CHILDREN FIRST GRISWOLD
EARLY CHILDHOOD PLANNING
STRATEGY AND PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
October – December 2011
PARTNER DEVELOPMENT
1. Make sure everyone on your team has a picture of the indicator(s) your team is focused on and the story behind the data that you’ve generated
2. Given your indicator, “What groups and individuals in our community need to work together to really turn the curve on this trend line?”
• Be sure to think beyond the usual suspects – what about clergy? Neighborhood groups? Business? School Board members? Physicians?
3. Decide on how you’ll engage these folks
Some approaches:
• Invite them to join your Domain Team
• Hold a Solution Session where attendees define a set of high level strategies to change the picture/turn the curve on the issue
• Go to them – hold a lunch dialogue with practitioners – school nurses, pediatricians, etc. Alternatively, ask for time on the agenda of an existing meeting of your partner’s group, and offer to bring refreshments.
4. Develop a clear action plan that includes who’s doing what by when.
• Writing a letter of invitation
• Making phone calls to individuals
• Following up with emails and other contacts
• Networking with people who know those you’re trying to engage in your work
Remember these guidelines:
• Be specific about the ask
• Be personal with the ask – one-on-one invitation, conversation, is high leverage; an email blast to a bunch of people is the “spray & pray” approach
• Make the invitee feel important/valued – their perspective and involvement is essential to tackling this problem
• Make the benefit clear: this train is taking off an they’d better be on it – funding for implementation is on the horizon and they can be part of it or not (Catherine – perhaps funding isn’t their primary motive, but giving Griswold’s families an even better place to live and learn)
STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
Once you have the key partners at the table. . .
1. Review the indicator(s) and what you know about the story behind the indicator data
2. Brainstorm a list of possible strategies. The following aspects should be kept in mind when listing these out:
• Ease and cost of implementation: Especially when resources are limited, it is important to emphasize no-cost/low-cost actions.
• Reach and impact: Will the strategies you implement in the first two years make a difference? Will the community perceive that something important has been done? This factor counter-balances the first factor and points toward system and policy change.
• Where the energy and resources are: It is easiest to build on what is working and where critical partners have made or are ready to make a commitment.
• Building a system: Look for strategies and actions that do not rely on just the usual partners or one sector and that contribute to the building of a community-wide system across multiple sectors.
• Early success: Even small victories are important for building momentum.
3. Then you can score each of your brainstormed strategies on the following aspects:
Strategy Impact
1=Least Impact
5=Most Impact
Time
1=Most Time
5=Least Time
Resources
1=Most Resources
5=Least Resources
Shift to healthier food choices in school and home 4 2 1
Your scoring of these strategies should help you to pare down, pair up and prioritize your strategies. It will also help you understand what things you can go ahead and work on right away and which ones you need to get significant funding for.
Watch out for: listing actions as strategies. Programs, projects, activities are not strategies. Strategies are high-level initiatives that are supported by a cluster of programs and activities.
Strategy: Shift to healthier food choices in school and home
Actions: Workshops for parents, school gardens where students learn about growing and eating healthy food, serve locally grown food in the cafeteria,
