Creating a Stakeholder Management Plan

Why have a stakeholder communications plan?

In its simplest form, a stakeholder communications plan outlines who you need to communicate with, about what, how you’re going to do it, and how often. There are also a few important considerations such as timing and budget.

An effective stakeholder communications plan will:

• support your organisation in achieving its stated goals and objectives
• support or improve your operational effectiveness
• support or improve your relationships with those who are important to ensuring your success (often called key stakeholders or your target audience)
• deliver measurable results to your organisation.

What a stakeholder communications plan isn’t…

• It’s not a marketing plan which would help you to define new products or services to offer to your audience, and how you would go about promoting these.
• t’s not a sponsorship plan which would detail how you would go about winning and supporting a commercial arrangement with a sponsor.
• It’s not a business plan for your organisation, though it may help you achieve some of your organisation’s business goals.

What it is…

• It is primarily a public relations plan (including media relations) though it may include some wider communication tools such as advertising and direct marketing where these support your stakeholder communication objectives.

First published on Sport New Zealand website