Leadership Matters - February 2013

Referendum capacity? By Dr. Nick Osborne IASA Field Services Director and

collaborative experiences. It is important to note that

Many school districts underestimate the amount of work that is necessary to pass a bond referendum. Pursuing a referendum is not a simple event but a very detailed and labor intensive process. Given the economy and attitude of the public toward bond referendum and increased tax liabilities, successful campaigns are becoming more and more difficult to accomplish. A referendum campaign requires a significant capacity of time, personnel, internal and external support, communication, information, and operational funds. Considering the importance of bond elections as a revenue generating mechanism for Illinois schools more attention needs to be paid to this very important and essential fiscal process. An important question for school leaders to consider is whether or not their district has the necessary resource capacity to pursue a referendum. Unfortunately, this inquiry is often overlooked. Instead, districts seem to be driven by a sense of referendum urgency that tends to minimize planning and the potential for success and creates within the organization much disappointment and frustration. The data collected from a formal assessment of capacity can assist the district leaders in deciding to move forward and pursue the referendum or to postpone the campaign, instead choosing to invest time and effort in bringing the district’s capacity to an operational level that would contribute to greater success on Election Day. One of the essential capacities for referendum success is a strong external and internal level of support. Securing significant levels of support begins with an identification of the community stakeholder groups -- people or organizations that are concerned about, affected by, have a vested interest in, or are involved some way in the local schools. Ideally a quality level of cooperation and support with the identified groups should have been established over time through multiple engagements Stakeholder Group Level of Support Kiwanis Club unknown preparation. Pursuing a referendum without having the adequate capacity minimizes

successful school districts are constantly working on building and maintaining collaborative engagements and partnerships with their public as opposed to only engaging with them when they need their support. The more community leaders you can put on your side, the better, including groups like realtor's associations, the chamber of commerce, ministerial association, civic organizations, governmental agencies, senior citizens, parents, teachers, fraternal organizations, unions, informal groups, et al. It is essential that school district leaders engage other members of their leadership team and utilize a facilitative process to establish an accurate listing of these groups. You must build an extensive working knowledge of your community. You've got to get people in the community who are trusted to support your efforts. Research has shown that the failure of school districts to identify, engage and educate all significant sub groups within the community is a major contributor to the failure of school bond referendum. Individuals and/or groups left unattended tend to be in opposition to most referendum questions. potential level of support, the type of information they need, and who will be assigned the responsibility for connecting and supporting the relationship. The establishment of an informational matrix like the sample above will assist in managing the communication and education of the groups. School districts are more likely to pass their bond referendum when an organized, step-by-step approach is utilized. You have to communicate the need. People have to believe the need. Tapping into these significant community sub groups is essential to the success of the campaign. Gaining the support and commitment of the various stakeholder groups allows you to tap into and benefit from their spheres of influence. People have to trust the school district and what it is trying to do. You build that trust through well designed and orchestrated communication and education engagements with the important and essential sub groups within your community. Preferred Means of Communication Individual(s) Responsible for Group Group presentation, distribution of campaign literature Public Relations Committee Once the sub groups have been identified, it is important to determine each group’s present or

Stakeholder Engagement Matrix

Information Needed by the Group

Purpose of referendum, information regarding the district's needs and present performance

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