I saw this ad for a Community Engagement Officer in Norwich, England, and I almost jumped up and did a happy dance.
First, from the perspective of writing an enticing job advertisement, this is an ad that made me want to fly across the ocean and apply for the position. No government mumbo-jumbo. A truly inspiring ad!
But then, the substance – oh that is really where my heart took wing. Their vision statement. Their obvious commitment to engagement. Their desire to find three “enthusiastic and committed” community engagement officers. If Community Engagement is to be as transparent as Gardening in the Front Yard, what better example than this ad?
In the “nonprofit”* world of “outreach and marketing,” where we tell our story and hope someone will listen – what would life be like if instead of hiring a fund development officer or a marketing expert, we hired community engagement officers?
What would life be like if we focused all that effort on engaging our communities to have a deep sense of ownership of our work, our vision, our commitment?
What could we accomplish together that we have not been able to accomplish alone?
*Why is “nonprofit” in quotes? Because we are not “non” anything. Click here to learn more.