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Tours are a great way for organizations to promote their message and get attention for their issues. They are a low cost way to establish media contacts, educate legislators and enrich communities. Here are three success stories:

The DC Sustainable Business Network

Background:

The DC Sustainable Business Network, a new and evolving organization made up of businesses, community groups, and nonprofits, works to create an environment that supports and nurtures the development of sustainable businesses and communities in Washington, DC. Co-sponsored by Net Impact's Washington DC Professional Chapter, a network of MBA student and professionals dedicated to increasing responsible businesses, its tours bring increased attention to local sustainable businesses. Not only do these tours engage local communities, they also provide a learning tool for other businesses looking to develop similar strategies.

DCSBN has co-hosted tours of local businesses in collaboration with several local businesses committed to social responsibility, including, Honest Tea, DC Central Kitchen & Fresh Start Catering, and the 14th & U Main Street Initiative. These tours gave community members, student groups, and businesses an opportunity to learn about sustainable business projects.

Success Stories:

The tours were a learning experience for participants, as well as a way for companies to promote their successes and teach others what has worked for them. After the tours, many participants felt inspired to help or generate sustainable development projects or businesses in their own communities. Executive Director Mike Mielke hopes that business owners are learning from the innovative methods other companies are using to become successful, while remaining environmentally and socially responsible. Promoting tours enabled DCSBN to raise awareness within the community and encourage new methods of doing business.

Lessons for the Future:

Accessibility and participant interest are key factors to DCSBN's success. Throughout their tours, DCSBN has made sure all types of community events are accessible. They encourage events that are subway accessible and promote walking tours. In an upcoming tour of Operation Hope in Anacostia, DCSBN is even providing Zipcar service, a low cost, short-term car rental service.

Furthermore, Mielke emphasized the importance of messaging. Many of the tours are guided by the executive director or founder, as they have the full understanding of the business and/or passion to start the organization. The tour leader must be able to answer a multitude of questions while engaging and maintaining participant involvement. It is important to make the tour not only a learning experience but also a way to involve and impact the community.

An additional advantage of the tours is the cost effectiveness. Because there is almost no cost to planning and implementing these tours, DCSBN benefited by promoting their organization as well as their issues. For organizations that are just starting out, the tours also provide as low cost advertising and an opportunity to build up a network base for future events.

Kentuckians for the Commonwealth

Background:

Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC), a statewide organization based in London, Kentucky, also uses tours as a form of advocacy. KFTC has monthly mountain witness tours in order to increase awareness about the detrimental environmental effects of mountaintop removal for coal mining.

Many of the environmental problems that KFTC works on are regional, so KFTC began implementing tours to educate a broad base of members and leaders on the specific environmental issues certain communities are facing. The tours also enabled participants to see and feel a closer connection with the community.

One recent tour was for eighteen Kentucky authors. KTFC thought that the authors, who had written about Appalachia, the Kentucky region, or environmental concerns, would be very receptive to learning about the environmental damage caused by mountaintop removal. The authors were invited not just to become informed, but also to develop an advocacy strategy. KFTC felt these authors would do a great job capturing the problems surrounding mountaintop removal and would be a strong voice for change; a new collaborative effort to spread the word.

The tours are given to community members, press, legislators, schools and religious organizations. By providing local residents and activists as tour guides, participants are able to see and hear first hand the effects of mountaintop removal. The tour guides share firsthand testimonials of ecological, environmental and health depletion while walking the participants through the affected areas. By allowing the participant to see the region through the eyes of the residents, the tours create a feeling of solidarity and empathy between the guide and the participant.

Success stories:

Fundraising and Communications Director of KFTC, Jerry Hardt, gauges the success of the tours through their outcomes. The tours played a role in bringing diverse groups such as activists, writers, and community members together to work on the one central issue of mountaintop removal. The tours were also the impetus for further advocacy, including a protest at a coal company headquarters.

Also, the most recent author's tour was a springboard for the authors to work together. Following the tour, participants wrote editorials and shared the information with their readership. Additionally, the authors arranged a press conference to speak about their concerns surrounding the mountaintop removal program. Because of this great success, KCTF is planning another author's tour for October.

Lessons for the Future:

Hardt emphasized the importance of creating and maintaining ongoing relationships, especially with the media and legislators for long range projects. Inviting the media to events not only provides coverage for the event, but also educates them on an issue. This also helps build relationships with different media sources for future stories or campaigns. However, he advised organizations to distinguish between editorial and news staff and realize that the type of coverage varies in each department.

KFTC also invited legislators on tours to educate them about the issue. This helps to establish and maintain a relationship with the legislator.

Organizations need to follow up with participants after the tours, Hardt stresses. KFTC made a video tape of an the authors' press conference in which the authors discussed how they were affected by the tour and the testimonials from local residents. The authors stated their solidarity with residents and informed them that they continued to share there message with others. KFTC then mailed those videotapes to the local residents who spoke at the hearing, encouraging them to continue the work they have done and praising them for their help.

Similar to Mielke from DCSBN, Hardt reiterated the cost effectiveness of the tours. Since many of the tours consist of outdoor guided walking tours, with local residents as tour guides, there is little cost in implementation. Furthermore, there is no charge in training the guides since they are already familiar with the area. Any organization can benefit from conducting tours which can reduce the price burden of outreach.

Moreover, Hardt stressed the importance of messaging. In planning the most recent author's tour, KFTC collaborated with author and environmentalist Wendell Barry. Together, they created the invitation that Barry signed. Using Barry's name added legitimacy to the invitation, and increased attention and interest in participation.

Great River Regional Library

Several years ago, before Bescye Burnett became the Director at the Great River Regional Library (GRRL), there was little involvement with the community. Burnett started developing leader's tours at many Minnesota libraries as part of her role to increase public awareness of library services and community involvement. GRRL has 32 branches in central Minnesota, and Burnett has begun working with many of these libraries to develop community involvement strategies.

Leader's tours are library tours open to any type of community leader. The tours include an in-depth power point presentation discussing library services and information. Participants are also given packets of information and an opportunity to ask questions about library services. Since each of the 32 regional libraries are a little different, each geared towards individual community needs, tours are an excellent way to inform the community of these differences and continue to accommodate community needs.

The libraries spent many hours conducting one on one meetings and doing groundwork in the community before launching the tours. By spending time assessing local community needs they were also able to discuss the different roles leaders play in their communities. Following the meetings, the tours were an opportunity to bring the leaders to the library and introduce and explain their services. The list of invitees included grassroots organizers, newspapers, schools, legislators, county commissioners, universities, and others.

Success Stories:

Burnett felt the tours have been increasingly successful. Many participants said there were many services available to them at the library that they had not realized existed. The tours have also provided an initial step for many groups to work together, often including the library and its services.

Lessons for the Future:

Similar to Mielke's perspective on the cost effectiveness of tours, Burnett also recommended these tours as a low cost method to increase local contact bases. Because of the tours, local leaders have incorporated the libraries into many different and new events, which have increased awareness.

Furthermore, the tours have increased awareness of library services as well as the need for individual donations and funding. Since the tours began, many libraries have seen an increase in donations, allowing them to remodel or move to new facilities.

Burnett also stressed the importance of planning. She emphasized the tremendous planning that took place regarding who to invite, how many invitees, what to include during the tour and the direction of the tour. Because the tours are lead by branch managers and a representative from headquarters, the staff was well prepared for any questions.