What a statewide association needed was not a promise to its members

CALAFCO represents Local Agency Formation Commissions across California. Its members handle boundary decisions, service reviews, and consolidations, which means they spend a great deal of time in rooms where people disagree in public.

The association asked us to help it communicate better. The obvious deliverables would have been a brand refresh and a newsletter template.

What we built instead was a Strategic Communications Framework and a Communication Code of Conduct. The framework defined who CALAFCO speaks to and on what authority. The code of conduct addressed something harder, which is how commissioners and staff conduct themselves in contested proceedings where the process is legitimate and the outcome is unpopular.

We also expanded the association’s awards program to recognize a broader set of member contributions, and produced training materials to support member education on SB 827.

Associations earn credibility through the behavior of their members. Communications work at that level involves setting expectations for conduct as much as producing content.

The framework gives CALAFCO something to point to when the standard needs restating.