Question for businesses looking to engage with their local community:

If you had a straightforward way to plan your approach, without second-guessing what’s expected or spending weeks trying to piece it all together…

Would you finally feel confident to make community engagement a priority?

Laptop displaying the welcome screen of the Community Engagement Starter Kit online course, with a coffee cup, plant, and smartphone on a wooden desk.

Build trust, reduce complaints, and strengthen your reputation with a structured approach to engaging your local community

The Community Engagement Starter Kit gives you expert tools, proven frameworks, and practical guidance to help your business engage with your local community confidently and effectively, all in one place.

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For businesses that operate within a local community, community engagement is not just a nice-to-have. It can reduce complaints, prevent reputational issues, and strengthen relationships with the people and organisations connected to your operations. It also shows your commitment to supporting the community you operate in, whether through donations, volunteering, partnerships or simply listening and responding to local concerns.

But without a clear starting point, it’s easy to delay action or rely on one-off efforts that don’t lead anywhere.

The Community Engagement Starter Kit gives you a complete, step-by-step system to help you build strong local relationships and give back in a way that is structured, consistent, and right for your business.

Is community engagement really that important?

(Yes, and here's why!)

When businesses don’t take the time to engage with the community, small issues can quickly turn into bigger problems.

Not engaging with the community can lead to:

❌ Complaints and regulatory challenges that could delay or disrupt your operations

❌ A poor reputation that makes it harder to attract customers and employees

❌ Increased local resistance when you try to expand, change operations, or introduce something new

A proactive approach can help you:

✅ Prevent costly complaints and business disruptions by addressing potential issues before they escalate

✅ Build trust by keeping people informed and addressing concerns

✅ Attract and retain customers by being seen as a business that contributes to and respects the local area

✅ Create a workplace culture employees are proud to be part of

✅ Build better relationships with local councils, regulators, and partners by improving communication and avoiding surprises

Many businesses struggle with where to start or how to engage effectively. The Community Engagement Starter Kit removes the guesswork and gives you a clear, structured approach that works.

By getting the right foundations in place now, you’ll be in a stronger position to improve your reputation, secure local support, and engage with confidence.

What’s inside the Community Engagement Starter Kit?

Step-by-step frameworks – A structured approach to designing and implementing a community engagement strategy that fits your business

Essential tools and templates – Practical worksheets to help you map stakeholders, collect feedback, plan communications, and track your progress

Guidance to build a long-term engagement plan – Create a structured approach to planning your activities throughout the year, with clear goals and regular checkpoints

UK-specific compliance and best practice – Understand the legal and regulatory considerations that apply to engaging with the community

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Topics covered in the Community Engagement Starter Kit

Introduction to community engagement

Why community engagement matters, what it involves, and how to approach it in a way that works for your business.

Developing a community engagement strategy

Set objectives, define your purpose, and align your engagement approach with business values and priorities.

Stakeholder mapping

Identify key stakeholders, understand their interests, and plan how to involve, inform, or respond to them effectively.

Creating a communications strategy

Develop clear, consistent communication plans to support your engagement activities and build trust.

Collecting and managing feedback

Establish feedback channels, respond to concerns, and use what you learn to shape future engagement.

Crisis management

Prepare for community-related challenges and know how to respond if something goes wrong.

Compliance and legal considerations

Understand your obligations under UK law and make sure your community engagement activities are responsible and compliant.

Producing your community engagement plan

Bring everything together into a structured, achievable plan that supports your long-term goals.

Employee volunteering

Design and support volunteering activities that benefit your team and the wider community.

Charitable donations and sponsorships

Manage donations in a consistent, transparent way that supports both your business and your local community.

Measuring success and continuous improvement

Set KPIs, track progress, and evaluate your engagement activity so you can review and improve year on year.

