Accreditation Chapter Toolkit
This toolkit has been designed to assist chapter leaders, marketers, liaisons and ambassadors to communicate to key stakeholders—members, media, companies, recruiters and academic institutions—on the value of accreditation findings.
The timeline provides an overview of using the study findings as a marketing tool for your chapter. For example, mailing the executive summary with one of the article reprints to companies in your Chapter area is an excellent value-added introduction to IABC. As a follow up, your chapter might consider mailing the Communicator’s Competency Model (to be released by the Accreditation Committee in June at Conference) to stakeholders as another introduction to IABC.
Be creative. Feel free to use the components of the toolkit in any way that works for your chapter’s efforts. For your convenience, letterhead and PowerPoint templates are also included so you can customize your activities to your own chapter. It is our hope that the toolkit will make your marketing and accreditation efforts easier and stronger, when joined with the overall Council efforts, and assist in your overall chapter marketing activities.
Contents:
Toolkit components
Value of Accreditation Study
Free Communication World Article Reprints
Key Stakeholder Letter Templates
Target Lists for Your Chapter Area
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Step-by-step competency audit
Worksheet: Communicator Competency Model
Step 1: Take the worksheet  . Go to the first section on communication skills about midway down the page. Look at the first competency, writing/editing. In terms of your professional development, are you a 1, 2, 3, or 4 on this competency? Level 1 states that you about 1-4 years of experience, level 2 is roughly 5-9, Level 3, 10-15 and level 4, 16 plus years. Check the appropriate level for you.
Continue through the communication skills.
Good. Let’s proceed through management and knowledge area skills doing that same assessment. In the knowledge area skills section, only mark the specialty that you are most experienced in. When we get to the planning stage you will be able to review the other knowledge areas to see where your “developing” interests may lie.
Part One: Communicator Competency Model
Now go to Part One: Communicator’s Competency Model and scan the competency level in the three sections to make sure the level you have assessed is the appropriate level for you. Edit where necessary.
Now that you have completed the audit, you have a benchmark of your communication competencies. So, where do you go from here?
Part Two: Professional Development, Building Your Skills
Go to Part Two: Professional Development, Building Your Skills to identify ways you can enhance or advance your competencies.
There is a number of ways to build your communication skills and competencies. Many you will see and think, “of course,” but the key is to actually begin to build these into your plan. In order for it to happen, you must first plan for it to happen. Look at the first set of opportunities outlined. There are more formal opportunities as well as less formal:
- Continuing education
- IABC Accreditation, certificates
- Workshops, seminars, conferences
- Reading
- Networking
- Volunteering
Investigate any of these opportunities to see how it may fit into your career plan.
In addition, check the four-level career chart for activities that can be fit into your everyday activities. Is one of these a possibility for you? This may be a good way to gain skills.
IABC Accreditation
A good rule of thumb for IABC Accreditation is to have a solid showing in Level 2 competencies. It is not necessary to have mastered all of these skills but a majority will ensure a better chance at being successful in the accreditation process. If you would like to find out more about accreditation or how it may fit into your career plan, contact
to be connected with an Accreditation Liaison in your area.
The “Steps in Accreditation” supplementary form outlines the accreditation process and helps candidates gauge their readiness.
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Suggested timeline for marketing activities
This timeline is a brief overview of the accreditation activities planned for the remainder of 2008.
May—Review Chapter Toolkit.
Action items:
- Inform chapter members by using the prepared article
- Focus on informing chapter members who qualify for accreditation, send e-mail on findings
- Begin discussion of how these findings may fit in with the upcoming programming year and outreach to key stakeholders. Can an ABC do a presentation using the prepared PowerPoint with speaker notes? Can your chapter do a direct mail to key stakeholders using the executive summary and article reprints?
June/July—Check Leader Letter for updates
Action item: Communicator’s Competency Model will be released at International Conference. Can be used in programming to assist members in career planning, specifically for accreditation. Can also be used as a follow up mailing to key stakeholders. Communication departments seem particularly interested in the model.
August—Check Leader Letter for updates
Action item: Hold meeting or join in with another Chapter to assist with accreditation information session. Use the template emails to invite members
September—Check Leader Letter for updates
Action items:
- Get applications set for mailing on 1 October
- Reach out to communication depts., placement offices, human resource professionals
October—Check Leader Letter for updates
Action item: Send applications and get candidates into the October Accreditation promotion raffle
November – March—Check Leader Letter for updates
Action item: Support candidates for accreditation
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Suggested activities by chapter area
Marketing
- Send template letters to corporates, recruiters and academic institutions in your chapter’s marketplace.
- Send reprints of March/April and/or May/June Communication World articles to key stakeholders.
- Use the resources list to develop lists of corporates, recruiters and academic institutions.
- Use branded Chapter logo stationery available at
- Link your Chapter’s website to http://www.iabc.com/abc
Media
- Send template media release to media points in your Chapter’s marketplace.
- Contact Joseph Ugalde, VP of Marketing, IABC headquarters, to obtain media points in your Chapter’s area.
- Send press release on newly accredited members to chapter media points, their hometown paper and alma mater.
Membership
- Inform membership through chapter communication about the stuffy findings—focusing on what supervisors and clients perceive as valuable.
Recruiting
- Use the article reprints and executive summary in recruiting packets.
Volunteering/Leadership
- Invite ABCs to serve on chapter Board or host a chapter event.
Communication
- Use template article in chapter newsletter.
- Ask ABCs to contribute articles to chapter newsletter.
- Link chapter website to International site press release, charts and executive summary.
Professional Development/Programming
- Have an ABC present study findings by using the prepared PowerPoint with speaker’s notes.
- Use the two-sided key points cards as a takeaway for chapter programs.
- Use an evaluation survey to measure the results of your Value of Accreditation findings program.
- Focus on what supervisors and clients perceived as valuable to them when working with ABCs.
- Encourage attendees to share the executive summary and article reprints with their supervisor or client to “start the conversation” on the value of strategic communication planning.
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