Earlier this year, ARDC invited a panel of experts on marketing, outreach, and building partnerships to help our grantees with one of the most common challenges we see – getting the word out about their programs.

In the video recording here, Dan Romanchik KB6NU, John Schouten VE7TI, and Jim Idelson K1IR share tips to leverage the resources you have to improve your outreach strategy. Key excerpts and additional insights from our past funded grant projects are listed below.

The Basics

1. Set your goals

When you first begin thinking about how to design your outreach plan, it’s important to set specific, manageable goals. If your goal is to sign people up for a course or event, for example, determine how many people you need to make it a successful event. If you want to grow your club membership, decide how many new people you want to add. This will help you track data to determine if the strategies you are using are working or if you need to change course.

Consider your budget and who you have available to help with outreach. Set goals that are manageable for the resources you have. Deciding how many events a year you will attend, what marketing materials you will produce, and how you will get the word out in a written outreach plan will help you be effective.

2. Define and know your audience

There are different tiers of audience to consider – you can think of it as a funnel. On the one end, you have a stranger on the street who knows nothing about your program or anything related to it. On the other end, you have people who already know you and who love your work who are the most likely people to sign up to participate at your events. Different marketing strategies will help you reach different aspects of that audience and will therefore need different messaging. For example, if you are boothing at a county fair, you’re talking to the general public. If you are boothing at an electronics conference, you’re talking to a specialized audience who may already know you. This is a simple concept, but keep it in mind as you develop your plan.

Consider your audience and what value you can offer them – what about your program will they find interesting or capture their imagination? For example, when trying to engage with youth, explaining that “a weather balloon gathers data from the atmosphere” may not be as effective as a hands-on demonstration related to weather balloons that show how the atmospheric data is collected. On the flip side, learning to spell your name in morse code may be less interesting to adults looking to get involved and serve their communities through something like emergency communications. Try to think about your target audience’s interests and lead with topics that are likely fun and exciting for them.

If you aren’t certain about your target audience’s interests, talk to the people who you want to get the word out to and get to know them. Are they looking to socialize with others at community events? Looking to get outdoors or do a new outdoor activity? Looking to find something new to build or tinker with?

3. Make sure your audience can find you

At the very least, you need a website or some kind of online presence so that people can find and participate with you. Word of mouth is one of the best ways that information about your program can spread, but once people learn about you, they need to be able to follow up to participate. Free or low cost website services are an option, and some groups organize entirely on social media.

An emailed out newsletter, or regular updates on other communications platforms like social media, Discord, or Groups.io can keep people engaged with your program. As maintaining an online presence or newsletter can oftentimes be a heavier lift than expected, we recommend putting together a team of a few volunteers to share the work.

Whenever possible, keep your newsletter, Groups.io, or other updates open to everyone, not just paying members. It makes it easier for new people to see what your group is doing and can help encourage them to get involved.

Include links and QR codes on your marketing materials. It’s a simple thing, but it’s not unheard of for groups to hand out flyers with no clear ways to actually follow up and participate in the advertised activity. Consider using links on your marketing materials that allow you to track how many people are accessing the link to see if it’s being used. You can use this to compare the effectiveness of different messages or formats for your advertising. ARDC recommends doing so in a way that respects privacy and does not collect anyone’s personal information.

Partnerships

Partnerships are one of the best ways to get the word out about your organization and its activities. They are often low-cost and highly effective.

Reach out to groups in your area and offer to give a presentation/demo showcasing your program. Again, consider the interests of the group. For some, a one-time demonstration could be appropriate; for others, developing ongoing programming together could be a good way to grow.

Common partners include: local government and emergency services, makerspaces, scouts, community colleges, charitable groups like Lions Club or Rotary Club, off-roading groups, outdoors enthusiasts, and running and cycling races that could use radio support for their events.

One additional benefit of working with your local government is gaining access to their media releases, public events, and city calendar.

If you are working on a project developing a new technology, you may especially benefit from contacting podcasters, YouTubers, and other influencers in the amateur radio community who could help you explain your work in a longer format and to a large audience.

Building Momentum

Introducing people to your program is step one. One of the most important aspects of outreach is building a program that keeps people engaged and coming back. Building long-term relationships with your audience is key for growth: otherwise, you have a revolving door where people come to one event with your group but don’t stay.

One common example is licensing classes. Many programs teach excellent classes but have no follow up. Having ongoing events, educational opportunities, and related support will help people participate in a more enriching way. It’s a license to learn – so provide learning opportunities that happen after the licensing.

