and sentiment that was garnered from the campaign. This creates buy-in and credibility with those stakeholders. Collect all these metrics and share them with leadership at year end, as the budget starts to take shape.

And voilà, you have the data to back up your value and proposed funding needs.

Become an Ally of the Financial Services Team

Most important to making sure that communications is a forethought is to become an ally of the Financial Services team. This was illustrated in our past budget season when we approached the team during our listening tour and created a budget theme that aligned with the positive narrative we were building around the compensation package being proposed. We used this opportunity to introduce our “Simply the Best” grassroots communications campaign.

Our finance team trusted us and ran with the campaign, which turned out to be a success. This resulted in a community budget forum, which usually draws only 20 people, attracting 250 people who joined us as we shared information in our top four languages.  The team was pleased with these results, and we highlighted this throughout the process as we emphasized the importance of recruiting and retaining simply the best staff and offering simply the best social, emotional and academic learning for all students.

There is no perfect formula for ensuring that communications are a major factor in the budget process. But success starts with a commitment from the communications and engagement team to connect the dots through strategic plan alignment, meaningful metrics and a collaborative relationship with the finance team. Using the three components outlined here will not only ensure a strategic and successful approach to communications, but can also help you make a case for increased communications funding. 

Julia A. Burgos can be reached at julia.burgos@acps.k12.va.us.