In the last post, we highlighted the reasons why we want to celebrate and that may be all you need to get started celebrating! For others, especially those who are not natural “celebrators,” you may be thinking it would be really nice to have some ideas on how to celebrate without spending a lot of money (that you likely don’t have!). I am taking care of you! This week’s post provides three ways you can celebrate that are both simple and meaningful. Of course you always want to check in with your coalition to find out what would resonate with them.
Add to your meeting agenda.
If you have a standing meeting agenda, consider including time on the agenda for celebration. You can highlight individual as well as collective areas to celebrate. This could be at the beginning or at the end. You could also prompt participants to discuss areas to celebrate throughout your meetings. If you have an online meeting, you can add questions in the chat. If you are in person, you can encourage celebration discussions at small and large group tables. You can encourage people to put celebration notes on post-it notes to be displayed around the room and you could use an audience interaction platform, such as Slido, to include open text answers that are shared with the entire group.
Create a member spotlight.
Incorporate a story that celebrates the work of a coalition member or partner into your regular communication approaches. Perhaps you include a story in an email newsletter or a video on your website. You may even want to incorporate member spotlight(s) as part of a specific meeting or event. You can celebrate the work of this person/organization and you can connect it to the work of the overall coalition. This is a great opportunity to also say “thank you” to that member for specific contributions to the coalition efforts. For some coalitions, member awards can also be a form of celebration.
Develop a communication plan.
When your coalition makes an impact that can only be done when you work together, one of the best ways to celebrate this is to communicate this using a communication plan. Consider what you want to celebrate, who would be interested in learning about the celebration and the best way to share this with those interested in learning about the work. Your coalition is an important audience and you may have other audiences who also want to know about your work and join in the celebration (e.g. elected officials, community leaders, media, partner organizations). The communication plan does not need to be complex or fancy but it can be intentional and strategic. As part of this, you can develop tools that can be used in multiple ways to reach your audiences (short presentations, infographics, videos, etc.)
What about you? Which one of these ideas do you want to try with your coalition?
Within every coalition, you have a lot of different roles and responsibilities. If you haven’t yet considered who could lead your “celebration” efforts, now is a great time. Check out my free Coalition Roles and Responsibilities worksheet to help you think of some of your important roles and remember to think about the people who can lead celebration efforts!
Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash
