Page 19 - Leadership Matters February 2013_3140b78f.pub

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Referendum capacity?
By Dr. Nick Osborne
IASA Field Services Director
Many school districts underestimate
the amount of work that is necessary
to pass a bond referendum.
Pursuing a referendum is not a
simple event but a very detailed and
labor intensive process. Given the
economy and attitude of the public
toward bond referendum and
increased tax liabilities, successful campaigns are
becoming more and more difficult to accomplish.
A referendum campaign requires a significant
capacity of time, personnel, internal and external
support, communication, information, and operational
funds. Considering the importance of bond elections
as a revenue generating mechanism for Illinois
schools more attention needs to be paid to this very
important and essential fiscal process.
An important question for school leaders to
consider is whether or not their district has the
necessary resource capacity to pursue a referendum.
Unfortunately, this inquiry is often overlooked.
Instead, districts seem to be driven by a sense of
referendum urgency that tends to minimize planning
and
preparation.
Pursuing a
referendum
without
having the
adequate
capacity
minimizes
the potential for success and creates within the
organization much disappointment and frustration.
The data collected from a formal assessment of
capacity can assist the district leaders in deciding to
move forward and pursue the referendum or to
postpone the campaign, instead choosing to invest
time and effort in bringing the district’s capacity to an
operational level that would contribute to greater
success on Election Day.
One of the essential capacities for referendum
success is a strong external and internal level of
support. Securing significant levels of support begins
with an identification of the community stakeholder
groups -- people or organizations that are concerned
about, affected by, have a vested interest in, or are
involved some way in the local schools.
Ideally a quality level of cooperation and support
with the identified groups should have been
established over time through multiple engagements
and collaborative
experiences. It is
important to note that
successful school districts are constantly working on
building and maintaining collaborative engagements
and partnerships with their public as opposed to only
engaging with them when they need their support.
The more community leaders you can put on
your side, the better, including groups like realtor's
associations, the chamber of commerce, ministerial
association, civic organizations, governmental
agencies, senior citizens, parents, teachers, fraternal
organizations, unions, informal groups, et al.
It is essential that school district leaders engage
other members of their leadership team and utilize a
facilitative process to establish an accurate listing of
these groups. You must build an extensive working
knowledge of your community. You've got to get
people in the community who are trusted to support
your efforts. Research has shown that the failure of
school districts to identify, engage and educate all
significant sub groups within the community is a
major contributor to the failure of school bond
referendum. Individuals and/or groups left
unattended tend to be in opposition to most
referendum questions.
Once the sub
groups have
been
identified, it is
important to
determine
each group’s
present or
potential level of support, the type of information they
need, and who will be assigned the responsibility for
connecting and supporting the relationship. The
establishment of an informational matrix like the
sample above will assist in managing the
communication and education of the groups.
School districts are more likely to pass their bond
referendum when an organized, step-by-step
approach is utilized. You have to communicate the
need. People have to believe the need. Tapping into
these significant community sub groups is essential to
the success of the campaign. Gaining the support
and commitment of the various stakeholder groups
allows you to tap into and benefit from their spheres
of influence. People have to trust the school district
and what it is trying to do. You build that trust through
well designed and orchestrated communication and
education engagements with the important and
essential sub groups within your community.
Stakeholder Engagement Matrix
Stakeholder
Group
Level of
Support
Information Needed
by the Group
Preferred Means of
Communication
Individual(s)
Responsible for
Group
Kiwanis
Club unknown
Purpose of referendum,
information regarding the
district's needs and present
performance
Group presentation,
distribution of
campaign literature
Public Relations
Committee