Public organizations are now capitalizing on the everyday presence of social media in residents’ lives by applying targeted advertising methods and connecting these efforts to the bigger picture of engagement through centralized public engagement software.

After collecting public input and finding key insights, we might often go straight to outlining a plan without following up with residents on how their input may have impacted that plan. Closing the feedback loop is not just a nicety, there are real benefits for decision makers, both in the short run and in the long run. See how cities like Raleigh and Austin are using public engagement software to decrease workload while building public trust through closing the feedback loop.

Community engagement - whether in a town of 5,000 or a major metropolis - comes down to intention and design. PublicInput.com CEO Jay Dawkins spoke about this, and five common pitfalls of community engagement, in a recent episode of the ELGL podcast, GovLove.

PublicInput.com co-hosted a webinar with Planning Supervisor TJ McCourt of Raleigh, NC. McCourt and his team recently received national attention from NRPA’s Parks & Recreation for their Raleigh dog parks project. Watch the highlights or use the jump links to fast-forward.

Great community engagement relies on getting meaningful feedback from residents on a given project. Meaningful feedback makes engagement efforts worthwhile, provides valuable insights to project teams, and builds public trust by improving the relationship between residents and local government.

Using an online survey tool like SurveyMonkey may seem like a no-brainer, but online survey tools like SurveyMonkey are not designed for public engagement - and can even undermine your success.

Start with your intention. When considering an engagement tool, it’s important to ask the following…

While every community is different, local government agencies often run into the same initial hurdle: how to get the word out about an upcoming project. Keep reading to see best practices for initial outreach and how public engagement software helps government agencies reach underrepresented groups.