Introduction
In an effort to communicate effectively with internal and external audiences, the Heartland Agricultural Coalition (HAC) approached the PIE Center with interest in conducting a communications audit. The goal of the audit was to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the organization’s communication materials and processes within the organization as well as with its stakeholders.
The PIE Center requested and received a representative sampling of materials HAC uses to communicate. The resources, which included HAC’s website, monthly newsletter and email updates, were reviewed and analyzed for consistency, usability, messaging strategies and effectiveness.
Key findings
The website did not prominently display HAC’s branding such as logo and mission statement. Instead, the font and multitude of small pictures would likely distract visitors. The “About Us” page was not specific in describing HAC, its board or how it interacts with other organizations.
The design of the monthly newsletter was appealing. The content in the sampled issue, however, was relevant only for a small segment of members because it provided information related to citrus. As such, the newsletter excluded producers outside of the citrus industry and could have made non-citrus producers feel unimportant. On the other hand, the numerous email updates covered a variety of topics.
Recommendations
Based on the audit results, the PIE Center recommended stylistic changes to the HAC website, particularly increasing the logo size, implementing a more current and modern font and using fewer, but larger, pictures. HAC should also add information about the coalition’s mission, goals and history to the “About Us” page to clearly and consistently broadcast the HAC’s brand.
HAC should consider recasting the newsletter to include the entire membership. Content should include issues of importance to all sectors of agriculture represented by HAC. The organization should also considering publishing fewer issues to try to appeal to a wider audience. To achieve this, HAC should send email updates for time-sensitive information only and save evergreen content for the newsletter.