Who the Community Engagement Starter Kit is perfect for

The Community Engagement Starter Kit is designed for:

✅ Small to medium-sized businesses operating within a local community that want to build a strong reputation

✅ Teams dealing with local issues such as complaints or objections who want a more structured way to respond

✅ Companies looking to strengthen relationships with residents, local partners, or authorities

✅ Organisations aligning their work with CSR, ESG, or social value commitments

✅ Those who want to take a proactive approach to engagement rather than waiting for issues to arise

✅ Businesses that want to engage with their local community but don’t have anyone with the right experience to lead it

Who the Community Engagement Starter Kit is not perfect for

This Community Engagement Starter Kit may not be a good fit for:

❌ Businesses looking for a quick fix

❌ Companies that don’t see community relationships as relevant to their success

❌ Organisations that already have a well-established and effective engagement strategy

How to use the Community Engagement Starter Kit

The Community Engagement Starter Kit is designed to be practical and flexible, so you can use it in a way that works for your business.

🔹 Work through the modules step by step to develop your community engagement strategy

🔹 Dip into individual sections whenever a new issue, opportunity, or challenge arises

🔹 Use the editable worksheets and templates online or print them out — whichever you prefer

Whether you're starting from scratch or building on work you’ve already done, the Starter Kit gives you the structure and tools to make community engagement part of how your business operates.

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Why the Starter Kit is a smart business investment

💷 Save time & resources – Instead of spending weeks (or months) researching and developing a community engagement plan, get a ready-to-use framework that helps you focus on where to take action.

💷Designed for in-house use - You don’t need a specialist team to get started. The tools and templates are easy to use and built to help you plan and deliver your approach with confidence.

💷 Avoid expensive consultancy fees – Hiring a consultant to support your community engagement strategy could cost between £8,000 and £12,000. The Starter Kit offers the same level of expert-level guidance at a fraction of the price.

💷 Protect your reputation and reduce risk – Strong community relationships help you respond to concerns early, avoid delays, and build long-term support.

Hi, I’m Emma Smith, founder of Nia Avanna, a consultancy that helps businesses engage with their communities in a way that is consistent, respectful and practical.

I’ve spent more than ten years working in external affairs and community engagement, helping businesses improve local relationships, reduce complaints and deal with issues before they escalate. I also have extensive experience in corporate giving, including setting up donation processes and supporting employee volunteering in a way that benefits both the business and the community.

I created the Community Engagement Starter Kit to give you the tools and structure to engage confidently, even if you don’t have a dedicated person or team. It’s designed to help you take a professional, long-term approach that reflects your business and supports the communities you operate in.

"Emma is a consummate communications professional who is hugely adept at spotting opportunities to collaborate with local communities, delivering genuine value for clients and the communities they work with. As an added bonus, she's also a total pleasure to work with!"

- Lucy, Managing Director (Former consultant)

"Emma is an incredibly dedicated and highly knowledgeable engagement and social purpose professional. She is meticulous in both planning and execution and strives for excellence in every aspect of her work. She is a huge asset to any team, bringing strategic expertise as well as being a fantastically collaborative and supportive colleague."

- Joanna, Senior Manager External Affairs (Former manager)

"Emma is in her element when she is delivering genuine and effective community engagement strategies — ones that truly make a difference. She is creative, innovative, and knows her stuff. Highly recommended."

- Raynor, Communications & PR Manager (Former Manager)

"I learnt so much from working with Emma. She really opened my eyes to the power of community engagement. Engagement is often already happening, and Emma’s insights help give that activity the respect it deserves. She’s also perfect at helping to galvanise action when a nudge is needed. Clear and articulate — I cannot recommend Emma highly enough. What she does is so important, and thankfully more and more people are starting to recognise that."

- Rebecca, Sustainability Manager (Former colleague)

Get started today!

Invest in your business and start building a stronger, more engaged community presence with the tools, frameworks, and expert guidance you need to make it happen.

The Community Engagement Starter Kit

£1295

One time

Step-by-step frameworks
Expert insights
Proactive strategies
Unlimited lifetime access
Estimated value: £8,000+