Unsure how to approach community engagement? Start here

When I started working in community engagement, I was pretty much thrown in at the deep end. Although I had a job description, no one really seemed to have a real idea of what the job involved or how it should be done. Everyone around me was approaching it slightly differently, and a lot of what was happening had evolved over time without much coordination or long-term planning. 

Coming into that space with a fresh perspective, I began to look at what was being done already, how it was being received, and where things could be improved. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I was willing to learn, and I spent a lot of time testing, adapting, and refining the process. It involved trial and error, listening to feedback, and deciding what was worth continuing and what wasn’t. 

What I learnt in those early days developed my approach to community engagement, and it's what led me to create the Community Engagement Starter Kit, a structured toolkit designed to help others understand what engaging with the community involves, and develop a plan that supports both their organisation and the local community they’re operating in. 

Good intentions aren’t enough 

Most businesses don’t avoid community engagement because they don’t care. It’s usually because they are not sure how to incorporate it into how they operate or are scared of doing something wrong. It’s often considered easier to leave it till issues arise than to take a proactive approach. As a result, community engagement ends up being reactive, with no consistent process for how community complaints, requests and feedback are managed. 

This is where things can start to slip. You might respond when a complaint comes in but not implement a process to stop the issue from happening again. You might support a local event one year but not the next, simply because no one is responsible for handling requests. 

Community engagement takes more than good intentions. It requires businesses to look at how they operate to ensure they aren’t causing unnecessary harm to the people who live and work nearby. 

That might mean looking at how your operations affect others. Managing dust, noise or traffic more carefully, listening and acting when complaints are made, and being honest about what you can and can’t change, while doing what you can to reduce the impact, can all make a huge difference on how the business is perceived locally. 

It’s also worth considering the legacy your business wants to leave. Giving back to the local area by supporting local charities, community groups and not-for-profit organisations can make a huge difference to local people. 

Most organisations want to be considered good neighbours. With a plan in place, it’s easier to spot risks, respond to concerns, and take small steps that lead to stronger relationships over time.

Been given the responsibility of engaging the community, but not sure where to start? We’ve got you.

One of the biggest misconceptions I see is the idea that engaging with the community is easy. That if you’re “good with people” or familiar with the area, you’ll naturally know what to do. 

Community engagement often ends up in the hands of someone who’s already juggling a long list of other responsibilities. It’s rarely someone’s full-time job, and yet, when complaints come in or support is needed locally, that person is expected to know exactly what to do. 

In my experience, most people in this position want to get it right. They care about how the business is seen locally, they understand the importance of doing it well, but don’t always have the skills or experience to know what to do for the best. 

The reality is, engaging with the community is not always easy. It can mean responding to complaints or dealing with negative feedback. It can also mean having to make decisions that balance local concerns with business needs, where you can’t always make everyone happy. 

Most people tasked with engaging with the community haven’t had any formal training on what is required. They’ve been asked to step in, often on top of their day job, and are doing their best with what they’ve got. 

That’s where the Community Engagement Starter Kit comes in. It gives you a structured approach to work from, which you can also dip into for help and advice when specific situations arise, to help you build a plan that makes sense for your organisation and the communities you operate in. 

How the Community Engagement Starter Kit can help

The Community Engagement Starter Kit is a digital toolkit that helps you understand what engaging with the community involves, what to prioritise, and how to put a workable plan in place to help you engage with the local community in a more consistent and considered way. 

Whether you’re responding to complaints, supporting local causes, or simply trying to reduce the impact your business is having on nearby residents, the kit gives you a structured way to build your approach. 

Inside, you’ll find 11 sections covering everything from stakeholder mapping to legal consideration, communications planning, responding to feedback, and creating a local donations process. You’ll also get editable templates, planning tools and worksheets to help you apply everything to your own organisation as you go. 

Each part is written with small and medium-sized organisations in mind. You don’t need a huge team or a big budget to incorporate community engagement into your business, just a willingness to look at what’s already happening, what needs improving, and where you can make a difference. 

The aim is to help you stop reacting to individual issues and start building a plan that actually works, one you can adapt and build on over time. 

Final thoughts

Taking responsibility for how your business shows up in the community can feel daunting, especially if it’s landed on your desk with little guidance or support. 

But with the right structure in place, it becomes easier to see where to start. You begin to understand how to respond when issues come up, how to prioritise requests, and how to build consistent ways of working that support both your organisation and the people nearby. 

The Community Engagement Starter Kit gives you the confidence and tools to stop guessing, start planning, and take a more considered, consistent approach to local engagement.  

Ready to start engaging with the community with more confidence and less guesswork? The Community Engagement Starter Kit is available now. Click here for more information.

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