How Can Local Governments Continue Engagement in Today's New World?

-Survey Q&A Video with Angelica Wedell-

COVID-19 has made a lot of things challenging, including community engagement. So how can your local government continue community engagement in today’s new world?

In this episode of Survey Q&A, Polco Vice President of Strategic Development Cory Poris Plasch describes how local government leaders can still successfully and effectively hear from residents, even in a COVID year.

Music: "Sappy" by Jahzzar freemusicarchive.org CC BY-SA 4.0

Residents Still Want To Engage

Perhaps even more so than ever before, residents still want to engage with their local governments. At the same time, local governments are dealing with issues they’ve never dealt  with before. They need data to be able to make the most informed decisions, and they need the data now.

Now is a great opportunity for local governments to use online engagement tools that perhaps they haven’t yet used. As just one example, local governments can use Polco Live to interact online with residents at the same time as getting survey results. 

Online engagement allows residents to engage safely on their own schedules. Plus, local governments get helpful real-time results that they can use to guide decisions.

The benefits of online engagement will last long after the pandemic is over. After all, even prior to the pandemic only 20% of US residents report having ever attended a local government meeting. 

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