In July, GMA created the 2020 Census Challenge to help encourage the self-response rates in all of Georgia’s cities.
During the six-week campaign, 103 cities participated and received GMA resources to help improve response rates, including links to the census websites and tips. As communities shared examples of partnerships or creative census promotions, GMA highlighted these stories on social media to amplify member cities’ efforts, raise awareness throughout the state and inspire others to do the same. Examples include community partnerships in Tifton, Dunwoody’s multi-lingual promotions, “We Count Wednesday” in Thomasville, Decatur’s Census Tract Challenge, videos in Acworth and easy access to the census on websites for the cities of Guyton and Statesboro.
The city of Guyton secured the win with the highest percentage increase of 4.9% throughout the challenge. This small town of approximately 2,000 prides itself on “working together to make a difference.” When asked about their census efforts, Tina Chadwick, Guyton city clerk, shared that city staff stressed the importance of completing the census in five simple ways:
1: Promoted at meetings: At every public meeting, including city council workshops and regular meetings, which also allowed public participation through Facebook Live and RingCentral, leadership promoted the census and its impacts on their community. Additional efforts included planning and zoning meetings.
2: Promoted online: Census related information was shared on their Facebook page (@cityofguyton) as well as a direct link to complete the US Census on their city website.
3: Promoted in the community newsletter: The city initiated a monthly newsletter to highlight the many things going on in Guyton, including the census. In addition to being available on their Facebook and website, they placed the newsletter in local stores and their public works team dis tributed them to citizens.
4: Helped anyone that felt uncomfortable or unsure how to complete their census, including senior citizens.
5: Encouraged residents to spread the word on just how important the census is and the various response options.
GMA celebrates the city of Guyton for their efforts, along with the other cities that joined in this census challenge.
This article appears in the September/October edition of Georgia’s Cities Magazine.