A large part of your parent group’s identity is how you are perceived by your community. There are uncontrollable factors that determine how you are perceived (for example adversarial media or anti-parent groups like the teachers unions) however, you can have a significant influence on how your group is perceived by how you intentionally represent yourself in the public square. 

It’s easy to “fly by the seat of your pants” and respond to every media request, social media comment, question from a school board member, etc. with whatever comes to mind first, but inconsistency in your message could be suboptimal or hurt your cause. Every message, social media post, flyer, speech, op-ed should be intentionally crafted to make sure that your group is staying on target and working in support of achieving your goals.

How do you effectively message when speaking officially from your parent organization? Consider these 5 priorities every time you craft a message from your group:

Mission, Vision, Audience, Purpose and Tone. 

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1. Mission – What does my organization actually want to accomplish?

Most organizations already have a “mission statement.” If your organization does not have a mission statement, we encourage you to come up with one! 

What are your guardrails? Is your group schools-only focused? Do you work on other non-education related issues? What does success look like for your organization? This will be the “north star” with which you will make all messaging decisions.

2. Vision – How will we accomplish the mission?

Now that you know what you want to accomplish, how will you accomplish that mission? Is it through building a massive coalition of parents who speak out publicly on issues? Is it holding informational events? Doing investigative work? List 3-5 things your group will “do” to get you to your mission’s end goal. Make sure everyone in your organization is working to achieve the priorities on your list. 

3. Audience – Who are you trying to reach?

Next, identify your target audience. This could be many different types of audiences. Perhaps you are a group of high school parents and you’re trying to reach more high school parents. But you also talk with school board members…and the local media…and donors. The way you speak to a fellow parent is different from the way you would address a school board or a state board of education meeting. Craft your message to a specific audience. 

4. Purpose – What do we want our audience to do?

Once you have identified your target audience, determine what you want that audience to do with the specific message you are putting out. Do you want a parent to download a resource you developed? Do you want a school board to take a specific action? Do you want someone to donate money to your organization? Make sure that whatever message you are crafting, it is clear what you want the audience to do, even if the goal is to digest and understand information. 

5. Tone – With what voice do we want to speak?

While this point is last, this might be the most important item to consider when speaking for your organization.

Once you determine who you are speaking to and what you want them to do, you must determine how you will speak to them. The tone you take with a parent who is center-left on the political spectrum is different from the tone you might take with a parent who is more conservative. In today’s age, social media promotes posts that are hyperbolic and inflammatory. It’s easy to fall into the trap of, “well this angry post is getting a lot of attention on social media, I guess I should do more of that.” Is that your goal? Or is it something else? 

Go through this checklist for every single message you put out from your organization. It will ensure you stay focused and help achieve your organizational goals…for the good of parents, teachers, and students.