Again, knowing your audience here is key. Some people are looking for online things they can participate in from home. Others are looking to socialize in person. What kind of things are your audience hoping to do with their license, and how can you help them reach those goals?

Working with Youth

Bringing more youth into the amateur radio hobby is a goal for a lot of the groups we work with. If you’re hoping to encourage youth participation, there are many considerations:

Lead with Fun

With youth especially, lead with the fun! Hands-on activities are the gold standard. Demos involving space, climate, or new technologies are also particularly interesting to many youth. When conducting activities, don’t be afraid to have the participants do things for themselves and be hands on with turning knobs or doing something like soldering – it can build confidence and interest for them. At the same time, providing scripts for things like mic fright can help the experience not be too intimidating.

Sometimes with youth, introducing them to the basics of electronics, demoing the fun that can be had with radio, or showcasing how emergency services works is enough to spark an interest in a technical career or hobby that may materialize more fully in later life. As with other audiences, consider what your goals are – they may simply be to introduce youth to ideas that plant a long term seed or love of learning.

Working with Schools

Developing partnerships with local schools can be difficult. Teachers are often limited in time and bombarded with requests. Many schools have strict rules around background checks and vetting groups that are hoping to work with them. If you want to work with schools, consider how you can help and support teachers in meeting their goals for teaching STEM education. Be prepared that developing a relationship with a teacher or faculty could take a long time or not be feasible at the moment.

After school programs may be easier to work with than schools. Scouts, robotics, 4H, and STEM education programs may be more interested in working with your group.

What Age of Youth?

Consider what age range of youth you are hoping to target with your programming. Younger children in elementary school may not have learned basic algebra yet. We’ve learned from past grantees that mixing groups of kids of all ages for a licensing class, for example, can lead to frustration when younger kids need the material taught in a different way. Knowing the age range you hope to work with should influence what groups you partner with and how you conduct and market your program.

Including Everyone

One common question groups have is how they can make sure that they’re inclusive of everyone at their events. Unfortunately, we hear frequently about a few common barriers for creating a welcoming environment. These tips are by no means exhaustive, but it can be a good place to start.

Accessibility

Accessibility is an important but often overlooked issue. If you have the option to hold meetings in spaces that allow for wheelchair access, can provide instructions verbally as well as in written formats (for those who are visually impaired or hard of hearing), and can offer online or live streaming, you may make it easier for folks with disabilities to participate with you. Provide a way for people to give you feedback on what they need to participate. Keep in mind that accessibility impacts more people than you may think – a person with a disabled partner or family member that they care for may be interested in your work but choose not to participate if they can’t participate with their loved one.

Respecting Difference

Avoid singling someone out for being different. This is an issue that we hear often – comments like “wow you’re interested in this stuff, young people are never interested in this kind of thing!” or “An extra class license? That’s impressive for a woman, you don’t see that often!” or “People like you don’t normally come to these events, we’re excited to have you here!” can be well intentioned and meant to be supportive. Unfortunately, they can make people feel singled out, weird, or self conscious. The person is now focused on being “different” which may make them feel like they don’t belong. If you see people making comments like this in your group, consider having a kind conversation with them in private.

Representation

Mentoring, role models, and representation can be especially important for youth. It can be helpful for middle school girls, for example, to see examples of women operators and engineers. Encouraging participation from Elmers and leaders of different backgrounds can help people see that your activities are for everyone.

Families

Get the whole family involved – family-friendly activities that enable parents to do amateur radio with their kids often have more impact. Even making it clear that regular club meetings and events are a place where children are welcome can help families stay involved.

Cost

Let’s face it – amateur radio is not an inexpensive hobby. While most people may be able to afford a hand held, that may be limiting depending on the activities your audience finds interesting. Consider your goals and your audience’s goals – are they really set up to be able to participate in the parts of the hobby they would be passionate about?

Loaner radio programs, club stations, hand held giveaways, discounts for students, or events where participants can borrow or share equipment can overcome the cost barrier. This can be especially important when working with a group with limited funds and access to space for amateur radio – like college students.

Still Need Help?

Reach out to programs that are doing what you hope to do and ask them for advice.

Feel free to post on ARDC’s Community Groups.io and ask about your situation. We’ve been honored to fund a number of successful programs who may be willing to advise you.

Lastly, in some circumstances, ARDC staff may be able to help you. Email giving@ardc.net to set up a meeting, especially if you are looking to create an outreach plan as a part of a grant application.

Share Your Expertise

Do you have additional advice or resources you think we should share? Email giving@ardc.net and we can add your recommendations to this page.